Lecture 2 Flashcards
What is a parent material?
It is the hard rock or an unconsolidated deposit on which soil develops.
Bedrock, rock fragments, volcanic ash, and sediments of waters wind and or ice are all examples of…
Patent material
Parent material determines the…
rate of weathering and the rate at which soil formation occurs.
The process of soil formation is quicker on…
Parent material that is soft and more permeable to water.
Parent material which has moved down a slope under the influence of gravity is referred to as…
Colluvium
Parent material laid down by running water is known as
Alluvium
Parent materials under sea are known as
Marine deposits
Material deposited by wind is known as
Loess
An analysis of climate involves both
Global or macroclimatic and local or microclimatic considerations
What is the most important single factor responsible for the formation and development of soil?
Climate
The key components of climate that influence soil formation are…
temperature and precipitation
There is a relationship between major soil types and major climatic zones, true or false?
True
Precipitation is basically…
Moisture
Both temperature and precipitation directly influence the rate at which parent material weathers to produce soil. True or False.
True
Soils in warm moist climatic zones where both temperature and precipitation are high is…
Deep soils
Shallow soils are found in…
deserts
The main components of biota include…
Flora, Fauna and Micro Organisms
Man is not a biotic factor. True or False
False
Chernozem is a black-colored soil containing a very high percentage of humus is usually found in….
Temperate grassland zones of the world
The ______ created by roots influence water movement in the soil.
Passages
Vegetation contributes to ______
Nutrient cycling
Living organisms upon their deaths return nutrients to the soil to be taken up again by other plants and animals. What is this process called?
Nutrient cycling
Vegetation does not protect the upper layers of soil from erosion. True or False?
False
A system where energy and matter are transferred between living organisms and non-living parts of the environment is called…..
Nutrient Cycle
Where animals and plants consume nutrients found in soil and are released back upon their death or decomposition is called….
Nutrients cycling
Earthworms, insects, nematodes, arthropods and rodents are all examples of…
Fauna
Earthworms drill tunnels that increase a soil’s porosity, water-holding capacity and infiltration through a process called?
Burrowing
Micro organisms also known as
Microbes
Microorganisms are visible to the naked eye. True or False
False
Microbes constitute the largest and most diverse biotic group in soil. True or False
True
Bacteria, Fungi, Protozoa, Algae, Actinomycetes and soil enzymes are all inclusions of…
Soil Microorganisms
Soil Microorganisms aid soil structure by physically _____ soil particles together through ________of organic compounds, mainly _____
Gluing, secretion, sugars
Which horizon has microbial populations as the greatest?
A horizon
What is a nitrogen-fixing bacteria?
Rhizobia
What does Rhizobia do?
It converts nitrogen to ammonia
Protozoa and Fungi break down….
organic matter
Many fungi have long thin thread-like extensions called…..
Hyphae
What part of the fungi physically binds soil particles?
Hyphae
Man influences soil development through….
farming activities and urban development
Actinomycetes have hyphae similar to…..
fungi
Actinomycetes is an order of …….
Filamentous or rod-shaped bacteria
The angle and length of a slope is referred to as
Topography
The nature of a slope influences runoff and water infiltration. True or False
True
The rate at which water enters soil is called….
water infiltration
Topography influences…..
soil drainage
Soils developing on gentle slopes are often better drained than those developing on in a valley. True or False?
True
______influences the deposition of soil material in suspension.
Slope
The deposition of soil material in suspension influences…..
texture
Coarse-textured soils are usually found near….
the base of a mountain
Fine textured souls are located…..
further away from the mountain
_______________orientation affects the microclimate of a place.
Hill slope
Within the hill slope area, slopes facing the sun directly are ________ than those not directly facing the sun.
warmer and drier
South facing slopes tend to be _______than north facing slopes in the ________
warmer and drier, northern hemisphere
A sequence of soils down a slope where each facet is slightly different from but linked to adjacent facets is referred to as
Catena
Catena is a latin word for…….
chain
According to _______time influences soil in _____ ways.
Gunwald (2009), two
What are the two ways in which time influences soil formation is ________
- The value of a soil-forming factor may change with time
- The extent of a pedogenetic process dele need a in the time in which it has operated
____________soils are those that have formed under one set of factor values for a certain period of time.
Monogenetic
_________soils are those that have formed under more than one set of factor values.
Polygenetic
The nature of a soil’s profile depends on how long the soil formation processes have been occurring. True or false
True
Old soils have better profiles but there may be an exception. Yes or no
Yes
