Which statement best describes chemical weathering and its role in soil formation?

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Chemical weathering is about minerals changing through chemical reactions with water, acids, and oxygen, rather than just being physically worn apart. When rocks react with water, minerals like feldspars can hydrolyze to form clays, iron-bearing minerals can oxidize to form oxides, and minerals can dissolve to release dissolved ions. These processes create secondary minerals and release nutrients into the soil solution, building the mineral framework that supports soil structure and fertility. That combination—altering mineral identity, producing new minerals, and supplying ions—is what drives soil formation, making the described statement the best description. In contrast, simply breaking rocks without chemical change doesn’t build the soil’s mineral components, and claiming dissolution yields no minerals ignores the dissolved ions that are part of soil chemistry, while attributing soil formation to physical processes alone overlooks the essential chemical transformations.