What is weathering?

• Weathering denotes the process of wearing, breaking up, and fragmentation of the rock that creates the surface of the ground and that remains exposed to the weather.
• The process results from forces of weather like rain action, variations in temperature and frost action.

What are the types of Weathering ?

Weathering is classified into three types:

1. Physical Weathering
2. Chemical Weathering
3. Biological Weathering

Significance of Weathering to Human Life

• Weathering is the first stage of the formation of soil.
• It produces many other natural resources, for example, clay which is used for making bricks.
• Another significance of weathering is it weakens the rocks, making them easier for people to exploit and break, for example, by mining and quarrying.
• Biodiversity, and Biomes are the result of vegetation, and forests rely upon the depth of weathering wraps.
• Root penetration cannot happen if the rocks are not weathered.
• It aids erosion, mass wasting, reduction of relief, and modifications in landforms.
• Weathering of rocks helps in the augmentation and concentrations of some ores of manganese, aluminum, iron, copper, etc. which have a great demand in the economy of the country.
• 
  Rivers deposit and compact broken rock pieces and particles under great pressure, eventually transforming them into sediments. These sediments form various types of sedimentary rocks, such as sandstones and limestones.
• Some weathered rocks, such as granite tors, are very interesting. As a result, they serve as a tourist attraction. The Bismarck rock in Mwanza, Tanzania, is one example.
• Some of these rocks appear to be so one-of-a-kind that locals are baffled as to how they came to be. They’ve converted them into local shrines where people can make offerings.

The importance of weathering is explained as follows:

1. Weathering involves the breakdown of rocks into smaller fragments, a crucial step in the formation of soil.
2. Erosion and mass movement are outcomes influenced by weathering.
3. The depth of weathered materials plays a role in determining vegetation growth and biodiversity.
4. Weathering contributes significantly to the erosion and degradation of high relief landscapes.

Enrichment

• Groundwater chemically or physically leaches particular materials from rocks when they undergo weathering.
• There by the congregation of leftover valuable materials increases.
• Without weathering, the concentration of the same valuable material may not be adequate and economically feasible to exploit process and refine.
• This is as called enrichment.

Also Read :

• Factors Controlling Weathering
• Stages of Soil Formation
• The Elements of Weather and Climate