Tag: Physical weathering

Over 66% of the Earth's continents are covered in sedimentary rock, a product of weathered and eroded materials. This remarkable statistic hints at a fundamental geological truth: minerals, while stable under certain conditions, absolutely break down when exposed to the Earth's surface. This process, known as weathering, drives the continuous reshaping of our planet's crust and is a key part of the rock cycle.

Despite appearing permanent, minerals are finite resources, and their slow but constant destruction is a fundamental geological process. Over eons, weathering, erosion, and chemical alteration work to break down and transform minerals and the rocks they compose, a natural cycle often accelerated by human intervention.