WEATHERING

Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth's atmosphere,biota and waters. Weathering occurs in situ, or "with no movement", and thus should not be confused with erosion, which involves the movement of rocks and minerals by agents such as water, ice, snow, wind and gravity. Two important classifications of weathering processes exist physical and chemical weathering. Mechanical or physical weathering involves the breakdown of rocks and soils through direct contact with atmospheric conditions, such as heat, water, ice and pressure. The second classification, chemical weathering, involves the direct effect of atmospheric chemicals or biologically produced chemicals (also [1] known as biological weathering) in the breakdown of rocks, soils and minerals. The materials left over after the rock breaks down combined with organic material creates soil. The mineral content of the soil is determined by the parent material, thus a soil derived from a single rock type can often be deficient in one or more minerals for good fertility, while a soil weathered from a mix of rock types (as in glacial, aeolian or alluvial sediments) often makes more fertile soil. In addition many of Earth's landforms and landscapes are the result of weathering processes combined with erosion and redeposition.

Types of weathering
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth's atmosphere,biota and waters. Weathering occurs in situ, or "with no movement", and thus should not be confused with erosion, which involves the movement of rocks and minerals by agents such as water, ice, snow, wind and gravity. Two important classifications of weathering processes exist physical and chemical weathering. Mechanical or physical weathering involves the breakdown of rocks and soils through direct contact with atmospheric conditions, such as heat, water, ice and pressure. The second classification, chemical weathering, involves the direct effect of atmospheric chemicals or biologically produced chemicals (also [1] known as biological weathering) in the breakdown of rocks, soils and minerals. The materials left over after the rock breaks down combined with organic material creates soil. The mineral content of the soil is determined by the parent material, thus a soil derived from a single rock type can often be deficient in one or more minerals for good fertility, while a soil weathered from a mix of rock types (as in glacial, aeolian or alluvial sediments) often makes more fertile soil. In addition many of Earth's landforms and landscapes are the result of weathering processes combined with erosion and redeposition. Physical weathering is the disintegration of earth material without undergoing a chemical change. Physical weathering results in increased surface area for chemical reactions to occur on.
Chemical weathering is caused by rain water reacting with the mineral grains in rocks to form new minerals (clays) and soluble salts. These reactions occur particularly when the water is slightly acidic.

Factors affecting weathering

Climate
Weathering processes are particularly dependent on certain climatic conditions which determine temperature and the availablity of water.

Geology
The mineral composition and the physical structure of rock (presence of joints, bedding planes etc.) can greatly affect the rates of weathering.

Relief
The relief of the land may affect weathering in a number of ways. Slope processes, such as landslides, slumps and solifluction can result in the exposure of previously unexposed, bare rock which then becomes susceptible to weathering.

Soil / Vegetation Cover

The presence of vegetation helps to increase rates of weathering. This includes direct biological weathering, through the growth of plant roots into joints and along bedding planes, wedging rock apart.

Human Activity
Humans have greatly increased rates of weathering by influencing concentrations of chemical pollutants in the atmosphere by industry, power stations, vehicle emmisions etc. The increase in gases such as carbon dioxide, suluphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide has lead to the formation of acid rain, where these gases have formed acid in solution with water - e.g. carbonic acid.

Soil
is a natural body consisting of layers (soil horizons) of primarily mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their texture, structure, consistence, color, chemical, [1] biological and other physical characteristics. In engineering, soil is referred to as regolith, or loose rock material. Strictly speaking, soil is the depth of regolith that influences and has been influenced by plant roots. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and mechanical processes that include weathering and erosion. Soil is altered from its parent rock due to interactions [2] between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and the biosphere. It is a mixture [3][4] of mineral and organic constituents that are in solid, gaseous and aqueous states. Soil is commonly [5] referred to as earth or dirt; technically, the term dirt should be restricted to displaced soil. Soil is made up of varying ratios of minerals, air, water and organic material. Soil is healthy if it consists of roughly 40% mineral, 23% water, 23% air, 6% organic material and 8% living organisms. Soil texture is concerned with the relative proportions of mineral particles of various sizes in a given soil. These particles are grouped into 3 basic categories: sand, silt and clay. Sand

