chapter 27 Flashcards
The process that involves the physical or chemical breakdown of materials on earths surface.
Weathering
A mixture of weathered rock, organic matter, water and air that is capable of supporting plant life.
Soil
The removal of surface material through the process of weathering.
Erosion
As Rocks weather, erosional agents like water, wind, and gravity move eroded materials from one place to another.
Sediment transport
When a erosional agent slows down or melts it drops this sediment load.
Deposition
A land area that gathers water from a major river.
Drainage basin
The movement of water parallel to the shoreline
longshore current
What is weathering?
The breakdown of materials on earths surface.
Do rocks weather at the same rate?
No
What are the two main factors that determine how fast a rock will weather?
The rock type and landscape there located at.
What are the two types of weathering?
Mechanical and Chemical weathering.
What type of change happens with chemical weathering?
Physical changes.
What are the 3 specific types of mechanical weathering?
Frost wedging, biological activity, and colisions.
What causes frost wedging?
When water gets collected in cracks of rocks and freezes.
What is the cycle called during frost wedging?
Freeze thaw cycle.
what causes biological activity?
Living things/plants and animals.
What causes weathering during collisions?
Rock falls, or flowing/rapid river streams.
What are two things that cause mechanical weathering?
Oxygen and Water.
What is a chemical reaction caused by oxygen.
it is oxidation.
chemical change caused by water?
Hydrolysis.
What is soil?
A mixture of weathered rock, organic matter, and air that is capable of supporting life.
What is parent material?
A material from which soil forms.
What are soil horizons?
The different layers of soil.
How many soil horizons are there?
6
True or false. All soils contain every soil horizon.
false
What are the specific soil horizons?
Q A E B C R
What does the first soil horizon contain?
organic material
What is the second horizon mostly made up of?
minerals
Which layer does leaching occur?
finer sediment, lets more soluble materials, go deeper known as leaching.
Which horizon collects materials from previous horizons?
E
Which layer is partially layered bedrock?
C
Which layer is unweathered bedrock?
R
Which soil horizons make up the subsoil?
E and B
Which soil horizons make up the topsoil?
Q and A