Term
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Definition
| The process that breaks down rock and other substances at Earth's surface. |
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Term
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Definition
| The movement of rock particles by wind, water, ice, or gravity. |
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Term
Mechanical weathering
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Definition
| The type of weathering in which rock is physically broken into smaller pieces. |
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Term
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Definition
| The grinding away of rock by rock particles carried away by water, ice, wind, or gravity. |
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Definition
| When wedges of ice widen and deepen cracks in rocks. |
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Definition
| The process that breaks down rock through chemical changes. |
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Definition
| When a material is full of tiny, connected air spaces that allow water to seep through it. |
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Definition
| Loose, weathered material on Earth's surface in which plants can grow. |
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Definition
| The solid layer of rock beneath the soil. |
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Term
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Definition
| A dark-colored substance that forms as plant and animal remains decay. |
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Definition
| Soil that is made up of about equal parts of clay, sand, and silt. |
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Term
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Definition
| A layer of soil that differs in color and texture from the layers above or below it. |
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Definition
| A crumbly, dark brown soil that is a mixture of humus, clay, and other materials that makes up the A horizon. |
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Definition
| The B horizon made up of clay and other particles washed down from the A horizon but contains little humus. |
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Definition
| The loose layer formed by plants as they shed leaves. |
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Term
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Definition
| The organisms that break down the remains of dead organisms into smaller pieces and digest them with chemicals. |
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Term
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Definition
| The thick mass of tough roots at the surface of the soil that keeps soil in place and holds onto moisture. |
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Term
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Definition
| A resource that can be naturally be replaced in a relatively short time. |
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Term
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Definition
| Parts of Oklahoma and the surrounding states that lost soil in the 1930's. |
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Term
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Definition
| Modern methods to prevent the destruction of soil. |
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Term
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Definition
| The practice of plowing fields along the curves of a slope. |
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Term
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Definition
| Plowing that disturbs the soil and plant cover as little as possible. |
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Term
| The factors of mechanical weathering |
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Definition
| The release of pressure, ice wedging, plant growth, abrasion, and animal actions. |
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Term
| Three causes and descriptions of chemical weathering. |
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Definition
| Oxygen oxidizes the iron in the rocks and makes it soft and crumbly. Carbon dioxide mixes with rain to produce carbonic acid which can easily weather limestone and marble. Acid rain is created due to the burning of coal, gas, and oil which the sulfur, carbon, and nitrogen compounds chemically react with water vapor. |
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Term
| The most important factors that determine the rate of weathering |
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Definition
| The climate and the type of rock being weathered. |
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Term
| Why does chemical weathering occur faster in hot and wet climates than in cool, dry climates? |
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Definition
| The chemical reactions occur faster in warm, wet climates rather than cool and dry climates. |
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Term
| What role does weathering play in the formation of soil? |
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Definition
| Weathering breaks down rocks into particles which make up part of the soil. |
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Term
| What are the different materials that make up soil? |
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Definition
| Rock particles, minerals, decayed organic material, air, and water. |
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Term
| How do plants and animals affect the formation and composition of soil? |
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Definition
| Plants and animals decay when they die and provide humus. Animals also provide nitrogen when they excrete wastes. |
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Term
| How do forest soils differ from prairie soils? |
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Definition
| Prairie soils are commonly found in the central and northern parts of the United States and are rich in humus. Forest soils are located at the northeastern part of the United States and most of Canada which the level of humus varies from rich to little. |
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Term
| How important is soil as one of Earth's resources? |
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Definition
| Soil is considered a renewable resource although it may take hundreds of years to make a few centimeters. Soil can easily be lost to erosion without plant cover and can also lose its fertility if the same plant is grown too many times. |
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Term
| How did the settlers on the Great Plains help create the Dust Bowl? |
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Definition
| The settlers exhausted the soil and didn't have any plant cover so the soil was eroded by the wind as far as the Atlantic Ocean. |
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Term
| What are some techniques that farmers use to conserve soil? |
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Definition
| Nowdays, farmers have methods to keep the soil from being eroded like contour plowing , which is plowing fields along the curves of a slope, and conservation plowing, which is plowing that disturbs the plant cover and soil as little as possible. |
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