What is Chemical Weathering?
Practice Version
Chemical Weathering:
The breakdown of rock through chemical processes, like acid rain. Chemical weathering. Chemical weathering is when rocks are dissolved or changed by chemical reactions, like when rainwater causes them to break down.
Example:
Imagine you've left a metal bike out in the rain for months, and it begins to rust and degrade. This is similar to how rocks break down through chemical weathering, such as when acid rain interacts with them. Just as the rainwater, mixed with air, slowly corrodes the metal on your bike, acid rain falls on rocks and chemically reacts with minerals, leading to their gradual breakdown.
