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 5
What might cause different soils to develop from the same kind of parent material or similar soils to form from different parent materials?
Problem 10
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 which assumes that "frost wedging" is an item on the list: Frost wedging imvolves 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 Figure 5.40 )
