To some extent, the immediate and simple end of the weathering process is the production of sediment. By definition, weathering is the breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals on Earths surface. It can be done mechanically or chemically by agents such as water, ice, acids, salt, plants, animals, and/or changes in temperature.
However, weathering is a part of the entire rock cycle. Being a cycle means that there is not really a true end or beginning. Weathering is simply...
To some extent, the immediate and simple end of the weathering process is the production of sediment. By definition, weathering is the breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals on Earths surface. It can be done mechanically or chemically by agents such as water, ice, acids, salt, plants, animals, and/or changes in temperature.
However, weathering is a part of the entire rock cycle. Being a cycle means that there is not really a true end or beginning. Weathering is simply a stage in the overall process that leads to something else. Rock is weathered into sediments which are then carried somewhere else because of erosion. These eroded sediments are then deposited somewhere. Weathering, erosion, and deposition will continue year after year, and the deposited sediments will eventually be compacted and cemented together to form a sedimentary rock. That rock can be turned into a metamorphic rock or igneous rock through other processes, or it could be subjected to weathering all over again and turned back into sediments.
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