Term
| What factors cause mechanical weathering? |
|
Definition
-freezing and thawing
-release of pressure
-growth of plants
-actions of animals
-abrasion |
|
|
Term
| Describe three causes of chemical weathering |
|
Definition
-water
-oxygen
-carbon dioxide
-living organisms
-acid rain |
|
|
Term
| what factors affect the rate of weathering |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| explain why chemical weathering occurs faster in hot, wet climates than in cool, dry climates |
|
Definition
| chemical reactions occur faster at higher temperatures |
|
|
Term
| what role does weathering play in the formation of soil |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| what are the different materials that make up soil? |
|
Definition
| rock particles, minerals, decayed organic material, air, and water |
|
|
Term
| how do plants and animals affect the formation and composition of soil |
|
Definition
| plants and animals create humus which helps create spaces in soil for the air and water that plants must have. humus is rich in the nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and potassium that plants need to grow |
|
|
Term
| how do forest soils differ from prairie soils? |
|
Definition
forest: formed in wet climates, range from thick and fertile to thin with little humus
prairie:form in cool, dry climates of grasslands;topsoil thck and rich in humus |
|
|
Term
| explain the importance of soil as one of Earth's resources |
|
Definition
| everything that lives on land depends directly or indirectly on soil |
|
|
Term
| how did the settlers on the Great Plains help create the Dust Bowl? |
|
Definition
| Plowing removed the grass from the Great Plains and exposed the soil. In times of drought, the topsoil quickly dried out, turned to dust, and blew away. |
|
|
Term
| What are some techniques that farmers use to conserve soil? |
|
Definition
| countour plowing and conservation plowing |
|
|
Term
| What are some techniques that farmers use to conserve soil? |
|
Definition
| countour plowing and conservation plowing |
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