Final answer:
Hydrolysis is a chemical weathering process where water chemically reacts with rock minerals, while frost wedging, exfoliation, and root wedging are types of mechanical weathering that break rocks apart physically.option A is correct.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks which of the following is NOT a type of mechanical weathering.
Hydrolysis is the process by which water reacts chemically with minerals in rocks, leading to alteration of the minerals and often a breakdown of the rock structure.
This is thus a chemical weathering process, not a mechanical one. On the other hand, frost wedging (when water freezes in the cracks of rocks and expands, causing the rock to break), exfoliation
(when layers or slabs of rock peel away due to pressure release), and root wedging (when plant roots grow into existing cracks in rocks and force the cracks further apart) are all examples of mechanical weathering that physically break rock apart without changing the rock's mineral composition. Hence, option A. Hydrolysis is a type of mechanical weathering.