The role of rock fracture in erosion Shortcut URL:
http://serc.carleton.edu/38039 Country: New Zealand UTM
coordinates and datum: 58 G 688907 E, 5000710 S Climate Setting:
Humid Tectonic setting: Continental Collision Margin Before rock
can be eroded, intact bedrock must be broken into smaller pieces
that can be detached from the landscape. This detachment process
can occur at the scale of grains, thereby promoting grain-by-
grain attrition from a rock surface, or at scales that enable
landslides. In all cases, fractures serve to decrease overall
rock strength by reducing cohesion and potentially by lessening
the effective angle of internal friction (Terzaghi, 1962). The
creation of fractures results from two major classes of
processes: geomorphic and tectonic. Geomorphic processes
encompass the broad suite of physical, chemical, and biotic
processes that serve to break down rock masses. In almost all
cases, these processes are most intense at the surface, and they
diminish in effectiveness with depth, typical