I seem to remember that some of the Welsh slate was badly affected by the heat a summer or two back. Presumably heat expansion/contraction as a form of erosion.
Not a geologist, but I'd imagine prolonged hot dry spells would cause shrinkage in places that usually hold a certain amount of water, creating space for objects that are normally bound in place to start moving.
Thanks for the links - I had forgotten about granite.
I wondered if the low moisture content of grit would be a factor? Seeing as wet rock is more fragile. Or exfoliation of flakes in these unprecedented temps?
I watched the big wall in the lost world fall down in 2018 and can confirm it was a seriously hot day. It had been making very strange noises for a significant amount of time before it went.
I wasn't quick enough to film it all but got the aftermath on camera from our position on the Dinorwic Unconquerables.
In reply to Ciro: I think it more likely that it's heat expansion, including pore water, that is the cause. But anything happening along a fracture plane, being drying, water going, expansion, tends to weaken it
> I seem to remember that some of the Welsh slate was badly affected by the heat a summer or two back. Presumably heat expansion/contraction as a form of erosion.
> Does this affect any other rock types?
Possible faster erosion of existing rockfall sites could be triggered by rapid temperature rises? Hallett Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park had an epic slide recently
I experienced the opposite at Baggy Point once. We were climbing on Long Rock which, being early in the morning, was out of the sun. Once the sun got on it it took only minutes for the temperature to rise 10 or maybe 15 degrees and then there was an outbreak of swearing seconds trying to remove gear that had become welded in place by expansion - whether of the rock or the gear was unclear.
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