AQA A-Level Geography 7037
Water and Carbon Cycles
Hot Desert Systems and LandscapesLandscape
Coastal Systems and LandscapesLandscape
Glacial Systems and LandscapesLandscape
HazardsHazards or ecosystems
Ecosystems Under StressHazards or ecosystems
Global Systems and Global Governance
Changing Places
Contemporary Urban EnvironmentsHuman option
Population and the EnvironmentHuman option
Resource SecurityHuman option
Hot Desert Systems and Landscapes
Thermal Fracture and Rock Breakdown
- 4 things to know
- Component 1
Overview
Recall questions on what heating and nocturnal cooling do to rock surfaces and on how differential stress weakens rock over repeated cycles.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Why do repeated heating and cooling cycles progressively weaken rock through thermal fracture?
Why are chemical weathering rates limited in hot desert environments?
Explain how thermal fracture and exfoliation break down desert rock.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
In thermal fracture, what happens to rock surfaces during intense daytime heating?
Model answer
The rock surface expands due to the heat.
- 2
What occurs to rock during rapid nocturnal cooling in the thermal fracture process?
Model answer
The rock contracts as it cools.
- 3
How does differential stress contribute to thermal fracture?
Model answer
The difference in expansion and contraction between the heated surface and cooler interior creates stresses that generate fractures in the rock.
- 4
Why do repeated heating and cooling cycles progressively weaken rock through thermal fracture?
Model answer
Each cycle widens existing cracks, and repeated cycles cause progressive crack enlargement until rock fragments break away.
- 5
What is exfoliation?
Model answer
The peeling away of curved sheets of rock from exposed surfaces due to pressure release or thermal stress.
- 6
Name three types of chemical weathering that occur in deserts.
Model answer
Hydrolysis, oxidation and solution.
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