Eroded walls of Nicola River Canyon, Canada

Credit: KAJ R. SVENSSON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Caption: Weathering and erosion. The eroded side of an arid river canyon. The exposed rock of this canyon wall has been weathered by a process called freeze-thaw and eroded by wind and rain. Water from rain or dew enters cracks in the rock and freezes during the night. As it freezes it expands, breaking off fragments of rock and deepening the cracks. After melting the water trickles into other cracks, repeating the process. The crumbling rock surface is then eroded by wind and rain, and the debris washed away down the v-shaped run-off channels. Photographed at Nicola River Canyon, southwest British Columbia in Canada.

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Keywords: canyon, erosion, geology, geomorphology, nicola river canyon, sedimentary rock, water, water erosion, water-erosion

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