particles are the largest ones in soil other than gravel or other rocks. Intermediate sized particles are called silt. The very smallest particles in soil are clay. Heavy and light are commonly used to describe soils. They refer to the easy of tillage, and not to soil weight. Heavy soils are commonly finer soils, which require more horsepower because the higher clay content makes them more sticky. Light soils have a higher percentage of sand (thus coarse textures), stick together less, and require less muscle to till. The rate of water percolation is another way to describe the texture of soils. Soils percolate water at different rates. Soil should be watered only as much and as fast as the soil can absorb without runoff. Sandy soil absorbs more than two inches of water per hour. It as very porous. Loam soils absorbs from 0.25 to 2 inches per hour. The soil is loose and porous but holds water quite well. Clay soil absorbs less than 0.25 inches of water per hour. Clay soil is dense with few air spaces between particles and holds water so tightly that little water is available to the plants. This very dense soil also prevents oxygen from reaching plant roots.

How does erosion differ from weathering?

Weathering is the breakdown of natural bodies like mountains to smaller fragments. Erosion is the migration of the materials that are broken down. Weathering will happen to materials in one place. Erosion will move the materials to a new location.
AGENT OF EROSION Wind, water, ice, and gravity are the agents of erosion.

Ways to prevent soil erosion

i) Soil erosion is the removal of soil from its surface by wind, water, and deforestation etc. Strong winds carry soil particles from one place to another to cause soil erosion. Fast running water creates depressions in the soil to cause soil erosion. Deforestation (cutting of trees) and overgrazing also lead to soil erosion. ii) Soil erosion can be controlled by the following ways: a) By planting more trees (forestation). b) By growing grasslands. c) By providing proper drainage system in the fields. d) By terrace cultivation on sloping fields.. e) By control of grazing.

Biosphere
Part of the Earth's surface and atmosphere that contains the entire terrestrial ecosystem, and extends from ocean depths to about six kilometers (3.7 miles) above sea level. Not precisely demarkable, it contains all living organisms and what supports them soil, subsurface water, bodies of water, air and includes hydrosphere and lithosphere. Also called ecosphere.

Ecosystem

Ecosystem science

is the study of inter-relationships among the living organisms,

physical features, bio-chemical processes, natural phenomena, and human activities in ecological communities All ecosystems must maintain a delicate balance between all of their members in order to thrive. Human interference and extreme natural events can tip this balance and threaten an ecosystems

health.An

ecosystem is an ecological community comprised of biological, physical, and chemical components, considered as a unit. NOS scientists monitor, research, and study ecosystem science on many levels. They may monitor entire ecosystems or they may study the chemistry of a single microbe. This wide range of data is collected into combined assessments that describe current ecosystem health, predict the future state of an ecosystem, and evaluate different management strategies that may improve the health of an ecosystem.

What composes ecosystem?

An ecosystem is comprised of practically everything that makes up a region's environment - biotic (living organisms) and abiotic (physical, inanimate objects) components. Each component of the ecosystem supports and intertwines with each other. A disturbance to a single variable of the ecosystem can have tumultuous effects on the entire ecosystem. This is why conservation and preservation are important in protecting our Earth from destruction.

