chap 2 vocab
Terms
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- the chemical and physical processes that break down rock at Earth's surface
- weathering
- the process by which water, ice or gravity moves weathered rock and soil
- erosion
- the type of weathering in which rocks are physically broken into smaller pieces by freezing, thawing, release of pressure, growth of plants, actions of animals and abrasion
- mechanical weathering
- the grinding away of rock by other rock particles carried in water, ice or wind
- abrasion
- process that splits rock when water seeps into cracks, then freezes and expands
- ice wedging
- the process that breaks down rock through chemical changes
- chemical weathering
- characteristic of a material that is full of tony, connected air spaces that water can seep through
- permeable
- the loose, weathered material on Earth's surface in which plants grow
- soil
- the solid layer of rock beneath the soil
- bedrock
- dark colored organic material in soil
- humus
- rich, fertile soil that is made up of about equal parts of clay, sand and silt
- loam
- a layer of soil that differs in color and texture from th layers above or below
- soil horizon
- mixture of humus, clay and other minerals that form the crumbly, topmost layer of soil
- top soil
- the layer of soil beneath the topsoil that contains mostly clay and minerals
- subsoil
- the loose layer of dead plant leaves and stems on the surface of the soil
- litter
- soil organism that breaks down the remains of organisms and digest them
- decomposer
- a thick mass of grass roots and soil
- sod
- the area of the great plains where wind erosion caused soil loss during the 1930's
- Dust bowl
- the management of soil to prevent its destruction
- soil conservation
- plowing fields along the curves of a slope to prevent soil loss
- contour plowing
- 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