Chapter 15, Problem 1LC

To determine

The main effect of weathering and of mass wasting on the landscape.

Answer to Problem 1LC

Weathering leaves the landscape with broken fragments of rocks while mass wasting leaves a scar on the surface where it occurred and a bulk of debris at the bottom of the slope where the movement ceased.

Explanation of Solution

Weathering defines the in-situ process of fragmentation of rocks into even smaller pieces under the effect of some physical, chemical or biological agents. Since it causes the rocks to break down, the landscape where weathering has taken place will have numerous smaller fragments of rocks and less cohesion between them. Weathering reduces the cohesion within the composing particles of the rock to break them down.

Mass wasting is different from weathering in the sense that the former is not an in-situ phenomenon. Mass wasting describes the downslope movement of the weathered and weakly held particles of a slope under the influence of gravity. Sometimes, the materials are taken to some or a comparatively large distance, from their source area through mass wasting. It leaves a noticeable open scar on the slope from where it had begun and deposits of debris are found at the base of the slope until which the movement occurred.