Environmental Science - Chapter 13

Question 1

True or False. An important function of soil is to buffer and detoxify chemicals.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

True or False. Humus is not important to soil fertility.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

True or False. Physical, chemical, and biological factors contribute to soil formation.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

True or False. Soil is a mixture of minerals, organic material, living organisms, air and water.

Answer 4

True

Question 5

True or False. Desert soils have a thick A horizon

Answer 5

False

Question 6

True or False. Geologic processes build and erode the earth’s surface.

Answer 6

True

Question 7

True or False. Strip farming is a type of soil conservation or quality management practice.

Answer 7

True

Question 8

True or False. Misuse of soil can reduce soil fertility.

Answer 8

True

Question 9

True or False. Terracing, waterways, and windbreaks can help reduce soil erosion.

Answer 9

True

Question 10

Maintaining good soil quality involves

Answer 10

• practices that limit compaction of the soil.
• planting different crops in a field in different years.
• adding new organic matter in the form of manure or by incorporating crop residue into the soil.

Question 11

This soil texture is best for agricultural use

Answer 11

Loam

Because it has good aeration, drainage and nutrient retention.

Question 12

This soil management strategy will increase soil quality

Answer 12

keep the ground covered

Question 13

The surface of the Earth is altered by

Answer 13

• plate tectonics
• abrasion
• chemical weathering
• erosion

Question 14

The A horizon

Answer 14

contains more nutrients than the B horizons.

Question 15

By avoiding excessive tillage, soil quality is enhanced by

Answer 15

minimizing loss of organic matter.

Question 16

The horizon with the highest amount of organic matter

Answer 16

A horizon

Question 17

Conservation tillage methods __________ than conventional tillage.

Answer 17

Experience less topsoil loss

Question 18

Physical processes affecting the break down of parent material are

Answer 18

• freezing and thawing
• glaciers
• flowing water

Question 19

A pioneer organism that colonizes the surfaces of bare rocks

Answer 19

lichens

Question 20

A soil profile that contains material leached from other horizons

Answer 20

B

Question 21

Humus

Answer 21

• is formed from organic matter.
• decreases the pH of the soil.
• helps to form pores that help aerate the soil.

Question 22

Name of the process in which the chemical structure of rock is altered when it combines with water molecules to form new compounds

Answer 22

chemical weathering

Question 23

Weathering

Answer 23

Physical and chemical processes involved in the breakdown of parent material into soil.

Question 24

Parent material

Answer 24

Material that is weathered to become the mineral part of the soil.

Question 25

Mechanical weathering

Answer 25

Process of breaking up large particles by physical forces.

Question 26

soil profile

Answer 26

A series of horizontal layers of different chemical composition, physical properties, particle size, and amount of organic matter.

Question 27

Humus

Answer 27

Soil type with good drainage and texture that is ideal for agriculture.

Question 28

Chemical weathering

Answer 28

Process of breaking up large particles by chemical reactions.

Question 29

Terrace

Answer 29

Level area constructed on steep slopes for agricultural purposes.

Question 30

The soil layer that contains broken parts of parent rock

Answer 30

C

Question 31

main particles that make up soil

Answer 31

sand, silt, and clay