Nanoscale Mineral Decay and Its Importance in Geomorphology

This article overviews connections between nanoscale weathering and geomorphology. Nanoscale processes are on one side of a fundamental threshold between the coarser microscale (micrometers and up) and the finer nanoscale with different molecular dynamics. Nanoscale processes impact a variety of geomorphic research including Arctic and alpine mineral decay, biotic weathering as an explanation for deviations from Goldich’s weathering series, carbon sequestration related to silicate dissolution, case hardening, detachment limited erosion, dirt cracking, geochemical pollution, the meteoric 10Be cosmogenic nuclide, rock coating behavior, silt production, and tafoni.