The Decay into Beauty



These mountains show different joints on the rock pillars
which could be created by water instead of wind due to the
rocks being much more jagged than smooth. There are also
signs of different elements present inside of the rock
pillars showing different signs of oxidation along with
root decay with the vegetation growing on top of the pillar.

To begin, weathering is the process of decaying or breaking down rocks and landforms over time, while erosion is the transportation of said weathered materials. These two processes go hand-in-hand not to form mountains or landforms, but to add definition to them. On the island of Hainan, the weather is a tropical marine climate with dry springs and heavy rainfall for the rest of the seasons. High temperatures in the summer create heavy rainstorms, causing different weathering and eroding processes to take place all over the island. The heavy rainfalls can then penetrate into small joints (cracks) in the Earth's crust, creating expansion decay where materials expand with water, cracking the surrounding crust. Another physical decaying process that occurs is the constant wetting and drying of rocks which can crack rocks or break off pieces of mountains or volcanoes, forming immersive joints and colluviums, which are angular-sloped materials or rocks. With Hainan having a high amount of vegetation on the island, root decay is a very capable physical decay process that inhabits the land. As different trees and plants grow, whether on a mountain or around man-made objects, the roots dig into rocks, expand, and break the rock from inside. With weathering constantly weakening mountains, mass wasting or landslides become hazards in Hainan leading to gravity eventually grabbing and tearing down pieces of land along with mud and colluviums.


This image displays how mass wasting may occur with a weakened land
over time due to weathering and erosion such as root decay along with water-based
decays such as expansion decay. Small pieces of colluvium can be seen as well

Soils on the island should include both andisol soils and mollisol soils. Andisols are soils that form around volcanoes from the ashes and other materials that expel from the surrounding volcanoes. There should be small traces of the andisol soils in Hainan due to the fact that the volcanoes on the island are either dormant or extinct; hence no recent eruptions to deposit the volcanic ash soils. With Hainan's high vegetation, mollisol soils must be present, providing nutrient-rich soil in the A-horizon.



Vegetation in Mount Diaoluo Forest Park with trees that can have thick roots, penetrating the ground and various rocks causing root decay.

This picture shows the vast amounts of land in which vegetation inhabits, even on mountains, where root decay can take place.

Sources:
http://luketyburski.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/wuzhi-mountain.jpg
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/hainan/haikou/wuzhi-mountain.htm
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/typhoon-hits-china-s/1364694.html
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/climate/haikou.htm

These pillars display joints all over the landform and possible mass wasting could have occurred based on the lower portion of the structure missing a piece of its base. Water could have gotten into the different joints, weathered and eroded, weakening the landform causing gravity to break off the lower portion of the pillar.