Weathering and Soil Formation Flashcards
What is the mixture of humus, clay, and other minerals that forms the crumbly, topmost layer of soil?
Topsoil
What is a thick mass of grass, roots, and soil?
Sod
What is the layer of soil that differs in color and texture from the layers above or below it?
Soil Horizon
What is the planting of different crops in a field each year to maintain the soil’s fertility?
Crop Rotation
What is the management of soil to prevent its destruction?
Soil Conservation
What is plowing fields along the curves of a slope to prevent soil loss?
Contour Plowing
What is the measure of how well soil supports plant growth?
Fertility
What is the layer of soil beneath the topsoil that contains mostly clay and other minerals?
Subsoil
What is the type of weathering in which rock is physically broken into smaller pieces?
Mechanical Weathering
What is the loose layer of dead plant leaves and stems on the surface of the soil?
Litter
What is the loose, weathered material on Earth’s surface in which plants can grow?
Soil
What is the chemical and physical processes that break down rock at Earth’s surface?
Weathering
What is the solid layer of rock beneath the soil?
Bedrock
What is a soil conservation method in which the dead stalks from the previous year’s crop are left in the ground to hold the soil in place?
Conservation Plowing
What is a soil organism that breaks down the remains of organisms and digests them?
Decomposer
What is the process that breaks down rock through chemical changes?
Chemical Weathering
What is anything in the environment that humans use?
Natural Resource
What is the dark-colored organic material in soil?
Humus
What is the process by which water, ice, wind, or gravity moves weathered rock and soil?
Erosion
What is the characteristic of a material that is full of tiny, connected air spaces that water can seep through?
Permeable
What is the rich and fertile soil that is made up of about equal parts of clay, sand, and silt?
Loam
Is acid rain an example of chemical or physical weathering?
Chemical Weathering
Is oxidation an example of chemical or physical weathering?
Chemical Weathering
Is acid rain an example of chemical or physical weathering?
Chemical Weathering
Is oxidation an example of chemical or physical weathering?
Chemical Weathering
What are the five causes of chemical weathering?
- Water
- Oxygen
- Carbon Dioxide
- Living Organisms
- Acid Rain
Is abrasion a type of chemical or mechanical weathering?
Mechanical Weathering
Is ice wedging a type of chemical or mechanical weathering?
Mechanical Weathering
What are the five types of mechanical weathering?
- Release of Pressure
- Freezing and Thawing
- Animal Actions
- Plant Growth
- Abrasion
How does soil form?
The process of soil formation starts with the horizon that is called bedrock. Bedrock is rock that’s hasn’t been weathered yet. After bedrock horizon c forms. Horizon C is weathered rock. Weathered rock is made up of rock fragments. After horizon c is horizon a. Horizon A is called topsoil. Topsoil is made up of a mixture of humus, clay, and other minerals. Topsoil also has living organisms in it that mix the soil together. Finally, after topsoil is subsoil. Subsoil is things washed down from topsoil, but little humus.
What are the four layers of soil in order from top to bottom?
- Topsoil
- Subsoil
- Weathered Rock
- Bedrock
What did you learn from the “How Fast Can it Fizz” lab?
I learned that if an object has more surface area exposed to chemical weathering it will dissolve faster.
