A TERM PAPER

ON

WEATHERING AND SEDIMENT PRODUCTION

BY

EZENWOBI, NKIRU .H.

M.SC. SEDIMENTARY/PETROLEUM GEOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF GEOSCIENCES

UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS, AKOKA,

NIGERIA.

March, 2012.

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER ONE ..INTRODUCTION CHAPTER TWO MECHANICAL WEATHERING PROCESSES CHAPTER THREE CHEMICAL WEATHERING PROCESSES CHAPTER FOURSEDIMENT PRODUCTION CHAPTER FIVE..CONCLUSION

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

MEANING OF WEATHERING This refers to the general process by which rocks are broken down at the Earths surface and as a result produces clays, soils, and dissolved substances in rivers. Weathering is a twofold process, It is fragmentation (i.e. mechanical weathering) and, decay (i.e. chemical weathering), operating together, each helping and reinforcing the other. Mechanical Weathering - physical disintegration of a rock into smaller fragments, each with the same properties as the original. Occurs mainly by temperature and pressure changes. Chemical Weathering - process by which the internal structure of a mineral is altered by the addition or removal of elements. Change in phase (mineral type) and composition are due to the action of chemical agents. Chemical weathering is dependent on available surface for reaction temperature and presence of chemically active fluids. Smaller particle sizes weather by chemical means more rapidly than large particles due to an increase of surface area.

Erosion - the incorporation and transportation of weathering products by a mobile agent such as wind, water, ice.

All three processes may act independently, but will more often than not, occur simultaneously. Different circumstance will have one weathering process more important than another. The processes may also act in concert with one another. Since igneous rocks form at high temperatures, and under pressure conditions ranging from one to several atmospheres. However, the conditions at the Earth's surface are somewhat different than the conditions at which most rocks and minerals form. Therefore, the materials are no longer at equilibrium when they are exposed to surface conditions. Under these conditions, there is a tendency for all ordered systems to seek lower levels of energy or order. This is all done through weathering. Differential weathering is referred to varying rates of weathering in an area where some rocks are more resistant to weathering than others. Resistant rocks weather slowly and may protrude above softer rocks that weather rapidly. Spheroidally weathered boulder is a rock that has been rounded by weathering from an initial blocky shape. it is rounded because chemical weathering acts more rapidly or intensely on the corners and edges of a rock than on the smooth rock surfaces WHY DOES ROCK WEATHER? This is simply because Weathering is response of Earths materials to a changing environment. When a rock undergoes mechanical weathering, it is broken into smaller pieces and thereby increasing the amount of surface area available for chemical weathering. Chemical weathering initially works along contact between mineral grains. Tightly bound crystals are loosened as weathering products form at contacts.

CHAPTER TWO MECHANICAL WEATHERING PROCESSES This is induced by processes such as- Frost Action, Pressure Release, Abrasion and Biological Activities. Frost Action Types of Mechanical Weathering: Frost Wedging - water expands when it freezes. This photograph shows the individual layers within the sedimentary rock breaking apart through repeated cycles of freezethaw. A similar process happens when the rock is repeatedly wetted and dried as salt crystals dissolve from the rock then grow when it is dried. Both processes can result in the rocks being heaved - so what was once a nice regular pattern of bricks set in a pavement will eventually become a chaotic jumble of bricks oriented every which way. Thermal Expansion and Contraction heating causes rock to expand, cooling results in contraction; different minerals expand and contract at different rates. This phenomen0n will look very similar to frost wedging and salt crystal growth, but will typically happen in climates that undergo extreme diurnal temperature changes. Mechanical Exfoliation - rock breaks apart in layers that are parallel to the earth's surface; as rock is

uncovered, it expands (due to the lower confining pressure) resulting in exfoliation. The photograph is from G. K. Gilbert (1903) in Sequoia National Park. The granite boulder is shaped by exfoliation; the boulder is about 40 feet in diameter, and the separated fragment resting on it is about 10 feet thick. Exfoliation is very common whenever plutonic igneous rocks are exposed. Since the plutonic rocks cool at depth under great pressure, they essentially de-pressurizes once the overburden is removed. This causes sheets of rock to peel off subparallel to the earth's surface, or whatever is the least pressurized surface.

In this photo from Yosemite National Park, the exfoliation sheets are subparallel to the valley walls.

Abrasion - physical grinding of rock fragments. Here, the photo shows some pits that have been eroded into the rock by sandblasting. Along with the physical weathering (the sandblasting), chemical weathering has taken place as the rock shows some signs of solution weathering as well.

Another photograph which shows the powerful effect of wind generated abrasion is the Double Arch from Arches National Park. The edges of the arches have weathered along joints, preexisting tectonically controlled vertical surfaces in the rock. Then mechanical abrasion took over and carved out the arches. Biological Activity Plants roots in search of minerals and water grow into cracks and as the roots grow, they wedge the rock part. Burrowing in animals further break down the rock by moving the fresh material to the surface where physical and chemical processes can attack it more effectively. Also the impact of humans particularly noticeable where rock has been blasted in search of minerals or for construction.

