Chapter 2

Question 1

Formation of soil

Answer 1

Pedogenesis

Question 2

A three-dimensional soil body used as the base of reference.

Smallest unit of soil body.

Answer 2

Pedon

Question 3

Formed of cooled magma.

Makes up bedrock foundation of continents.

Includes:
-granite
-rhyolite
-gabbro
-basalt

Answer 3

Igneous rock

Question 4

Made of loose layers of sediment that was weathered on ancient sea floors.

Includes:
-sandstone
-shale
-limestone

Answer 4

Sedimentary rock

Question 5

Rock altered by heat and pressure

Answer 5

Metamorphic rock

Question 6

Metamorphosed granite

Banded appearance

Answer 6

Gneiss

Question 7

Metamorphosed sandstone

Most resistant widespread rock

Metamorphosed via silica solution

Answer 7

Quartzite

Question 8

Metamorphosed shale

Answer 8

Slate

Question 9

Metamorphosed limestone

Answer 9

Marble

Question 10

Organisms that decompose dead organic matter

Answer 10

Saprophytes

Question 11

Weathered (decomposed) loose rock

Answer 11

Saprolite

Question 12

Unconsolidated material above solid bedrock

Answer 12

Regolith

Question 13

Composed of an alga and fungus

Decomposes rock

Answer 13

Litchen

Question 14

Chemical reactions that alter the molecular composition of minerals

Answer 14

Chemical weathering

Question 15

Hydrogen ions (H+) in water replace metallic ions in minerals

Answer 15

Hydrolysis

Question 16

Building block of clay

Answer 16

Silicic acid

Question 17

Loss of electrons

Ex. Rusting

Answer 17

Oxidation

Question 18

Expansion of a mineral due to attached water molecules

Often occurs after oxidation

Answer 18

Hydration

Question 19

Gain of electrons

Answer 19

Reduction

Question 20

5 factors of soil formation

Answer 20

Parent material, climate, living organisms, topography, time

Question 21

Weathered rock slowly broken up on site or transported by nature

Answer 21

Parent material

Question 22

Sand found in arid and subhumid climates

Originally deposited by water

Often shifted into dunes by wind

Answer 22

Eolian sand

Question 23

Wind-formed deposit made of mostly silt

From floodplains of glacial rivers

Answer 23

Loess

Question 24

Unsorted mix (till) of stones/sand/silt/clay left behind by glaciers

Answer 24

Glacial deposits

Question 25

Ridge formed by till deposited at the edge of glaciers

Answer 25

Moraine

Question 26

Sand/gravel left behind from glacial melt waters

Answer 26

Outwash

Question 27

Sediment deposited by rivers/streams in valleys

Answer 27

Alluvium

Question 28

Gravity-transported deposit found at the base of foothills and mountains

Answer 28

Colluvium

Question 29

Chunks of broken rock at the foot of a mountain

Answer 29

Talus

Question 30

Description of a land’s surface features

A graded layout of the land

How hilly or level a land is

Answer 30

Topography

Question 31

Cross section of soil horizons

Answer 31

Soil profile

Question 32

Horizon layer of plant residue

Answer 32

O horizon

Question 33

Horizon of topsoil

Answer 33

A horizon

Question 34

Eluvial or leech layer horizon

Answer 34

E horizon

Question 35

Horizon of subsoil

Answer 35

B horizon

Question 36

Horizon of unconsolidated material under B horizon

Answer 36

C horizon

Question 37

Horizon made of bedrock found within a few feet from soil surface

Answer 37

R horizon

Question 38

Upper portion of soil profile that is altered by soil-forming factors

(Horizons A, E, and B)

Answer 38

Solum