Chapter 15 Vocab #1 Adam Farid Flashcards
Great Green Wall
Wall in the Gobi desert with over 300 million trees that was planted starting in the 1950’s. This wall now exceeds 100,000 square kilometers. This wall helps to reduce severity and frequency of large dust storms in China now.
Desertification
The progressive degradation of grassland and other productive lands into unproductive desert. This is a problem that is continually happening in China.
Soil
The relatively thin surface layer of Earth’s crust consisting of mineral and organic matter modified by the natural actions of weather, wind, water, and organisms. Supports many living life forms as a surface to live on.
Parent Material
Rock that is slowly broken down, or fragmented into smaller particles by biological, chemical, and physical weathering processes in nature
Weathering processes
A way for soil to be formed from parent material. Could include, wind and water (erosion)
Topography
A region’s surface features (mountains, oceans, etc.)
Involved in soil formation
Soil composition
Properties that soil have, the soil system has four parts, 45% soil, 5% organic matter, 25% water, and 25% air.
Litter (in soil terms)
Dead leaves and branches on the soils surface
Soil organic material
Made from litter, animal dung, dead remains of plants, animals, microorganisms all decompose
Humus
Mix of many organic compounds, binds to nutrient mineral ions and holds water
Is the dark brown in soil.
Pore space
There is multiple pore spaces in soil and among its particles. Consists of soil water and soil air
Water drains rapidly from large pore spaces
Soil water
Water that occupies the pore space of a soil particle, when soil is wet, it is mostly soil water, necessary for plants to survive
Soil air
Air that is in pore space of soil particles, when soil is dry, most of it is soil air
Necessary for plants to survive
Leaches
Percolates of roots that absorbs water
Illuviation
Deposition of leached material in the lower layers of soil
Carbonic Acid in soil
Comes from soil water as carbon dioxide, weak acid that accelerates the weathering process during soil formation
Soil horizons
Different, distinctive horizontal layers of soil that are clearly visible when there is a deep vertical cut into the ground
Soil profile
Vertical section from surface to parent material. Showing the soil horizons
O-Horizon
The uppermost layer of the soil, rich in organic material, where plant litter is and gradually decays
Almost completely absent in the desert
A-Horizon
Just beneath o-horizon
Dark and rich in accumulated organic matter and humus, nutrient poor because of leaching
E-Horizon
Below a- horizon
Is heavily leached
B-Horizon
Lighter colored sub-soil beneath the e and a horizons is where there is an accumulation of clay and nutrient minerals that leached out of the topsoil and litter accumulate
C-Horizon
Beneath b-horizon
Contains weathered pieces of rock and borders the I weathered solid parent material
Often saturated with groundwater, below extent of most roots
Ecosystem services
What soil organisms provide, includes maintaining soil fertility by decaying and cycling organic material, preventing soil erosion, breaking down toxic materials, cleansing water, affecting the composition of the atmosphere
Worms
Very important in soil, ingest soil and obtain energy and raw materials from humus, and release castings
They aerate the soil and spread around minerals to many sections of the soil
Castings
Basically worm poop, good because it bring minerals from the deeper levels of the soil and release it in the shallower levels
Mycorrhizae
Relationship between fungi and roots of vascular plants
Help plants absorb adequate amounts of essential nutrient minerals from the soil
Mycelium
Thread like body of the fungi that helps the soil
Nutrient minerals absorbed from the soil by the fungus are transferred to the plant, whereas food produced by photosynthesis in the plant is delivered to the fungus
Enhances the growth of fungi
Nutrient cycling
Decomposition is part of this,
Bacteria and fungi decompose plant and animal detritus and wastes, transforming large organic molecules, including carbon dioxide, water, and nutrient minerals, the nutrient minerals are released into the soil to be used again.