CHAPTER THREE Types of Chemical Weathering: Dissolution H2O + CO2 + CaCO3 --> Ca+2 + 2HCO3water + carbon dioxide + calcite dissolve into calcium ion and bicarbonate ion Dissolution is very common in areas that have a great deal of limestone. Acidic waters (from pollution or natural) dissolve limestone allowing for additional water to gain entrance. This Can cause sinkholes and karst features as well as dissolution of statutes and grave stones. Oxidation (rust) 4Fe+2 +3O2 --> 2Fe2O3 ferrous iron + oxygen combine to form ferric iron oxide (hematite) Will happen to all iron-bearing silicates to varying degrees. Common reaction minerals are hematite, limonite, and goethite. Hydrolysis 2KAlSi3O8 + 3H20 --> Al2Si2O5(OH)4 + 4SiO2 + 2K(OH) potassium feldspar in acidic water hydrolyses to kaolinite + quartz + potassium hydroxide Silicate minerals (unstable at the earth's surface) weather to form clay minerals such as kaolinite (stable at the earth's surface). Feldspars typically weather to produce clay minerals. Factors that affect the rate of chemical weathering Particle Size Smaller the particle size the greater the surface area and hence the more rapid the weathering Mineral make up Calcite readily dissolves in mild acidic solution and silicate minerals that form first from magma are least resistant to chemical weathering.

Climatic Factors Chemical weathering is most intense where there is abundant liquid water and slow or even absent where water is scarce or is frozen into ice.

Weathering Products of Rock-Forming Minerals

Quartz - slow process and largely ineffective. Quartz remains quartz. Grains are rounded. Feldspar - weathers to clay with the cations Na+, Ca+, and K+ going into solution. Clays that can form include kaolinite (pure aluminum silicate), illite and montmorillonite. Muscovite weathers to clay mineral with k+ and SiO2 going into solution Ferromagnesian minerals - weather to clay plus highly insoluble iron oxides, essentially varieties of limonite (rust) Factors which dictate clay formation are (a) Climate; (b) Time; (c) Parent material.

Weathering of Feldspar H2O + CO2 ------->> H2CO3 Acid then dissociates and the following happens: 2KAlSi3O8 (feldspar)+ 2H+ + H2O ------->> Al2Si2O5(OH)4 (clay)+ 2K+ + 4SiO2

When feldspar with a framework silicate structure is attacked by the H+ of carbonic acid, it forms clay mineral which is a hydrous aluminium silicate with a sheet-silicate structure. Partly because of the complexity of the reaction, the chemical weathering of feldspar proceed at a much slower rate than the solution weathering by calcite

CHAPTER FOUR SEDIMENT PRODUCTION Definition of Sediment This refers to loose, solid particles that can originate by the following processes Weathering and erosion of preexisting rocks. Chemical precipitation from solution, usually in water and Secretion by organisms.

Role of weathering in sediment production Weathering plays a very important role in sediment production. Both weathered and unweathered rock and sediment can be eroded and weathering does not stop after erosion has taken place. Sand being transported by a river can be actively weathering as can mud on a lake bottom.

4.1 The Rock Cycle

Weathered rocks are eroded, transported and deposited as sediment. When these sediment accumulate, they lithify to form sedimentary rock, which in turn undergoes deep burial with increase temperature and pressure, recrystallizes to form metamorphic rock. As the depth of burial becomes even greater, temperature becomes high enough to partially melt the metamorphic rock and magma is created. The magma then solidifies to form igneous rock.

Weathering products

Mineral stability Sediments are the by-product of weathering. Sediments are particles of minerals, some of them altered from the original rock, some simply reduced in sized, and some new minerals by reaction. The stability of a mineral is its resistance to alteration or
destruction by weathering, abrasion during transport and post depositional solution. At the time of their formation, minerals are in equilibrium with their environment, and these are stable, but as they brought into a new environment different from those in which they form. They are prone to go into solution or to be decomposed.

The stability of minerals can be predicted using the Bowen's reaction series, however, in the case of the weathering series this is known as the Goldich Dissolution Series:

The mineral at the top crystallize normally at high temperatures, while those at the bottom crystallize at lower temperatures. This therefore means that the first minerals to

crystallize from magma show the fastest rate of decay when attacked by weathering, whereas the last minerals to crystallize from magma show the slowest rate of decay. Hence Olivine and Calcic-plagioclase are less stable under the low temperature-low pressure environment of weathering, decompose most readily. On the other hand Quartz which is stable under the much lower temperatures and pressures that prevailed as the magma finally solidified, is more stable in the environment of weathering. Soil

Weathering rates depend on the composition of the rock, temperature range and rainfall amount. Weathering produces soils. Soil refers to the surficial material that forms due to weathering or layers of weathered,
unconsolidated material that contains organic matter and is capable of supporting plant growth.

