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деформація
mass wasting – зсув, оповзень elevate – підвищувати, розвивати
derive – отримувати, діставати elevation – висота, височина
іn response – у відповідь gradually – поступово, помалу
accomplish - виконуватись involve - залучати
underestimate - недооцінювати power – живитись енергією,
підтримуватись
external – зовнішній (екзогенний) stream – річка, струмок
overlie - лежати (над чим-небудь, на subtle – ледве помітний
чому-небудь)
removal – видалення, ліквідація pore space – порожнина пор
Task 2. Read the following text, translate it into Ukrainian.
Weathering and Soil
Weathering, mass wasting, and erosion are called external processes because
they occur at or near Earth’s surface and are powered by energy from the Sun. External
processes are a basic part of the rock cycle because they are responsible for
transforming solid rock into sediment. 200 years ago, most people believed that
mountains, lakes, and deserts were permanent features of an Earth that was thought to
be no more than a few thousand years old. Today we know that Earth is 4.6 billion years
old and that mountains eventually succumb to weathering and erosion, lakes fill with
sediment or are drained by streams, and deserts come and go with changes in climate.
Earth is a dynamic body. Some parts of Earth’s surface are gradually elevated by
mountain building and volcanic activity. These internal processes derive their energy
from Earth’s interior. Meanwhile, opposing external processes are continually breaking
rock apart and moving the debris to lower elevations. The latter processes include:
1. Weathering—the physical breakdown (disintegration) and chemical alteration
(decomposition) of rocks at or near Earth’s surface.
2. Mass wasting—the transfer of rock and soil downslope under the influence of
gravity.
3. Erosion—the physical removal of material by mobile agents such as water, wind, or
ice.
Weathering
Weathering goes on all around us, but it seems like such a slow and subtle
process that it is easy to underestimate its importance. It is worth remembering that
weathering is a basic part of the rock cycle and thus a key process in the Earth system.
Weathering is also important to humans—even to those of us who are not studying
geology. For example, many of the life-sustaining minerals and elements found in soil,
and ultimately in the food we eat, were freed from solid rock by weathering processes.
Weathering occurs when rock is mechanically fragmented (disintegrated) and/or
chemically altered (decomposed). Mechanical weathering is accomplished by physical
forces that break rock into smaller and smaller pieces without changing the rock’s
mineral composition.
Chemical weathering involves a chemical transformation of rock into one or more new
compounds. Why does rock weather? Simply, weathering is the response of Earth
materials to a changing environment. For instance, after millions of years of uplift and
erosion, the rocks overlying a large intrusive igneous body may be removed, exposing it
at the surface.
The mass of crystalline rock, which formed deep below ground where
temperatures and pressures are much greater than at the surface, is now subjected to a
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