Compare and contrast salt wedging and frost wedging

What will be an ideal response?


Answer: They are both forms of mechanical weathering and exploit openings in rocks by expansion. Salt wedges grow as salt crystals grow by the deposition of salts from water evaporating in rocks. Frost wedges grow as water in openings in rocks freezes, expands and pushes against the opening walls. The frost wedging is by far more powerful.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

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Explain the role that confining pressure has on rock strength and how the rock deforms under pressure

What will be an ideal response?

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

The safety factor for landslides is

A) the degree to which engineered structures have been installed to prevent landslides B) the ratio of resisting to driving forces C) the influence of changing climate on landslide hazards D) the length of time that is likely to pass before a major landslide

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Water-rich sand or quick clay is likely to cause a ____.

a. ?deviational slide b. ?divergent slide c. ?rotational slump d. ?lateral-spreading slide e. ?translational slide

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Phytoplankton are primarily classified as what type of organism?

a. heterotroph b. organotroph c. photoheterotroph d. autotroph e. chemoheterotroph

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences