ABSTRACT
This chapter considers two major products of weathering – regolith and soils. It first defines the regolith and its components, identifying in situ saprock and saprolite and mobile zone lying above them in the weathering profile. It then explores the nature of soil as an independent body occupying the portion of the regolith supporting plant life, where soil-forming processes dominate under the influence of climate, relief, organisms, parent material, and time. It details soil profiles and horizons, soil catenas, and soil landscapes. The next section considers the influence of climate, rock type, topography, drainage, and time on weathering processes, focusing on climatically controlled leaching regimes and their importance in the building of new clays (neoformation) from weathering products and the shaping of the global pattern of weathering crusts. Finally, the chapter explains the formation of Anthrosols and Technosols by human activities.
