Soil Flashcards
What is the name of someone who studies soil?
Pedologist
What is rigolith?
- Unconsolidated material that lies over bedrock
- May have formed in situ or been transformed by water or ice
- soil is PART of the rigolith, and is usually the top part which contains a high density of organic material
What is a soil profile?
Horizontal layers of soil
Order a generic soil profile.
0 -hummus/ organic A - topsoil B - subsoil C - parent material D - bedrock
Where does weathering take place?
sections A-C
What is parent material?
The underlying geological material in which soil horizons form.
Why is parent material important?
Soils inherit structure and minerals from their parent material, and are often classified based upon their contents of consolidated or unconsolidated mineral material that has undergone some degree of physical or chemical weathering and the mode by which the materials were most recently transported.
How is parent material classified?
Parent material is classified by its last means of transport.
What is sediment transported via gravity called?
Colluvial
What is sediment transported via wind called?
Eolian transport
- dunes
- loess
What is sediment transported via glacier called?
Glacial transport
- till
- morraines
What is sediment transported via water called?
- alluvial
- marine
- lacustrine
What is the impact of lower rainfall?
salt crust/ lime layers
What is the impact of higher rainfall?
- leaching of soluble salts
- more clays
What is the pedoclimate?
- climate within the soil
