Chapter 6

Physical breakdown of rock into smaller pieces is called ______.

What mechanical weathering process produces talus slopes?

Potassium feldspar chemically weathers to produce _____ in great quantities.

Which of the following regions would you expect to exhibit the highest rates of weathering?

Which of the following minerals would break down most quickly in a chemical weathering process?

Which of the following factors has the greatest influence on soil formation?

Quartz weathers readily to aluminum-rich clay minerals.

Which of the following is/are most susceptible to chemical weathering by dissolution?

Abundant moisture and warm temperatures result in high rates of chemical weathering.

Frost wedging is the major weathering process contributing to the formation of which regolith material?

What portion of an angular, fracture-bounded granitic block shows the highest rate of weathering?

Clay minerals, silica (SiO2), and dissolved potassium bicarbonate in the soil water are products of which process?

Oxidation of iron is an important chemical weathering process for ferromagnesian silicate minerals like olivine and biotite.

What two factors speed up rates of chemical reaction and weathering in rocks and soils?

Sheeting is mainly a process of mechanical weathering.

Sheeting fractures and exfoliation domes commonly develop in areas with highly fractured bedrock.

Quartz is quite resistant to weathering and is an important component of sands in riverbeds and on beaches.

Feldspars commonly decompose during weathering to clay minerals, silica, and soluble constituents.

Calcite, a major component of some monumental and building stones, slowly dissolves in weakly acidic waters.

Like most other liquids, water decreases in volume when it freezes.

Chemical weathering in bedrock below the land surface often begins along joints and sheeting fractures.

Which one of the following is an important, mechanical weathering process for enlarging fractures and extending them deeper into large boulders and bedrock?

What two chemical constituents cannot form by chemical weathering of the feldspar minerals?

Under similar warm, moist climatic conditions, why would basalt and gabbro generally have higher chemical weathering rates than rhyolite and granite?

Ferromagnesian minerals (like olivine and pyroxene) that crystallize at high temperatures in Bowen's reaction series are generally much less susceptible to chemical weathering than quartz.

Which one of the following statements concerning mechanical weathering is not true?

Decomposition of pyrite is an important factor in generating acidic mine drainage.

Which term describes a soil formed by weathering of the underlying bedrock?