Question

EXERCISE 6.1 Looking at Weathering Products During chemical weathering, water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide combine with minerals in previously existing rocks to destroy some minerals and create new ones. (a) How does the mineral assemblage in chemically weathered sediment change with the amount of chemical weathering

Answer 1

The mineral assemblage decreases as the weathering increases.

Step-by-step explanation:

Mineral assemblage is the term that refers to the amount of minerals that are within a rock. When this rock undergoes weathering, these minerals are removed from the rock because of the sediments that come off of it. There are several types of weathering, among which, we can mention the chemical weathering that occurs through chemical transformations that rocks present due to the influence of temperature and pressure differences in the environment in which the rock is located.

In this case, we can see that chemical weathering creates sediments, which are fragments of rock that have come loose due to chemical transformations. These sediments decrease the amount of minerals inside the rock. In this case, the greater the chemical weathering, the greater the creation of sediments and the smaller the mineral assemblage.