geo billy

1 .Physical weathering can be defined as a process in which rocks are broken down into smaller pieces due to physical forces such as wind gravity , water and other such processes that don 't change the chemical nature of the rock involved . Essentially the rocks are torn apart until they become sediment which is then carried along by erosion to be deposited either in lakebeds , streams , rivers or even the ocean itself until finally it becomes indistinguishable from its original form . This process does not occur overnight rather it takes years of constant

br exposure to the elements before a rock formation starts to weather . For example rock formations called the "Pinnacles " in Nambung National Park in Australia were formed over thousands of years of constant battering from winds and rain which eventually caused the rock formations to become pinnacle shape . Using such an example as a basis it can be determined that the current shape of most mountains , mountain ranges hills , valleys and rock formations are all a result of constant physical weathering which changes the shape of the land over an extended period of time . Other processes besides wind and water involved in physical weathering are : the development of joints , frost wedging , heat , and finally animal and plant activities . Joints can be defined as spaced fractures in rocks that occur either through the cooling of rocks or a relief in the amount of pressure being applied on through the erosion of the rocks above them . When joints form in...