Soil Flashcards
The natural formation of soil is influenced negativly by
Irrigation, Weathering, Farming
The process of water moving down through the soil is called
percolation
____Influences other traits like percolation and capillary action to occur
Porosity
The most expensive type of landfill is
Secure
Which of the following is not affected by deforestation
Soil erosion, soil productivity, precipitation amounts are all impacted
THe gas that is produced as organic matter is decompsed by bacteria in a landfill, which can used and harvested for energy
Methane
_____ aRE sometimes lower yield farms but more eco-friendly
polycultures
_____ chemicals that cause birth defects
Teratogens
THe process of_____is typically done outside of very weathy countries at it uses cheaper land for cattle
desertification
____oxygen readings in the soil would indicate high population of ____
High
autotrophs
THe most common waste product found in municipal dump
Paper
____ is the process of planting different species of plants at the same time (planting them together)
Intercropping
The process of water logging_____soil salinity
increases
Factory waste would be classified as ____waste
non-municipal
Looking for ions in the soil is about measuring the soils ____
productivity
___ soil should show the most productivity because of its richness
Humus
____ erosion occurs faster if compaction of soil has occured
gully
When considering farming, the layer of soil that is considered the most productive is
Surface litter
World food comes from croplands/grains
77%
Worlds food comes form livestock
16%
No directly or indirectly from soil
7%
Directly or indirectly food comes from soil
93%
Soil profile
View of a cross section of soil
5 main soil types
Humus Clay Silt Sand Gravel
5 main important physical properties that allow us to classify soil
Color Structure Texture Density Capillary & Percolation rate
3 main Soil Types & Texture
Sand- largest particle - gritty
Silt- medium particle - floury/grainy
Clay- smallest particle - smooth/silky
3 types of erosion
Sheet, rill, gully
Current Farming Practices
Monoculturing
Problems with Monoculturing
Makes soil quality decline
Reduces genetic diversity in plants
Increase use of pesticide, energy, and water to grow these plants
Larger equipment which compacts soil
When more water is used what results
Water-logging
Deforestation that leads to desertification
4 ways to be more Eco-friendly
Polyvarietal Cultivation: planting several genetic varieties of the same crop
Intercropping: two different crops grown at the same time in a plot
Agroforestry: crops and trees are grown together
Polyculture: more than 2 different plants are planted together
Before the Solid Waste Disposal Act we did what with our trash
Burned
2 basic categories of solid wastes
Non municipal waste: industry/large scale production
Municipal: residences, small businesses and city buildings
Carcinogenic
Cause cancer
Mutagenic
Chase DNA mutations
Teratogenic
Cause birth defects
2 types of landfills
Sanitary
Secure
Liquid that may contain toxic chemicals
Leachate
Most effective way to decrease the amount of trash
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
