This occurs as water travels through Earth's crust, weathering the rock and dissolving some of its minerals, transporting it elsewhere. These dissolved minerals are precipitated when the water evaporates. Metamorphic rocks are rocks that have been changed from their original form by immense heat or pressure. This specific process (the freeze-thaw cycle) is frost weathering or cryofracturing. Temperature changes can also contribute to mechanical weathering in a process called thermal stress

Sure it affects. The rock cycle basically means the change of one rock type to another. Say Volcanic to Metamorphic to sedimentary and back to Volcanic. Due to weathering, the Metamorphic rock grains will be removed and Sedimentary rock could be created. Look at the previous response as well.

Dr Wondmyibza Tsegaye Bayou thank you for your contribution to the discussion

Water is essential in the rock cycle because it helps create and break down rocks. Igneous rocks, for example, are created when lava and magma harden. If there weren't any water around, these rocks would never form. Water plays a key role in the formation and erosion of rock and soil. Water can dissolve minerals in rocks and transport them away, leading to the formation of new rock formations and the alteration of existing ones. Water can also erode rock and soil through the action of flowing water and by freezing and thawing. When water freezes, it expands. The ice then works as a wedge. It slowly widens the cracks and splits the rock. When ice melts, liquid water performs the act of erosion by carrying away the tiny rock fragments lost in the split. The rock cycle is driven by two forces: (1) Earth's internal heat engine, which moves material around in the core and the mantle and leads to slow but significant changes within the crust, and (2) the hydrological cycle, which is the movement of water, ice, and air at the surface, and is powered by the sun. The hydrosphere (Earth's water) is an important agent of geologic change. Water shapes our planet by depositing minerals, aiding lithification, and altering rocks after they are lithified. Water carried by sub ducted oceanic plate’s causes flux melting of upper mantle material. Freeze-thaw is a physical weathering cycle caused by repeated freezing and thawing of water located in the pores and cracks of soil and rocks. This water expands when it freezes, causing rocks to fracture and aggregates to move apart. The freeze-thaw cycle is frost weathering or cryofracturing. Temperature changes can also contribute to mechanical weathering in a process called thermal stress. Changes in temperature cause rock to expand and contract. Frost wedging happens when water filling a crack freezes and expands (as it freezes, water expands 8 to 11% in volume over liquid water). The expanding ice imparts a great amount of pressure against the rock (as much as 30,000 pounds/square inch) and wedges open the crack. Physical weathering involves the breakdown of rocks into smaller fragments through processes such as expansion and contraction, mainly due to temperature changes. There are two main types of physical weathering: Freeze-thaw occurs when water continually seeps into cracks, freezes and expands, eventually breaking the rock apart. Exfoliation occurs as cracks develop parallel to the land surface a consequence of the reduction in pressure during uplift and erosion.