What is differential weathering?

Question

my question is actually "Which of the lithologies woulf form high relief topographic features? Which would form the lower relief features?" and to help me with that question, i need to know what differential weathering is... how does that relate to my question... i dont get it, please help.

is it asking which rock {marble, granite and sandstone} will last longer through weatheringg??

i dont knoww!! please help! thx3

Answer 1

Generally sandstones and quartzites are more weathering resistant. They tend to form mountains and ridges. Limestones and shales tend to weather more and form valleys. They can't hold a mountain up.

Differential weathering is where different formations or even bedding within the same formation, weather at different rates. Softer, less competent rocks weather faster than harder, more substantial rocks. Look at a road cut, some rocks stick out like massive sandstones, and underlying shales have weathered back into the hillside. The rocks have experienced the same weathering forces, but the shales have weathered faster. Look at a cross-bedded sandstone. Some bedding is prominent and sticks out, some has eroded back in the formation. Both are differential weathering.

In the big picture, the rocks on a mountain have resisted weathering, where the rocks in the valley floor have succumbed, Differential weathering.

The last part of your question; think of a cemetery. Which gravestones last the longest? Lots of pink granite ones, huh? Granite is a very hard metamorphic rock. It is the most resistant to weathering. Marble is metamorphosed limestone. Much harder than limestone, but still CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate). Rain is slightly acidic, so marble will weather out, but very slowly. Sandstone is a sedimentary rock, softer than granite or marble. So there is your answer.

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Differential Weathering

Answer 3

The process where some rocks are worn away less rapidly than others causing them to stand out in greater relief than the softer rocks in an exposure.
Excellent examples of differential weathering occur in the Idavada silicic volcanic rocks in the Snake River Plains. Balanced Rock and the Gooding City of Rocks are outstanding examples of differential weathering.

Answer 4

Differential weathering is soft materials weather faster than hard materials. If a crack or holes opens in a hard strata over a soft strata, the soft strata will wear away before the top strata does.

Answer 5

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In the US im guessing its the interior of alaska. In Fairbanks alaska temperatures normally fall to 40F below, and during summer can get to more than 80F. Though Utah probably has some on the highest temperature ranges in the lower 48. In the world that honour goes to verkhoyansk, Russia. Where temperatures most winters can fall to -70 and have even reached -94, but during summer they can reach 80F and have at one point reached 99F. A temperature range of 193F.

Answer 6

i'd guess central asia where it's gets -40F or more and 120F in the summer sun. It's the massive landform and distance from ocean that allows such extremes. in the winter, arctic air flows freely over the steppes. in the summer the sun bakes the ground like an oven. deserts are similar and i've heard of rocks cracking when the daytime heat rapidly cools in the dry air after sunset.