Geography: weathering

What is the Burren landscape called?

A Karst Landscape

What is the limestone pavement?

A limestone pavement is the bare surface of the limestone divided into blocks.

Where does the Karst Landscape get its name?

An area of exposed limestone in Slovenia

When the water evaporates what does it leave behind?

Calcite

What is an example of this?

Carbonation

What are stalactites?

Cone shaped deposits of minerals that hang down from the ceiling of a limestone cave.

What are stalagmites?

Cone-shaped deposits of minerals that are built up from the floor of a limestone cave.

How does a Karst Landscape form?

During the last Ice Age, the glaciers cleared away the earths covering exposing the bare rock of the Burren.

What is erosion carried out by?

Erosion is carried out by rivers, the sea and glaciers.

What is an example of mechanical weathering in hot climates?

Exfoliation

What is an example of mechanical weathering in glaciated regions or higher altitudes?

Freeze-thaw action

What is Carbonation?

Limestone is dissolved by carbon dioxide in rainwater. When rain falls it takes in carbon dioxide from the air. The carbon dioxide acts like a weak acid(carbonic acid) to open cracks and joints in the limestone by dissolving the limestone.

What are the features of a Karst Landscape?

Limestone pavements,swallow holes,underground rivers and caves.

What is mechanical weathering?

Mechanical weathering occurs when rocks are broken apart by physical force applied by frost and plants for example.

What are Swallow Holes(aka Sinkholes)

Openings in the surface of the limestone through which the rivers disappear underground. They are created by Carbonation.

What are the broken rock pieces called

Scree

Where is there an example of all three?

The Ailwee Caves, Co. Clare

Where can the effects of carbonation be seen?

The Burren, Co. Clare

Where is there an example of scree?

The Great Sugar Loaf, Co. Wicklow

What are Clints?

The blocks of limestone that form the limestone pavement p.

Weathering

The breakdown of rock usually,by the forces of weather. The broken rock lies where it has been broken. There are two types of weathering, mechanical and chemical

What are Grikes?

The gaps between the blocks.joints on the rock were opened wider when the limestone was dissolved by rainwater through the process of carbonation.

Why is exfoliation called onion weathering?

The outer layer of rock peels or cracks away from the inner layers of rock?

What happens during the day?

The rock contracts when the ice melts. This continues and it puts pressure on the rock which eventually breaks off.

Underground Features

The underground rivers open up caves and caverns in the limestone.

Erosion

The wearing away of rock, the transportation of that rock and its deposition.

Denudation

The wearing down of the surface of the earth. It is done by weathering and erosion

How does freeze-thaw action work?

Water enters cracks in the rock. During the night the water is frozen and it expand the cracks.

When does chemical weathering occur

When a chemical change in the rock causes them to dissolve

When are pillars/columns formed?

When stalactites and stalagmites join together.

When is this caused?

When the outer layer of rock is heated during the day and it expands. The rock then contracts during the cold nights.

How are stalactites formed?

When water drops containing dissolved limestone(calcite) form on the roof of a cave.

Where does freeze-thaw action happen

Where the temperature rises and falls above zero degrees and where there is precipitation