Issue on ecosystem
ssue No. 1: The bait fishery The large pelagic fisheries of the region are primarily hook and line (longline, trolling, sportfishing) all of which are dependent on bait supplies. The expansion of commercial large pelagic fisheries in the southern part of the region has created an increased demand for bait, with a preference for live bait, if available. Bait species include flyingfish (Hirundichthys sp.), ballahoo (Hemiramphus sp), scads (Decapterus sp) and sprat (Harengula sp.). In the absence of locally caught bait, fishers have either been unable to fish or have purchased imported bait supplies (e.g. frozen squid). This demand for bait has caused price increases for small pelagic fish and created scarcity in the food fish supply of the same species. As a result, there are issues concerning ecological impact of the increased bait fishery, the economic impact of increased small pelagic prices and a potential social issue due to potential loss of a low-price source of protein in rural communities . What will be the impacts of the required increase in catches of the small pelagic and flyingfish (bait) fisheries to meet the demands of an expanding large pelagic fishery? Issue No. 2: Trophic linkages between flyingfish and dolphinfish Although fisheries tend to concentrate on higher trophic level species, there are numerous cases in which two or more commercially important species are linked by either direct trophic linkages or links mediated through other species. In these cases, the impacts of changes in one fishery may affect the catches and/or the biomass of other important commercial species. In the LAPE region there is a noteworthy example in the relation between dolphinfish and flyingfish. Both are already subject to welldeveloped fisheries. Flyingfish is a particularly important prey of dolphinfish, at least in the southern part of the LAPE. Several other large pelagic groups also prey on flyingfish although none as heavily as dolphinfish. Stakeholder views on the flyingfish fishery were mixed with some still seeing it as a potential expanding fishery while others perceive it as a declining fishery. So, in addition to a scenario for expansion of flyingfish fisheries there is also an interest in estimating if there would be any benefits to a reduction of effort on the flyingfish fishery. What would be the impacts of increasing effort in the flyingfish fishery on the biomass, catch and value of dolphinfish and other large pelagic species? What would be the impacts of increasing effort targeting dolphinfish on the biomass, catch and value of the flyingfish fishery? This is complicated by the fact that it would simultaneously remove a predator on flyingfish but increase the demand for flyingfish as bait.

Issue No. 3: Impact of cetaceans in the LAPE area on the fishery It was noted that most populations of oceanic marine mammals in the region seem to be increasing. This is due to being protected from fishing through most of their ranges and efforts to reduce incidental capture in fishing gear. Cetaceans may impact fisheries by competing with other species in the ecosystem for the same prey, or directly with fisheries for the same target species. Question: What would be the impact of increasing populations of marine mammals on the resources available for fisheries? Issue No. 4: Climate change One prediction is that global warming will result in increased run-off from major rivers and hence increase primary productivity in the region. Question: What would be the likely impact of increasing primary productivity on the biomass of fish available to fisheries in the region?

What is stratigraphy?
Stratigraphy is a branch of geology which studies rock layers and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy includes two related subfields: lithologic stratigraphy orlithostratigraphy, and biologic stratigraphy or biostratigraphy.
Stratigraphy refers to geological and archaeological layers that make up an archaeological deposit. Archaeologists use stratigraphy to better understand the processes that created the site. Charles Lyell's Law of Superposition argued that because of natural depositional processes (and in an undeformed natural sequence), soils found deeply buried will have been laid down earlierand thence be olderthan the soils found on top of them.

a.)Law of super position -The law of superposition (or the principle of superposition) is a key axiom based on observations of natural history that is a foundational principle of sedimentary stratigraphy and so of other geology dependent natural sciences: b.)Law of original horizontally

-the law of original horizontality states that most sediments, when originally formed, were laid down
horizontally. However, many layered rocks are no longer horizontal. Because of the Law of Original Horizontality, we know that sedimentary rocks that are not horizontal either were formed in special ways or, more often, were moved from their horizontal position by later events, such as tilting during episodes of mountain building. c.)Law

of continuity

-The Law of Continuity is a heuristic principle introduced by Leibniz based on earlier work by Nicholas
of Cusa and Johannes Kepler. It is the principle that "whatever succeeds for the finite, also succeeds for [1] the infinite". Kepler used it to calculate the area of the circle by representing the latter as an infinitesided polygon with infinitesimal sides, and adding the areas of infinitely many triangles with infinitesimal bases. Leibniz used the principle to extend concepts such as arithmetic operations, from ordinary numbers to infinitesimals, laying the groundwork for infinitesimal calculus. A mathematical implementation of the law of continuity is provided by the transfer principle in the context of the hyperreal numbers.

d.)Principle

-A principle is a law or rule that has to be, or usually is to be followed, or can be desirably followed, or is
an inevitable consequence of something, such as the laws observed in nature or the way that a system is constructed. The principles of such a system are understood by its users as the essential characteristics of the system, or reflecting system's designed purpose, and the effective operation or use of which would [1] be impossible if any one of the principles was to be ignored. Examples of principles: a descriptive comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption a normative rule or code of conduct, a law or fact of nature underlying the working of an artificial device.

EROSION

SOIL

BIOSPHERE

STRATIGRAPHY