Time Scales for Rounding of Rocks through Stochastic Chipping

Abstract: For 3D geometries, we consider stones (modeled as convex polyhedra) subject to weathering with planar slices of random orientation and depth successively removing material, ultimately yielding smooth and round (i.e. spherical) shapes. An exponentially decaying acceptance probability in the area exposed by a prospective slice provides a stochastically driven physical basis for the removal of material in fracture events. With a variety of quantitative measures, in steady state we find a power law decay of deviations in a toughness parameter $\gamma$ from a perfect spherical shape. We examine the time evolution of shapes for stones initially in the form of cubes as well as irregular fragments created by cleaving a regular solid many times along random fracture planes. In the case of the former, we find two sets of second order structural phase transitions with the usual hallmarks of critical behavior. The first involves the simultaneous loss of facets original to the parent solid, while the second of these involves a shift to a spherical profile. Nevertheless, for mono-dispersed irregular solids, the loss of primordial facets is not simultaneous but occurs in stages. In the case of initially irregular stones, strong disorder obscures individual structural transitions, and relevant observables are smooth with respect to time. More broadly, we find that salient times scale quadratically in $\gamma$. We use the universal dependence of variables on the volume remaining to calculate time dependent variables for a variety of erosion scenarios with results from a single weathering scheme such as the case in which the fracture acceptance probability depends on the relative area of the prospective new face. We calculate time scales for the attainment of structural milestones, obtaining a closed form approximate expression which bounds direct simulation results from above.