Carbonation is especially active when the reaction environment is abundant with carbon dioxide. The formation of carbonic acid, a product of carbon dioxide and water, is important in the solution of carbonates and the decomposition of mineral surfaces because of its acidic nature. Water and the ions it carries as it moves through and around rocks and minerals can further the weathering process. Geomorphologists call this phenomena solution . The effects of dissolved carbon dioxide and hydrogen ions in water have already been mentioned, but solution also entails the effects of a number of other dissolved compounds on a mineral or rock surface.
Molecules can mix in solution to form a great variety of basic and acidic decompositional compounds.
The extent, however, of rock being subjected to solution is determined primarily by climatic conditions. Solution tends to be most effective in areas that have humid and hot climates. The most important factor affecting all of the above mentioned chemical weathering processes is climate. Climatic conditions control the rate of weathering that takes place by regulating the catalysts of moisture and temperature. Experimentation has discovered that tropical weathering rates, where temperature and moisture are at their maximum, are three and a half times higher than rates in temperate environments.