Glossary Terms

Question 1

A fan shaped deposit of alluvium, laid down by a stream where it emerges from an upland to less steeply sloping terrain

Answer 1

alluvial fan

Question 2

Material such as clay, silt, sand and gravel deposited by modern rivers and streams

Answer 2

alluvium

Question 3

A unit layer, 1 cm or more thick, that is visually or physically more or less distinctly separable from other layers above and below in a stratified sequence

Answer 3

bed

Question 4

The solid rock that underlies the soil and the regolith, or that is exposed at the surface

Answer 4

bedrock

Question 5

Soil containing sufficient calcium carbonate, often with magnesium carbonate, to effervesce visibly with cold 0.1N (10%) hydrochloric acid

Answer 5

calcareous soil

Question 6

A zone of essentially saturated soil just above the water table. The size distribution of the pores determines its extent

Answer 6

capillary fringe

Question 7

As a particle size term: a size fraction less than 0.002mm in equivalent diameter

Answer 7

clay

Question 8

Containing large amounts of clay, or having properties similar to those of clay

Answer 8

clayey

Question 9

A substance in a state of fine subdivision, whose particles are 10(-4) to 10(-7) in diameter

Answer 9

colloid

Question 10

The resistance of a material to deformation or rupture

Answer 10

consistence

Question 11

The gradual reduction in volume of a soil mass resulting from an increase in compressive stress

Answer 11

consolidation

Question 12

Slow mass movement of soil and soil material down rather steep slopes primarily under the influence of gravity, but aided by saturation with water and by alternate freezing and thawing. In engineering: general slow displacement under load

Answer 12

creep

Question 13

The force required to crush a mass of dry soil, or conversely the resistance of a mass of dry soil to crushing

Answer 13

crushing strength

Question 14

To separate the individual components of compound particles by chemical or physical means or both. To cause the particles of the dispersed phase of a colloidal system to become suspended in the dispersion medium

Answer 14

deflocculate

Question 15

A fan shaped area at the mouth of a river formed by deposition of successive layers of sediment brought down from the land and spread out on the bottom of a basin. Where the stream current reaches quiet water, the bulk of the coarser load is dropped and the diner material is carried farther out. Recognized by nearly horizontal beds termed bottomset, overlain by more steeply inclined and coarser textured beds called foreset beds

Answer 15

delta

Question 16

material left in a new position by a natural transporting agent such as water, wind, ice or gravity or by the activity of man

Answer 16

deposit

Question 17

An elongate or oval hill of glacial drift, commonly glacial till, deposited by glacier ice and having its long axis parallel to the direction of ice movement

Answer 17

drumlin

Question 18

Wind-built ridges and hills of sand formed in the same manner as snowdrifts. They are startwater, ed by come obstruction, such as a bush, boulder, or fence that causes an eddy or thwarts the sand laden wind. Once begun they offer further resistance and they grow to form various shapes

Answer 18

dunes

Question 19

sand or silt or both deposited by the wind

Answer 19

eolian deposit

Question 20

The wearing away of the land surface b running water, wind, ice or other geological agents including such processes as gravitational creep. Detachment and movement of soil or rock by water, wind, ice or gravity

Answer 20

erosion

Question 21

A transported rock fragment different from the bedrock where it lies. The term is generally applied to fragments transported by glacier ice or by floating ice

Answer 21

erratic

Question 22

A winding ridge of irregularly stratified sand, gravel, and cobbles deposited under the ice by a rapidly flowing glacial stream

Answer 22

esker

Question 23

A term used in soil mechanics for the portion of a soil finer than a number 200 US. standard sieve

Answer 23

fines

Question 24

A term describing the consistence of a moist soil that offers distinctly noticeable resistance to crushing, but can be crushed with moderate pressure between the thumb and forefinger

Answer 24

firm

Question 25

The land bordering a stream, built up of sediments from overflow of the stream and subject to inundation when the stream is at flood stage

Answer 25

flood plain

Question 26

All sediments, past and present, deposited by flowing water, including glaciofluvial deposits. Wave worked deposits and deposits resulting from sheet erosion and mass wasting are not included

