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How Can Ice Wedging Cause Weathering?

Weathering, or erosion, is caused by mechanical and chemical processes. The use of ice as a weathering agent causes much mechanical erosion from the simple scientific properties it contains, as it changes from liquid to solid.

Function
- According to the Scarborough School Department, as water freezes into ice, it expands by 9 to 10 percent. This process is called ice wedging, and this expansion is what causes weathering, or erosion.
Significance
- When water is trapped in rock crevices or pores and the temperature drops, ice is formed. Despite the compact area the water is occupying, the ice expands with its normal properties, breaking rock into smaller pieces which allow the ice the room it needs. This process is called ice wedging, and as a result, erosion and weathering can take place in rock, and also clay.
Effects
- As the trapped ice warms with temperature changes, it liquefies again. The process will keep repeating as the water remains trapped, allowing more and more erosion and weathering to occur through the different seasons.

Rocks & Minerals