Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Part I The Tropical Environment
- Part II Process geomorphology in the tropics
- 5 Weathering in the tropics
- 6 Slopes: forms and processes
- 7 Rivers in the tropics
- 8 Alluvial valleys
- 9 Large rivers in the tropics
- 10 The tropical coasts
- 11 Deltas in the tropics
- 12 The arid tropics
- 13 Tropical highlands
- 14 Volcanic landforms
- 15 Tropical karst
- 16 Quaternary in the tropics
- Part III Anthropogenic changes
- References
- Index
- Plate section
5 - Weathering in the tropics
from Part II - Process geomorphology in the tropics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Part I The Tropical Environment
- Part II Process geomorphology in the tropics
- 5 Weathering in the tropics
- 6 Slopes: forms and processes
- 7 Rivers in the tropics
- 8 Alluvial valleys
- 9 Large rivers in the tropics
- 10 The tropical coasts
- 11 Deltas in the tropics
- 12 The arid tropics
- 13 Tropical highlands
- 14 Volcanic landforms
- 15 Tropical karst
- 16 Quaternary in the tropics
- Part III Anthropogenic changes
- References
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
Hover through the fog and filthy air
William ShakespeareIntroduction
The process of weathering alters rocks at or near the surface of the Earth, transforming hard rocks into soft material that can be removed easily (Fig. 5.1). Rocks, which are formed at various depths inside the Earth’s crust under conditions of high pressure and temperature, undergo a series of physical and chemical changes when they are exposed to the atmosphere at or near the surface of the Earth where much lower temperate and pressure prevail. The term ‘weathering’ encompasses the full range of such changes. A formal definition can be constructed as
Weathering is a process, at or near the interface between the crust and atmosphere, which alters the physical and chemical nature of rocks in situ.
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- Information
- Tropical Geomorphology , pp. 61 - 81Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011