Concept:In arid regions, physical weathering is driven mainly by rapid temperature changes rather than by wind, water, or ice.
Explanation:An arid region is very dry and receives little rainfall.
Water is therefore not an active weathering agent there.
Ice is also absent because temperatures rarely fall below freezing.
Wind is powerful in deserts, but it is mainly an erosional agent that carries sand and dust.
The most active physical weathering agent in arid regions is temperature.
The days are very hot and the nights are very cold.
Rocks are heated by the sun during the day and expand.
At night, they cool rapidly and contract.
This repeated expansion and contraction builds up stress inside the rocks.
Eventually, the rocks crack, peel, and break apart.
This process is called insolation weathering or thermal weathering.
Thus, temperature change causes the greatest breakdown of rocks in arid regions.
Answer:C. temperature