Answer: Different minerals have different resistances to weathering.
Why does differential weathering occur?

Weathering is the breaking down of rocks soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water atmospheric gases and biological organisms. Weathering occurs in situ (on site with little or no movement) and should not be confused with erosion which involves the transport of rocks and minerals by agents such as water ice snow wind waves a…

Weathering is the breaking down of rocks soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water atmospheric gases and biological organisms. Weathering occurs in situ (on site with little or no movement) and should not be confused with erosion which involves the transport of rocks and minerals by agents such as water ice snow wind waves and gravity. Weathering processes are divided into physical and chemical weathering. Physical weathering involves the breakdown of rocks and soils through the mechanical effects of heat water ice or other agents. Chemical weathering involves the chemical reaction of water atmospheric gases and biologically produced chemicals with rocks and soils. Water is the principal agent behind both physical and chemical weathering though atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide and the activities of biological organisms are also important. Chemical weathering by biological action is also known as biological weathering. While physical weathering is most rapid in very cold or very dry environments chemical reactions are most rapid where the climate is wet and hot. However both types of weathering occur together and each tends to accelerate the other. For example frost weathering creates cracks in the surface of a rocky outcrop making it more susceptible to chemical reactions by providing paths for water and air to penetrate the rock. The various weathering agents act in concert to convert primary minerals (feldspars and micas) to secondary minerals (clays and carbonates) and release plant nutrient elements in soluble form. The materials left over after the rock breaks down combine with organic material to create soil. The mineral content of the soil is determined by the parent material; thus a soil derived from a single rock type can often be deficient in one or more minerals needed for good fertility while a soil weathered from a mix of rock types (as in glacial aeolian or alluvial sediments) often makes more fertile soil. In addition … Read more on Wikipedia

Physical weathering also called mechanical weathering or disaggregation is the class of processes that causes the disintegration of rocks without chemical change. It is usually much less important than chemical weathering but can be significant in subarctic or alpine environments. Furthermore chemical and physical weathering often go hand in hand. For example cracks extended by physical we…

Physical weathering also called mechanical weathering or disaggregation is the class of processes that causes the disintegration of rocks without chemical change. It is usually much less important than chemical weathering but can be significant in subarctic or alpine environments. Furthermore chemical and physical weathering often go hand in hand. For example cracks extended by physical weathering will increase the surface area exposed to chemical action thus amplifying the rate of disintegration. Frost weathering is the most important form of physical weathering. Next in importance is wedging by plant roots which sometimes enter cracks in rocks and pry them apart. The burrowing of worms or other animals may also help disintegrate rock as can "plucking" by lichens. Frost weathering Frost weathering is the collective name for those forms of physical weathering that are caused by the formation of ice within rock outcrops. It was long believed that the most important of these is frost wedging which results from the expansion of pore water when it freezes. However a growing body of theore...

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