Study guide unit 2 soils

Question 1

What can you do to protect soil from water erosion with vegetation?

Answer 1

cover crops, strip cropping, crop rotation, vegetative control

Question 2

What can you do to protect soil from water erosion with mechanical means?

Answer 2

Conservation tillage, terraces, contour farming

Question 3

Role of organic matter in soil

Answer 3

Affects soil structure, returns plant nutrients, helps store moisture, makes it tillable, and provides energy for plants and microorganisms

Question 4

Functions of soil

Answer 4

Habitat, medium for plants, global carbon cycle, nutrients, temperature, gases, water, engineering material

Question 5

Plants’ basic needs

Answer 5

Nutrients, water, oxygen, acreage (stability)

Question 6

Components of soil

Answer 6

25% Water, 25% air, 45% mineral, 5% organic matter

Question 7

Soil profile horizons

Answer 7

Humus, topsoil, subsoil, parent material, bedrcok

Question 8

Soil change processes

Answer 8

Additions, losses, transformations, translocations

Question 9

Agents of deposition

Answer 9

Residual (stays still), alluvial (rivers), marine (ocean), loess (wind), lacustrine (lakes), glacial (glaciers), organic (plants)

Question 10

Types of weathering

Answer 10

Wind & water

Question 11

4 Physical properties of soil

Answer 11

Texture, structure, porosity and permeability, and color

Question 12

EC

Answer 12

Electrical conductivity, a measure of salt in the soil

Question 13

SOM

Answer 13

Soil organic matter

Question 14

Macronutrients for plants

Answer 14

Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen (from the atmosphere), nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur(from soil)

Question 15

Micronutrients for plants

Answer 15

Boron, copper, chlorine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, zinc

Question 16

Biota’s role in soil

Answer 16

Soil development, structure, and productivity

Question 17

Soil classification levels

Answer 17

Order, suborder, great group, subgroup, family, series

Question 18

Land Capability Classification (LCC)

Answer 18

Based on ability to produce cultivated crops, 8 classifications

Question 19

Factors affecting land productivity

Answer 19

Slope, texture, soil drainage, flood hazard, erosion, topsoil and subsoil thickness

Question 20

Protecting soil from wind erosion

Answer 20

Windbreaks, shelterbelts, conservation tillage, contour farming

Question 21

Soil management strategies

Answer 21

Tilling, cultivating, adding fertilizer, cover crops, increasing biodiversity, adding organic matter

Question 22

Adding sulfur to soil

Answer 22

Lowers pH

Question 23

Adding lime to soil

Answer 23

Increases pH

Question 24

Soil forming factors

Answer 24

Parent material, native vegetation, climate, topography, time

Question 25

Compacted soil

Answer 25

Increase in mineral content, decrease in others

Question 26

Particles of soil

Answer 26

Sand, silt, clay

Question 27

Soil fertility

Answer 27

Nutrients and CEC (cation exchange capacity)

Question 28

Soil pH

Answer 28

Acidity or alkalinity of soil

Question 29

Types of land erosion

Answer 29

Water & wind

Question 30

Types of water erosion

Answer 30

Splash & runoff

Question 31

Results of water erosion

Answer 31

Sheet, rill, gully