Examine the main processes of land erosion and account for the present day landforms in terms of these processes and the underlying geology
...agents (i.e. weathering) combined with the transport away of the resulting rock debris. There are three main types of weathering, one of them being physical (or mechanical) weathering. Physical weathering does not change the chemical composition of a rock but nevertheless causes it to disintegrate into smaller fragments. It is most likely to occur in areas devoid of vegetation e.g. deserts or high mountain regions. The physical weathering process usually produces sands eventually. One example of physical weathering is frost shattering or freeze – thaw action. This is the most common form of physical weathering and can occur anywhere where the rocks have crevices or joints and the temperature fluctuates around 0˚C. When the temperature is above freezing point, water enters the joints in the rocks, but as the temperature drops this water will freeze. Because ice occupies more volume than water, when the water freezes it exerts pressure within the crevices. The ice will eventually thaw, and this process will happen again. The repetition of this process slowly widens the joints and in time causes pieces of rock to shatter from the main body. Chemical weathering is another type of weathering and involves a chemical reaction so the rock is chemically changed. Chemical weathering occurs mainly in zones of alternate wetting and drying and attacks certain minerals within rocks. One form of chemical weathering is carbonation which affects rocks made of calcium carbonate such as Limestone like we saw on our field trip to Loggerheads. Carbonation occurs because rain contains carbon dioxide in solution which produces a weak form of carbonic acid. (H O + CO H CO ). The carbonic...