Soil may or may not remain in place, and any soil may be a combination of residual and transported material. Residual soil: Remains in place; has not been transported (gruss). Transported soil: Transported by wind or water and deposited. A complete soil profile will have the following components: O horizon: Organic debris and leaf litter on the surface. A horizon: Topsoil - leaching, water movement down, Organic and Mineral material transported downward. B horizon: Subsoil - accumulation of dissolved material and fine clays, hardpan. C horizon: Partially altered parent rock material. Bedrock: Unweathered parent rock material. These horizons are not present in all soil profiles. In areas of rapid erosion, B & C may be present or C only. In some areas no soil profile will develop at all.

Factors in Soil Formation

1.

2. 3.

4.

5.

Climate: The greater the rainfall amount, the more rapid the rate of erosion and leaching. Laterites form in humid climates where only Al2O3 (Bauxite) and Fe(OH)3 remain. Topography: The steeper the surface slope, the more likely any eroded material is to be transported out of the system. Parent Material: Granites are more resistant to weathering than gabbros. Sandstones are more resistant to weathering than limestones in humid climates, but limestones are more resistant than sandstones in arid climates. Plant and Animal activity: Plant and animal activity produces humic acids that are powerful erosion agents. Plants can physically erode as well as chemically erode. Plants stabilize soil profiles; Animals (including man) tend to destabilize the soil profile, increasing erosion. Time: Reaction rates are slow, the longer a rock unit has been exposed, the more likely it is to be weathered.

These factors can be remembered by the acronym ClORPT - Climate, Organic activity (plants and animals), Relief (topography), Parent material, and Time.
Clay minerals and quartz, the two minerals usually remaining after complete weathering of rock play important roles in soil development and plant growth. Quartz crystals form sand grains that help keep soil loose and aerated, allowing good water drainage. Partially weathered crystals of feldspar and other minerals can also form sand sized grains. Clay minerals help to hold water loosely enough that most of it is available for uptake by plants. Plants nutrients such as Ca++ and K+, supplied by the weathering of feldspar are also held loosely on the surface of clay minerals. A plant root is able to release H+ from organic acids and exchange it for the Ca++ and K+ that the plant needs for healthy growth. Laterites These are usually red and are composed almost entirely of Iron and Aluminium Oxides, the least soluble products of rock weathering in tropical climates. If the soil is rich in Hematite, it can be mined for iron ore. Laterites exposed to the sun are apt to bake into a permanent bricklike layer that makes digging nearly impossible. This hard layer can be quarried and makes a durable building material

Diamonds These are widely scattered in diamond pipes when they form .They are often concentrated by weathering. At the earths surface the ultramafic rock in the pipe is weathered and eroded away. The diamonds being resistant to weathering are left behind concentrated in rich deposits on top of the pipes. Rivers may redistribute and reconcentrate the diamonds. Sea Water The solution of calcite supplies substantial amounts of Ca++ and HCO3- to underground water. The weathering of calcium feldspar into clay minerals can also apply Ca++, HCO3and SiO2 to water. If these are not precipitated as solids, they remain in solution and may eventually find their way into a stream and then into the ocean. Enormous quantities of dissolved material are carried by rivers into the sea. This is the main reason sea water is salty. Under ordinary chemical condition, the dissolved Ca++ and HCO3- can combine to form solid CaCO3.The calcite and silica are the most common materials precipitated as cement, which binds loose particles of sand, silt and clay into sedimentary rock.

CONCLUSION

Importance of Weathering 1) Soil is produced from rock weathering therefore Agriculture depends on weathering. 2) Weathering products dissolved in the sea make sea water salty and serve as nutrients for many marine organisms. 3) Some metallic ores such as Cu, Al and Diamond are concentrated into economic deposits by chemical weathering.

REFERENCES

Busch, Daniel. A., 1974, Stratigraphic Traps in Sandstones -Exploration Techniques, Memoir 21: Tulsa, AAPG Folk, R.L., 1974, Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks, Austin, Texas, Hemphill Publishing Co. Friedman, Gerald M., and John E. Sanders, 1978, Principles of Sedimentology, New York, John Wiley & Sons

Greensmith, J.T., 1978, Petrology of the Sedimentary Rocks, London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd. Milner,H.B .1992. An Introduction to Sedimentary Petrography, Murby , London, 125pp.(6) Pettijohn, F.J., 1975, Sedimentary Rocks, New York, Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Scholle, Peter A., 1978, Carbonate Rock Constituents, Textures, Cements, and Porosities, Memoir 27: Tulsa, AAPG

Scholle, Peter A., 1978, Deposition, Diagenesis, and HydrocarbonPotential of Deeper-WaterLimestones, Tulsa, AAPG Department of Educational Activities

Scholle, Peter A., 1979, Constituents, Textures, Cements, and Porosities of Sandstones and Associated Rocks, Memoir 28: Tulsa, AAPG Shirley, Martha Lou, and James A. Ragsdale, eds., 1966, Deltas in Their Geologic Framework, Houston Geological Society Research and Study Group: Houston, H.G.S.

Refeferences