Water Pressure

Water breaks down rock in a couple of ways:

• Dissolves the rock. Some rocks are more susceptible to being dissolved than others. Some elements which compose rocks are more "water-soluble" than are others.
• Successive bits of freezing and thawing of water in small cracks within a rock serves to break apart rock by applying pressure to the walls. This happens because when water changes phase to become ice, it increases in volume (size). The same amount of water takes up more room when it becomes ice. So water which fills up a crack when it is water, upon freezing, expands, and eventually forces the crack to widen.

This is a view of the Earth.
Click on image for full size version (40K GIF)
Image from: NOAA

Go to a listing of Rocks

Water Pressure

Water breaks down rock in a couple of ways:

• Dissolves the rock. Some rocks are more susceptible to being dissolved than others. Some elements which compose rocks are more "water-soluble" than are others.
• Successive bits of freezing and thawing of water in small cracks within a rock serves to break apart rock by applying pressure to the walls. This happens because when water changes phase to become ice, it increases in volume (size). The same amount of water takes up more room when it becomes ice. So water which fills up a crack when it is water, upon freezing, expands, and eventually forces the crack to widen.

This is a view of the Earth.
Click on image for full size version (40K GIF)
Image from: NOAA

Go to a listing of Rocks

Water Pressure

Water breaks down rock in a couple of ways:

• It dissolves the rock. Some rocks are more susceptible to being dissolved than others.
• Freezing and thawing of water in small cracks within a rock also helps to break apart rock by applying pressure to the walls. This happens because when water becomes ice, it increases in size. The same amount of water takes up more room when it becomes ice. So water which fills up a crack when it is water, upon freezing, gets bigger, and eventually forces the crack to open wider.

This is a view of the Earth.
Click on image for full size version (40K GIF)
Image from: NOAA

Go to a listing of Rocks