Chapter 1 Key Terms

Question 0

Arthropod

Answer 0

A phylum or division of the animal kingdom; includes insects, spiders, and Crustacea; characterized by a coating which serves as an external skeleton and by legs with distinct movable segments or joints.

Question 1

Accumulation

Answer 1

To gather or collect.

Question 2

Bacteria

Answer 2

Single-celled microorganisms; some cause human, animal, or plant diseases; others are beneficial.

Question 3

Bedrock

Answer 3

Unweathered hard rock that lies directly beneath the soil layers or beneath superficial geological deposits, such as glacial drift.

Question 4

Clay

Answer 4

A size term denoting particles, regardless of mineral composition, with diameter less than 2 microns.

Question 5

Climate

Answer 5

The long-term average weather conditions.

Question 6

Deposition

Answer 6

The addition of sediment, as by flowing water.

Question 7

Erosion

Answer 7

The group of processes whereby earthy or rock material is worn away, loosened or dissolved and removed from any part of the earth’s surface.

Question 8

Fungi

Answer 8

Plantlike organisms that have no chlorophyll; they get their nourishment from living or decaying organic matter.

Question 9

Gravel

Answer 9

Accumulation of water-worn pebbles larger than two millimeters in diameter.

Question 10

Ground cover

Answer 10

Any vegetation that grows close to the ground, producing protection for the soil.

Question 11

Horizon

Answer 11

A layer of soil, approximately parallel to the surface, having distinct characteristics produced by soil-forming processes.

Question 12

Irrigation

Answer 12

The artificial application of water to soil for the purpose of increasing plant production.

Question 13

Leaching

Answer 13

The removal of soluble constituents from soils or other materials by percolating water.

Question 14

Microorganism

Answer 14

An organism so small that it cannot be seen clearly without the use of a microscope; a microscopic or submicroscopic organism.

Question 15

Mottle

Answer 15

Color difference on a mass of moderately poorly drained soil.

Question 16

Nematodes

Answer 16

Microscopic, wormlike, transparent organisms that can attack plant roots or stems to cause stunted or unhealthy growth.

Question 17

Organic matter

Answer 17

Matter found in, or produced by, living animals and plants, which contains carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and often nitrogen and sulfur.

Question 18

Organism

Answer 18

Any living individual whether plant or animal.

Question 19

Parent material

Answer 19

The horizon of weathered rock or partially weathered soil material from which the soil is formed.

Question 20

Porosity

Answer 20

Refers to the extent of voids or openings in the soil that exist between soil particles and soil peds or clods. These pores hold water and air for absorption by plant roots.

Question 21

Profile

Answer 21

A vertical section of a soil. The section, or face of an exposure made by a cut, may exhibit with depth a succession of separate layers.

Question 22

Rock

Answer 22

Mineral matter of variable composition, consolidated or unconsolidated, assembled in masses or considerable quantities in nature.

Question 23

Sand

Answer 23

A group of textural classes in which the particles are finer than gravel but coarser than silt, ranging in size from 2.00 to 0.5 millimeters in diameter.

Question 24

Silt

Answer 24

Small, mineral, soil particle, ranging in diameter from 0.05 to 0.002 millimeters.

Question 25

Soil

Answer 25

The mineral and organic surface of the earth capable of supporting upland plants. It has been (and is being) formed by the active factors of climate and biosphere exerting their influence on passive parent material and topography over neutral time.

Question 26

Soil texture

Answer 26

The relative proportion in a soil of the various size groups of individual soil grains.

Question 27

Topography

Answer 27

Slope of the land and the position on the landscape, such as the top of a hill, a hillside, or the foot of a slope.

Question 28

Transformation

Answer 28

Change in form, appearance, nature, or character.

Question 29

Translocation

Answer 29

To move or transfer from one place to another; cause to change location; displace.

Question 30

Valley

Answer 30

An elongated depression between uplands, hills, or mountains.

Question 31

Weathering

Answer 31

Atmospheric action on rock surfaces producing decomposition, disintegration, or alteration of rocks at or close to the earth’s surface.