So everything I find just mentions erosion taking place over a long period of time, but just what is happening? Does a microscopic layer get drug away all the time, or is it nothing until all of a sudden some gets carried away?
Asking because I didn’t know if erosion was taking place at an immeasurable pace with my drinking glass.
Edit: I should add that I understand from a high level how erosion, or weathering, occurs. But I don’t know how it’s happening at a micro level. Is it always the top layer of atoms being stripped? I’m assuming bond strength plays a factor, but does the weathering material break the bond down over time, or just if bond strength is < some measure then it strips away?
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>Does a microscopic layer get drug away all the time
This.
There are different forces that act on different aspects of the environment, but in general, it’s that a huge amount of very gentle force, over a very long time, causes enough “damage” that it becomes visible.
A drop of water is much weaker than stone. But if every 10 drops that fall from a stalactite slam into a stone carry away a tiny little microscopic chunk of the stone, then 10 billion drops over the course of 100 years are going to have removed enough tiny little chunks to start to make a crater shape.
This happens with wind carrying tiny grains of abrasive material like sand, scouring away at a rock face over millions of years, little by little. It happens with metals that rub together, like chain links. It happens when waves crash against rocks or cliff faces or even sandy beaches. It happens in your water glass as well.
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