ABSTRACT
Surface and subsurface rocks are in a state of tensile and compressive stress (Chapter 2). The surface rocks are also additionally exposed to the mechanical stress of temperature and moisture fluctuations in the environment. The tensile and compressive stress forms are commonly recognized as pressure release in surface rocks and compressive stress release in the subsurface rocks. The environment-related disintegration processes are broadly classified as thermal expansion and contraction of rocks, growth of crystals in rocks and sediments, hydration of minerals, crystallization of salts in rocks and porous media, and colloidal plucking. All of these domains of process activities disintegrate rocks and disrupt the earth materials in many different ways.
