Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store
seo-qna
SearchIcon
banner

How is Granular Disintegration different from Exfoliation?

Answer
VerifiedVerified
496.5k+ views
Hint: Both are types of mechanical weathering. Both include the disintegration or decay of solid rock due to changes in temperature and weather and their effect on rock composition. It involves breaking the pieces of rock without altering its chemical composition.

Complete answer:
Differences between granular disintegration and exfoliation :-

Granular disintegrationExfoliation
Granular disintegration happens when the grains of a rock become loosened and fall out, leaving a pitted, uneven surface due to changing temperatures Exfoliation is a mechanism in which large flat or curved sheets of rock are broken and separated from the outcrop due to the release of pressure
Different minerals grow differently when the rock is heated.- Internal tension results and the rock disintegrates into grains over time.when erosion removes the overburden from the rock formed at high pressure deep in the earth's crust, it causes the rock to expand, resulting in cracks and fractures along the sheet joints parallel to the erosion surface
It takes place in cold regions and locations situated at high altitudes.Exfoliation is known as peeling off the surface of the rock.Exfoliation results in a dome like structure of a huge rock mass.
Complex strains are set aside known as the rock mass exfoliation dome due to temperature change.Other than internal layers, the surface expands, causing strain between the layersBoth layers.- The outer layer creates cracks and then peels off with time and parts of rocks fall under gravity.

Note: If the water sinks into a rock crack and the temperature drops low enough, the water freezes into ice. The ice spreads and forms wedges in the rock that can break the rock into smaller parts.
When water flows rapidly in a river or stream, rocks may be raised from the bottom of the body of water. When the rocks fall back down, they strike other rocks, and tiny parts of the rocks will break apart.
Animals burrowing underground, such as moles, gophs, or even ants, may influence physical weather by loosening and breaking up rocks.