weathering and soil
Terms
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- what humus promotes
- good soil structure and helps soil retain water
- climate
- the pattern of weather that occurs in a particular area over many years
- water chemical weathering
- the oxygen and hydrogen atoms in water react with chemicals in rocks and new compounds form
- Horizon B
- less evolved soil layer below a horizon
- characteristics of C horizon
- contains materials leached from B horizon, contains partly weathered rock, contains solid rock at its bottom (which is the parent rock that gave rise to the soil horizon above)
- soil is a mixture of
- weathered rock, organic matter, mineral fragments, water, air
- process of leaching
- when water runs down through the soil horizons, leaching out soil materials and depositing them in layers below
- soil
- material on the surface of the earth on which plants can grow. It's produced by weathering
- 2 types of weathering
- mechanical and chemical
- chemical processes causing chemical weathering
- water, acids, and oxygen
- horizons
- each layer
- soil profile
- the different layers of soil
- 9 types of soil
- arctic, prairie, river, desert, wetlands, tropical, temperate, mountain, glacial
- C horizon
- the bottom layer below B horizon
- leaching
- the downward removal of soil materials dissolved in water
- physical processes causing mechanical weathering
- growing plants, ice wedging, growing crystals, lightning, expansion and contraction with heating and cooling
- erosion
- a process in which topsoil and rock are worn away through the action of water, wind, and glaciers
- oxygen chemical weathering
- occurs when a material such as iron is exposed to water and the O2 in air causes iron to change to rust
- chemical weathering
- when water, air, and other substances react with minerals in rocks and the chemical composition of rock changes
- weathering
- the process that breaks down rocks into smaller fragments
- desertification
- desert formation
- mechanical weathering
- breaks apart rocks without changing the chemical composition (rocks retain some characteristics as original rock)
- characteristics of top soil
- contains top soil, most fully evolved layer, has changed the most from weathered rock, dark in color, contains rock and mineral grains, decaying leaves, roots of plants, insects, and worms
- Horizon A
- top layer of soil
- humus
- dark-colored decaying matter that provides nutrients for plants
- acid chemical weathering
- carbonic acid reacts with calcite dissolve rock
- characteristics of Horizon B
- lighter color, less humus, some plant roots, contains elements from leaching of a horizon