Answer 26

fluvial deposits

Question 27

A consistence term pertaining to the ease of crumbling soils

Answer 27

friable

Question 28

Freezing and thawing of moisture in materials and the resultant effects on these materials and on the structures of which they are a part of with which they are in contact

Answer 28

frost action

Question 29

The raising of a surface caused by ice and glacial meltwater or rafted by icebergs. This term includes till, stratified drift and scattered rock fragments

Answer 29

glacial drift

Question 30

Unstratified glacial drift deposited directly by ice and consisting of clay, sand and gravel and boulders intermingled in any proportion

Answer 30

glacial till

Question 31

Material moved by glaciers and subsequently sorted and deposited by streams flowing from the melted ice. The deposits are stratified and may occur in the form of outwash plains, deltas, kames, eskers and kame terrances

Answer 31

glaciofluvial deposits

Question 32

An unsorted mixture of rocks, boulders, sand, silt, and clay deposited by glacial ice. The predominant material is till, but some stratified drift is present. Most of the till is thought to have accumulated under the ice by lodgement; but some till has been let down from the upper surface of the ice by ablation. Usually in the form of undulating plains having gently sloping swells, sags, and enclosed depressions

Answer 32

ground morraine

Question 33

A layer of soil or soil material approximately parallel to the land surface. It differs fro adjacent genetically related layers in properties such as colour, structure, texture, consistence and chemical, biological and mineralogical composition

Answer 33

horizon

Question 34

The proportionality factor in Darcy's law as applied to the viscous flow of water in a soil, that is, the flux of water per unit gradient of the hydraulic potential

Answer 34

hydraulic conductivity

Question 35

The elevation with respect to a specified reference level at which water stands in a piezometer connected to the point in question in the soil

Answer 35

hydraulic head

Question 36

The conditions through which water naturally passes from the time of precipitation until it is returned to the atmosphere by evaporation and is ready again to be precipitated

Answer 36

hydrologic cycle

Question 37

A soil characteristic determining of describing the maximum rate at which water can enter the soil under specified conditions including the presence of excess water

Answer 37

infiltration rate

Question 38

A soil made up of mainly mineral particles (<17% carbon)

Answer 38

inorganic soil

Question 39

Atom, group of atoms, or compound that is electrically charged as a result of the loss of electrons (cation) or the gain of electrons (anion)

Answer 39

ion

Question 40

An irregular ridge or hill of stratified glacial drift deposited by glacial meltwater

Answer 40

kame

Question 41

Depression left after the melting of a detached mass of glacier ice buried by drift

Answer 41

kettle

Question 42

Material deposited in lake water and later exposed either by lowering of water level or by up lifting of the land. These sediments range in texture from sand to clays

Answer 42

lacustrine deposit

Question 43

The various shapes of the land surface resulting from a variety of actions such as deposition or sedimentation (eskers, lacustrine basins) erosion (gullies, canyons) and earth crust movements (mountains)

Answer 43

landforms

Question 44

The sudden, large decrease of the shearing resistance of a cohesionless soil. It is caused by a collapse of the structure by shock or other strain and is associated with a sudden, temporary transformation of the material into a fluid mass

Answer 44

liquefaction

Question 45

The water content corresponding to an arbitrary limit between the liquid and plastic states of consistence of a soil. The water content at which a part of soil, cut by a standard-size groove, will flow together for a distance of 12mm under the impact of 25 blows in a standard liquid-limit apparatus

Answer 45

liquid limit

Question 46

Material transported and deposited by wind and consisting of predominantly silt-sized particles

Answer 46

loess

Question 47

A soft, unconsolidated earthy deposit consisting of calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate, or both and often shells, usually mixed with varying amounts of clay or other impurities

Answer 47

marl

Question 48

A general term for a variety of processes by which large masses of earth material are moved by gravity from one place to another

Answer 48

mass wasting

Question 49

Rock derived from preexisting rocks, but differing from them in a physical, chemical and mineralogical properties as a result of natural geological processes, principally heat and pressure, originating within the earth. The preexisting rocks may have been igneous, sedimentary, or another form of metamorphic rock

Answer 49

metamorphic rock

Question 50

A homogeneous naturally occurring phase, sometimes restricted to inorganic, crystalline phases

