GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Tiny plants may sprout up in and around broken rocks. These sprouts turn into bigger plants. As they grow bigger, their roots start penetrating the rock, particularly in weak spots or joints. Eventually, the rock splits.

Detailed explanation-2: -Plants and animals can be agents of mechanical weathering. The seed of a tree may sprout in soil that has collected in a cracked rock. As the roots grow, they widen the cracks, eventually breaking the rock into pieces. Over time, trees can break apart even large rocks.

Detailed explanation-3: -(b) Physical Weathering is when rocks are broken apart by mechanical processes such as rock fracturing, freezing and thawing, or breakage during transport by rivers or glaciers.

Detailed explanation-4: -First, they can release acidic compounds that chemically weather the rocks around them, particularly those near their roots. Second, their growth (especially root growth) can cause cracks in the rocks to enlarge and split further, which is a form of mechanical weathering as well.

Detailed explanation-5: -After repeated freezing and thawing of water, the rock breaks apart. Plant roots can grow in cracks. The pressure of a confined growing root can be substantial. These pressures make cracks in the rocks larger, and, as roots grow, they can break rocks apart.