Chemical weathering
Chemical weathering is the breakdown or alteration of minerals through reactions with water, gases, acids, or dissolved substances at Earth's surface.
Hydrolysis: A reaction in which a substance reacts with water, often exchanging chemical groups or breaking bonds. Water reacts with silicate minerals, producing dissolved ions and clay minerals.
Silicate mineral: A mineral built from silicon–oxygen units combined with other elements. Silicates dominate Earth's crust and are frequent targets of chemical weathering.
Soil formation: The development of soil through interactions among rock, climate, organisms, relief, and time. Mineral alteration supplies clay and dissolved nutrients to developing soils.
Physical weathering: The breakdown of rock into smaller pieces without changing its chemical composition. It fractures rock without the mineral transformations that define chemical weathering.
Dissolution (chemistry): The process by which a substance dissolves into a solvent to form a solution. Rainwater dissolves soluble minerals, carrying their constituents away in solution.
Mineral: A naturally occurring solid with an ordered structure and a characteristic chemical composition. Weathering acts on minerals, whose compositions and structures govern their reactions.
Karst: A landscape shaped by the dissolution of soluble bedrock, especially limestone. Carbonic-acid dissolution of carbonate rock creates characteristic caves and landforms.
Erosion: The removal and transport of rock, soil, or sediment by water, wind, ice, or gravity. Weathering alters or breaks material in place; erosion moves it elsewhere.
Carbonic acid: A weak acid formed when carbon dioxide dissolves in water. It forms in rainwater and soil water, promoting mineral dissolution and carbonate weathering.
Water: A chemical compound of hydrogen and oxygen that is liquid under common surface conditions on Earth. Water transports reactants and products and participates directly in many weathering reactions.