GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -What occurs when a rock is crushed into a pile of fragments? The total surface area decreases and chemical composition changes.

Detailed explanation-2: -Mechanical weathering increases the overall surface area when it breaks down the rock into smaller fragnments. Increased surface area provides more surface for chemical weathering to attack the rock, allowing chemical weathering to speed up.

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: -Weathering is a term which describes the general process by which rocks are broken down at the Earth’s surface into such things as sediments, clays, soils and substances that are dissolved in water.