What happens to the weathering rate when surface area increases?

Correct answer: Weathering may become faster

Weathering is the breakdown or alteration of rocks at or near Earth’s surface. When a rock is broken into smaller pieces, the total surface exposed to air, water, oxygen, acids, and living organisms becomes larger. More exposed surface gives these agents more places to act. As a result, chemical reactions and physical breakdown can proceed more rapidly, although the exact rate also depends on climate, rock type, moisture, temperature, and biological activity.

Option C is correct because an increase in surface area can make weathering faster. It does not mean that weathering must always speed up under every condition; it means the opportunity for weathering is greater. Option B is incorrect because surface area does affect contact with weathering agents. Options A and D are clearly wrong: weathering does not necessarily stop, and a rock does not immediately become a river. Thus, smaller fragments usually weather more readily than one solid block of the same material.