What Factors Cause Mechanical Weathering?
Ice image by Einar Bog from Fotolia.com jQuery(document).ready(function(){ jQuery(‘#jsArticleStep1 span.image a:first’).attr(‘href’,’http://i.ehow.com/images/a06/u7/57/factors-cause-mechanical-weathering_-1.1-800X800.jpg’); }); Frost wedging is the most common type of mechanical weathering Weathering is natural process that causes the breakdown of rocks into either smaller rock particles or new minerals. Weathering is the first step of the erosion process, which breaks down the three major rock types found near Earth’s surface: sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. One type of erosion is mechanical weathering, also known as physical weathering, whereby rock is broken down by physical forces. There are several such forces. Exfoliation or Unloading As upper rock portions erode, underlying rocks expand. The underlying rocks then begin to crack and peel away in sheets or slabs along joints, which are fractures or cracks that are regularly spaced beneath the surface. Some geologists conside
