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Ice Wedging

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Q: What is the word for the process in which water in a rock cracks and expands in low temperatures?
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What causes cracks in granite?

This can sometimes happen when water finds a way into cracks, which then freezes, expands, and this process repeats, making cracks.


Can cold temperature create landslides?

Indirectly, yes. Rocks in areas that regularly experience below-freezing temperatures are subject to frost shattering. In this process water enters cracks, freezes, and expands, forcing the cracks open wider. This can weaken a rock structure to the point of failure.


What does ice have to do with the process of weathering and erosion?

When it rains, water can get in through the cracks in asphalt, rock, etc. Then that water freezes, which expands the size of the water. When it expands, it pushes the rock apart, thus causing erosion and weathering. =)


What is the effect when water freezes in to cracks?

The water expands as it is frozen and so the cracks are made wider/bigger :)


How does freezing water cause rocks to weathering?

Water goes into small cracks in the rocks and then freezes. Water expands as it freezes and the expansion pushes outwards on the crack in the rock making it bigger. Eventually this process causes the rock to crack and flake apart


Do cold temperatures affect rocks?

Rocks shrink in cold weather. It is very small but it is important if any of its cracks have water in them. Water expands when it freezes. Because they are opposing forces it will cause the rock to break.


How does water help break rocks apart?

Water expands when it freezes. In winter, water gets into minute cracks in the rocks and then as it freezes it expands and makes the cracks bigger. So more water gets in then freezes so the cracks get bigger still until the rocks break apart.


What causes rock to break by freezing water inside it's cracks?

When water freezes it expands. This process creates pressure inside of the rock, which causes it to burst open from the inside.


How is the freezing and thawing of weathering of water a part of the weathering process?

When the water in the cracks freezes, it expands by 9 to 10 percent, exerting pressure on the rock, according to BBC Bitesize. This action can widen the cracks in the rock, and when the temperature rises above freezing, the ice thaws, allowing the water to seep further into the cracks.When the water in the cracks freezes, it expands by 9 to 10 percent, exerting pressure on the rock, according to BBC Bitesize. This action can widen the cracks in the rock, and when the temperature rises above freezing, the ice thaws, allowing the water to seep further into the cracks.


How frost damage can weather rocks?

Water gets into tiny cracks in rock and when it freezes water expands and causes the cracks to widen. Eventually the rock cracks and or pieces flake off, Over a long time this process repeats and breaks down the rock into ever small pieces.


How does water change when it freeze?

As water freezes, it expands. this is one cause of erosion because water moves into cracks in rocks and expands when freezing, breaking it open.


In environments where water is readily available and temperatures drop below freezing for some part of the day what physical weathering process is likely to be significant?

In this environment frost shattering or frost wedging is a significant weathering process. The water in the pores in the rock freezes at night and the ice expands as this happens forcing small cracks in the rock to widen and the rock to shatter.