Answer 50

mineral

Question 51

A specific aluminous member of the smectite group i.e. an expanding clay

Answer 51

montmorillonite

Question 52

An accumulation of earth, generally with stones, carried and finally deposited by glacier

Answer 52

moraine

Question 53

The rock from which the parent materials of soils are formed

Answer 53

parent rock

Question 54

The determination of the various amounts of the different separates in a soil sample, usually by sedimentation, sieving or micrometry or a combination of these methods

Answer 54

particle size analysis

Question 55

The amounts of various soil separates, in a soil sample, usually expressed as weight percentages

Answer 55

particle size distribution

Question 56

The effective diameter of a particle measured by sedimentation, sieving or micrometric methods

Answer 56

particle size

Question 57

A water table due to the "perching" of water on a relatively impermeable layer at some depth within the soil. The soil within or below the impermeable layer is not saturated with water

Answer 57

perched water table

Question 58

The downward movement of water through soil; specifically, the downward flow of water in saturated or nearly saturated soil

Answer 58

percolation

Question 59

Perennially frozen material underlying the solum. A perennially frozen soil horizon

Answer 59

permafrost

Question 60

The ease with which gases and liquids penetrate or pass through a bulk mass of soil or layer of soil. The property of a porous medium that relates to the ease with which gases or liquids can pass through it

Answer 60

permeability

Question 61

The negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion activity of a soil. The degree of acidity or alkalinity on a negative log scale of 1 to 14

Answer 61

pH

Question 62

The breakdown of rock and mineral particles into smaller pieces by physical forces such as frost action and wind

Answer 62

physical weathering

Question 63

The water content corresponding to an arbitrary limit between the plastic and semisolid states of consistence of a soil. The water content at which a soil will just begin to crumble when rolled into a thread approximately 3mm in diameter

Answer 63

plastic limit

Question 64

The part of the bulk volume of soil not occupied by soil particles. Also known as interstices or voids

Answer 64

pores

Question 65

The volume percentage of the total bulk not occupied by solid particles

Answer 65

porosity

Question 66

Clayey material having the tendency to change from a relatively stiff condition to a liquid mass when it is disturbed

Answer 66

quick clay

Question 67

To fill all the voids between soil particles with liquid. To fill to capacity as the absorption complex with a cation species; for example H saturated

Answer 67

saturate

Question 68

A rock formed from materials deposited from suspension or precipitated from solution and usually more or less consolidated

Answer 68

sedimentary rock

Question 69

1. A soil separate consisting of particles between 0.05mm (0.75 in engineering system) and 0.002mm in diameter 2. A soil textural class

Answer 69

silt

Question 70

Any mineral occurring as part of or in the soil. A natural inorganic compound with definite physical, chemical and crystalline properties occurring in the soil

Answer 70

soil mineral

Question 71

The unconsolidated material on the immediate surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of plants. The naturally occurring unconsolidated material on the surface of the earth that has been influenced by parent material, climate, macro, and micro-organisms, and relief, all acting over a period of time to produce material that may differ from the material from which it was derived in many physical, chemical, mineralogical, biological and morphological properties

Answer 71

soil

Question 72

An equation relating to the terminal settling velocity of a smooth, rigid sphere in a viscous fluid of known density and viscosity to the diameter of the sphere when subjected to a known force field. It is used in the particle size analysis of soils by the hydrometer method

Answer 72

Stoke's law

Question 73

The arrangement of sediments in layers or strata marked by a change in colour, texture, dimension of particles and composition. Layers of sediments that separate readily along bedding planes because of different sizes and kinds of material or some interruption in deposition that permitted changes to take place before material was deposited

Answer 73

stratification

Question 74

A ridge-like accumulation of drift built chiefly along the terminal margin of a valley glacier or the margin of an ice sheet mainly the result of deposition by ice, or formation by ice thrust or both

Answer 74

terminal moraine

Question 75

The relative proportions of the various soil separates in a soil (clay, silt, sand, and coarse fragments)

Answer 75

texture

Question 76

The layer of soil moved in cultivation; the Ah horizon; presumably fertile soil material used to top-dress, road banks, gardens and lawns

Answer 76

topsoil

Question 77

Elevation at which the pressure in the water is zero with respect to the atmospheric pressure

Answer 77

water table