Why is mineral weathering important?
The soil is a moist environment, teaming with living organisms that produce weak acids. The moisture and acids bathing rock minerals causes them to dissolve, a process called chemical weathering 1. The soluble salts released when a rock mineral weathers are either absorbed by plant roots to become the ash or plant minerals 1, serving as vital nutrients for growth, or the salts are leached into rivers and groundwater, ultimately reaching the sea. The insoluble salts released by weathering become clays 1, fine-grained minerals with a high surface area that retain nutrients and toxicants on their surfaces.
