Talk:Spheroidal weathering

I think there is a confusion between to types of weathering here: one is due only to chemical process and the other is from the pressure release of the large rocks massifs, and is mainly physical.

Each one can occur whithout the other.

Zimbres 14:48, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

The article doesn't mention that spheroidal weathering can occur when water seeps into joints ("cracks") in rock and the subsurface rock is attacked chemically. This has nothing to do with pressure release. Because corners are attacked more effectively than flat surfaces, such weathering produces rounded forms that may become boulders as surrounding weathered rock erodes away.

Fredfern (talk) 22:43, 19 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Full ack to the two opinions stated above: apparently “spheroidal weathering” refers to two not-so-closely-related processes: One is due to the chemical weathering of orthogonally jointed rocks often resulting in rounded but rarely in true spheroidal shapes. This one is called woolsack weathering. The other one is due to concentric jointing (exfoliation jointing) of plutonic rocks, often resulting in almost perfectly spheroidal shapes. In this process chemical weathering may contribute much less in the shaping of the rocks... --Gretarsson (talk) 18:08, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

Weathering Rinds Versus Spheroidal Weathering
Looking at both the figure that was originally used in this article and the current redirect from Weathering Rind, It needs to noted that, although they are related, they are two distinct different types of chemical weathering. Weathering rinds are the outer zone of weathered material within either pebbles, cobbles, boulders or other loose sedimentary particles that are either lying on the ground surface or buried in loose sediments such as alluvium or glacial till. On the other hand, spheroidal weathering refers to spherical layers of weathered material that develop in solid rock in the subsurface in jointed bedrock. The distinction between these two different and distinct weathering features need to be made by making them separate articles and in correctly labeling the images used to illustrate them. Paul H. (talk) 20:13, 1 March 2014 (UTC)