Limestone

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Chemical weathering

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Terms in this set (6)

Chemical weathering

Rainwater absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, this causes the rainwater to become a very weak acid(naturally acidic rain), this can now disolve limestone, because limestone is made of calcium carbonate and the acid dissolves the rock

physical weathering

Breaking down rocks through physical processes like freezing and thawing- water gets into rocks and freezes over time. Then expands by 9% so the rock breaks away, this is freeze thaw shattering.

Bedding Planes (horizontal cracks)

Bedding planes are formed when layers of Dead Sea creatures lie on the bottom of the ocean in layers

Joints (vertical cracks)

Vertical joints within limestone are formed by tectonic uplift

When sea creatures die, their shells and skeletal debris accumulate as sediment on the ocean floor, that is lithified into limestone

Tech tonic uplift over the course of 540 million years has pushed the ocean floor above the sea,, where continents are shifted by convention currents