Soil Test Flashcards
How is soil produced
Weathering- rocks are broken down
Erosion- wind and water move pieces
Components of soil
Small rocks- made from parent rock
Organic material- humus
Living organisms- bacteria, fungi, ect
What is a soil horizon
One layer of a soil profile
O, A, B, and C
Horizons O A B C
O- organic layer (leaves, animals, litter, etc)
A- topsoil (minerals and partially decomposed life)
B- subsoil (inorganic matter, broken rock)
C- parent material (inorganic material rocks)
What lies beneath horizon c
Parent material/ parent rock
What is humus
Decaying organic material (animals, leaves, etc)
Infiltration VS percolation
Infiltration- water that travels down from the surface
Percolation- the water passed through soil
What is leaching?
Water travels through soil, caring dissolved minerals lower and lower
Four different particle sizes (small to large)
Clay (smallest)
Silt
Sand
Gravel (largest)
Tow major fractures that determine soil texture
Particle size
Amount of organic matter/ humus
Soil horizon vs soil profile
Horizon- a layer
Profile- all layers (horizons)
What is loam?
IDEAL SOIL
10-30% clay with an even amount of SAND and SILT
Soil porosity and soil permeability
Porosity- the amount of space between soil particles
Permeability- the rate at witch water flows between particles
How long does it take for 1” of topsoil to form
200-1000 years
Most of the worlds crops are grown in which TWO BIOMES
Grassland (deep, rich soil)
Savanna (cleared forest land)
Which soil particle is most prone to watterloging
Clay- the smallest particle –> along time for water to drain
2 main agents of erosion
Water (carves away land)
—–with help of gravity——–
Wind (moves water and soil)
2 major detrimental effects of soil erosion
- Loss of soil fertility and it’s ability to hold water
2. Runoff of sediments into water (pollutes, kills, blocks)
Soil texture triangle from lab
Look
Properties of soil with different textures
?
Define desertification
Degradation of land due to excess crop planting, very razing, tree cutting
7 actions that lead to desertification
Over faming Cut trees Overgrazing Harmful chemicals Littering Over used land
How to reduce soil desertification
Responsible farming
Define salinization-
3 ways to fix it
3 ways to prevent it
Salinization - salt in the soil is pulled to the surface as soil evaporates
Renewing
- Stop produce 2-5 years
- flush with low salt water
- use irrigation pipes
Prevent
Same + farm good
Conventional vs conservation tillage
Conv- plow the land, break it up, smooth it out
Conserv- little of now soil disruption (plow) to prevent erosion
Major drawback to conservation tillage
Longer time
More labor required
Farmin’ techniques (to reduce erosion)
Terrace, contour, alley, strip
Terracing- shelves hold water (slow flow)
Contour- helps retain water
Strip- alternating rows (maintains healthy soil)
Alley cropping- hedges/ blocks between rows of crops
Green manure
Fresh vegetation, mixed into topsoil to increase organic matter
3 benefits of wind blocks
Protect crops
Controls wind erosion
Increases pesticide effectiveness
How is gully reclamation accomplished
Planting (stabilizes soil)
Water channels dug
3 ways of Maintaining or restoring soil fertility
Solid construction
Restore plant life
Use inorganic fertilizer
Disadvantages to using inorganic fertilizers
No humus added to soil Reduce water holding ability Lower oxygen content Only 2 or 3 of 20 nutrients required Large energy amounts required Releases nitrous oxide
Most common method of increasing soil alkalinity
-what is added
Add organic matter
-?
Increasing acid
Add an acid (sulfur)
6 factors increase erosion
Over faming
Over grazing
Deforestation
Drainage
Sheet
Rill
Gully erosion
Sheet– water moves thin surface layer
Rill- water carves small channels
Gully- water creates wide deep channels
1985 farm act
No cutting reserved land for hay, grazing, or farming
Northern coniferous forest BIOME
High soil moister
Deciduous forest BIOME
Rich loamy soil
Rich organic matter
Tropical forest Biome
Neutrino poor acidic soil
Heavy leeching
Grassland
Deep soil
Neutrient rich
Decomposition
FARMLAMD
Desert
Alkaline and salt
No rain
FRQ
Leaves do what?
3 abiotic changes because of worms
Leaves- aerate the soil and causes the soil to retain water
3 abiotic changes- worms eat leaves, species die off, worms die, unhealthy soil
FRQ- 1 chem and 1 phys soil test
Chem- k testing
Phys- burn
