GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Wind can cause weathering by blowing grains of sand against a rock, while rain and waves cause weathering by slowly wearing rock away over long periods of time.

Detailed explanation-2: -Wind can also erode material until little remains at all. Ventifacts are rocks that have been sculpted by wind erosion. The enormous chalk formations in the White Desert of Egypt are ventifacts carved by thousands of years of wind roaring through the flat landscape.

Detailed explanation-3: -Weathering describes the breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals on the surface of the Earth. Water, ice, acids, salts, plants, animals, and changes in temperature are all agents of weathering. Once a rock has been broken down, a process called erosion transports the bits of rock and mineral away.

Detailed explanation-4: -Overall, these field data provide strong new evidence that the sun plays a key role in cracking surface rocks and also open doors to innumerable new hypotheses related to the processes that are important in physical weathering of rocks on Earth and on other planets.