Progress and issues in rock weathering studies in Japan

Abstract

Given that rock weathering influences the processes and rates of landform development, an understanding of the processes and rates of rock weathering is important in engineering geology. The study of weathering has been classified into three types: (1) the process (mechanism) of weathering, (2) weathering products and changes in rock properties, and (3) rates of weathering. Analyses of the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of weathering products are also important because these rock properties are closely related to each other. However, works on weathering products have generally not been undertaken with the intention of estimating long-term weathering rates, because of difficulties in the estimation of time.

This review suggests that experimental studies have significantly progressed using new analytical methods on rock weathering in Japan. In particular, many studies on salt weathering and its influence of rock properties have recently been published. Rates of long-term weathering are estimated based on the assumption that the weathering period is equal to the period between the emergence age of river terraces or the formation age of lava domes, and the present. Accumulated data on weathering rates and changes in rock properties are needed to enable progress in studies of rock weathering.