Problem 1
Describe how plants promote mechanical and chemical weathering but inhibit erosion.
Problem 2
Granite and basalt are exposed at Earth's surface in a hot, wet region. Will mechanical weathering or chemical weathering predominate? Which rock will weather more rapidly? Why?
Problem 4
What might cause different soils to develop from the same kind of parent material, or similar soils to form from different parent materials?
Problem 7
Describe at least one situation in which an internal process might cause or contribute to a mass-wasting process.
Problem 8
Mass wasting is influenced by many processes associated with all four spheres of the Earth system. Select three items from the list below. For each, outline a series of events that relate the item to various spheres and to a mass- wasting process. Here is an example that assumes "frost wedging" is an item on the list: Frost wedging involves rock (geosphere) being broken when water (hydrosphere) freezes. Freeze-thaw cycles (atmosphere) promote frost wedging. When frost wedging loosens a rock on a cliff, the fragment tumbles to the base of the cliff. This event, called a rockfall, is an example of mass wasting. Now you give it a try. Use your imagination. a. Wildfire b. Spring thaw/melting snow c. Highway road cut d. Crashing waves e. Cavern formation (see Figures 5.42 and 5.43 )
