Mountain building accelerates weathering and erosion. What is the effect?

• A. It has no effect on weathering.
• B. It slows erosion.
• C. It accelerates weathering and erosion.
• D. It only affects climate.

Answer: (C)

When mountains rise, rocks are exposed more and slopes become steeper, plus they often drive more rainfall through the orographic effect. All of that speeds up both weathering and erosion. Weathering breaks rock apart physically (like freeze–thaw and root wedging) and chemically (with water and dissolved ions), and the added rainfall accelerates chemical weathering. Erosion then moves that loosened material away more quickly, with gravity causing landslides, and rivers and glaciers carving valleys and transporting sediments downstream. So the overall effect is a faster combined rate of rock breakdown and removal, reshaping the landscape more rapidly.