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very slow downhill movement of rock and soil
Freezing or thawing are classified as mechanical weathering. Water dissolving and oxidation of chemicals in rock acid rain are classified as chemical weathering.
Ice wedging
Freeze Thaw is one of the two physical weathering. Freeze thaw is a process were the water gets into the gaps or cracks of the rock. Over the night the Water freezes and then expands, the result the rock eventually breaks.
Water expands when it freezes, therefore it tends to cause the rocks to crack (or perhaps I should say, it causes existing cracks to get larger, leading to the disintegration of the rock).
very slow downhill movement of rock and soil
Freezing or thawing are classified as mechanical weathering. Water dissolving and oxidation of chemicals in rock acid rain are classified as chemical weathering.
Freezing a rock would shrink it some (contract) while the thawing would expand it. This applies to most substances, water being the obvious exception.
Ice wedging
Ice or frost wedging
Water seeps into cracks in the rock, and when freezing occurs, the water expands, thus making the crack slightly larger. This process is called mechanical weathering.
ice wedging
it repeated freezing and thawing of water breaks rock apart the ice melts and the water seeps in deeper.
A cycle of freezing and thawing can break down any rock, no matter how big or heavy it is. If water gets into small cracks, then freezes, it will expand and push the rock crystals apart.
ice wedging
frost action
frost action