NOiZE wrote:Looks pretty Cool Forboding,
but i think the contours are all too round
EROSION
Erosion is a key part of the Rock Cycle. It is responsible for forming much of the interesting landscape that is around us. It is also a major problem as people live in areas in large numbers and get used to the environment being in a certain way. People can do things to increase erosion or slow it down.
Erosion happens mainly as a result of weathering ├óÔé¼ÔÇ£ the effect of water, temperature and wind on the landscape.
Water causes much erosion. When it falls as acid rain, it can dissolve rocks that are sensitive to acid. Marble & limestone weather when exposed to the rain. When the rain falls very heavily, as in monsoons, then flooding can happen. Rivers with a lot or rushing water can cause mud slides and erode river banks. The action of waves on
a beach causes much erosion. The waves pound on the rocks & over time, cliffs crumble. That is why you will
often find sand & little pebbles on beaches. Rushing water, like what you find in rivers that move quickly in the mountains or strong waves on the shores of oceans, roll rocks around. This causes the sharp edges of the rocks
to get knocked off & that is why river rocks are so smooth & beach pebbles look polished.
Acid Rain: chemicals in the air combine with precipitation, when it rains it dissolves certain minerals
sensitive to acid
Leaching by ground water: water soaks into the soil, picks up chemicals which then allow it to leach or dissolve rocks it comes in contact with at bedrock
Wave action at the beach: the waves tumble rocks which get ground down by the sand particles already
on the beach, rocks smash against each other & break
Fast moving water: rocks get picked up & carried when water runs swiftly, bouncing along a river &
smashing into other rocks
Glaciers: large sheets of ice pick up large rocks, scrape bedrock, tumble rocks in under-glacier rivers
when they melt
Precipitation / Floods: heavy rain can cause floods which move & break rocks
The freeze / thaw cycle causes mountains to crumble over time and large rocks to break
down into little rocks. When water gets into cracks in the rocks, this water expands during the freeze cycle,
making the cracks bigger. Then when the cracks fill up with water in the thaw period, it allows more water
to go deeper into the rock which will make the rocks split apart when they freeze again. The power of frozen
water expanding can be seen when you leave a glass bottle filled with liquid in the freezer.
Wind, when it carries bits of sand and grit, can blast away layers of rocks. The wind can easily pick up
little bits of sand and then sandblast the rocks that are in the wind's way. Sometimes only the soft layers of
the rock are eroded, leaving interesting shapes. This kind of erosion usually only happens in very dry,
desert like areas.
Other causes for rocks to break down & erode:
How hard / tough mineral is: softer, more friable rocks and minerals break up easily
Plant roots growing: plants get nutrients from the soil, seek out certain minerals like potash, apatite for fertilizer, small roots go in cracks & break up mineral or rock when the root grows bigger
Rock Falls: rocks tumbling down from a cliff or steep mountainside cause rocks to break up
Contact with soil: certain soils have chemicals in them that react with the chemical make up of rocks
And don`t get along with that cheap excuse - it is on a Alien Planet. We have been there before you, don`t ask how - but we know 
