What type of weathering is most common in limestone?
chemical weathering
Limestone areas are predominantly affected by chemical weathering when rainwater, which contains a weak carbonic acid, reacts with limestone. This causes the limestone to dissolve. Carbon dioxide from the respiration of animals (and ourselves) is one cause of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
What weathering creates limestone caverns?
Limestone caverns form when slightly acid groundwater seeping through limestone rocks dissolves a hole in the rock. Over time the hole increases in size forming caves that are sometimes miles long. The groundwater carries the dissolved calcite away in solution and deposits it in other caves as a limestone formation.
How are limestone caves formed by chemical weathering?
These caves were carved by solution weathering when water seeped into cracks in the limestone, gradually enlarging them. Most limestone caves in Britain formed like this. Rainwater becomes acidic as it dissolves carbon dioxide from the air and soil, and can dissolve away the rock to form cave systems.
What type of chemical weathering will affect limestone the most?
There are different types of chemical weathering, the most important are: Solution – removal of rock in solution by acidic rainwater. In particular, limestone is weathered by rainwater containing dissolved CO2, (this process is sometimes called carbonation).
How long do limestone caves take to form?
Limestone stalactites form extremely slowly – usually less than 10cm every thousand years – and radiometric dating has shown that some are over 190,000 years old. Stalactites can also form by a different chemical process when water drips through concrete, and this is much faster.
Why do limestone caverns form?
Limestone caves, which are formed primarily by rainwater and snowmelt, are by far the most numerous of all cave types. Rainwater and snowmelt seeping into the ground absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, which is a product of decaying organic matter. The water and carbon dioxide together form carbonic acid.
What is the chemical name for limestone?
calcium carbonate
Commodity: Limestone, a sedimentary rock that is dominantly composed of the calcium-bearing carbonate minerals calcite and dolomite. Calcite is chemically calcium carbonate (formula CaCO3). Dolomite is chemically calcium-magnesium carbonate (formula CaMg(CO3)2).
Why do so many caves form in limestone?
The acidified water will keep percolating downward until it reaches the limestone. Solution caves form when this acidified water has a way into the rock. This is usually through cracks, fractures, weak spots, or open places within the limestone. In a small crack the water cannot move far.