Freeze thaw weathering
Student tasks
1. Arrange the cards in the correct order
This continuous process
causes rocks to be broken
up.
At night the temperature
drops below 0°C
As the water freezes it
expands.
Cracks in the rocks get wet
and filled with water.
The cracks become wider.
The ice thaws and
contracts.
The temperature rises
above 0°C.
This cycle continues
widening and enlarging the
cracks.
The water in cracks freezes.
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Freeze thaw weathering
2. Draw a series of diagrams to illustrate the freeze thaw sequence.
3. Label the image below.
Freeze thaw weathering has shattered this large boulder on the
Isle of Skye, Scotland.
© John Allan 2007.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic Licence.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/618629
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Freeze thaw weathering
Teaching notes
One student’s answer:
1. A small crack in the
rock surface.
2. Rain water enters cracks in
3. During the night the
the rocks during the day.
4. The ice expands by 9%,
temperature drops drastically.
causing pressure on the
The liquid water is turned into
rock and making the crack
a solid form: ice.
bigger. During the day
the ice thaws. After many
such freeze thaw cycles
the rock fails and breaks.
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