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LARE Prep > Abiotic Systems > Flashcards

Abiotic Systems Flashcards

1
Q

What is a soil series? how are they named?

A

a group of soils originating from the same parent material and having similar soil hrozings in the soil profile, what primary diff between them being their soil texture.

Each soil series is named for a nearby geographic feature

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2
Q

How are soil series divided / organized?

A

into “phases” based on their difference in texture. The phase name portion of a soil name indicates a feature of the soil that affects management

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3
Q

example of a soil series and phase name

A

Hagerstown silt loam, 3 to 8 % slopes

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4
Q

Who provides soil maps to the public that can be used to determine the soils series at a given site?

A

USDA, NRCS - National resoruces conservation service

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5
Q

What is a soil horizon? how are they defined?

A

a layer parallel to soil surface whose phys, chem, and biological characteristics differ from layers above an dbelow. They are defined by obvious physical features such as color and texture

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6
Q

What is a soil profile?

A

avertical section of soil that cuts through all its horizons and extending into parent material

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7
Q

All soil is composed of what three components

A

sand, silt and clay

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8
Q

soil textures vary according to ration of three particles. What composition is loam soil?

A

primarily composed of sand and silt with a small amoutn of clay

as a rule of thumb equar parts sand and silt in loam soil

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9
Q

How do you read a soil texture triangle?

A

angles and lines - trace on each angle to find texture class. Each side of triangle is a particle size (clay, silt, sand) and the percentage of that partic in soil is determined by values along each of the three axes

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10
Q

What is soil texture important? what does it determine

A

determines the soils water holding capacity
determines permeability and workability
impacts plant communities

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10
Q

What is friable soil?

A

soil with a texture in which large clumps are easily broken apart by hand - but cannot easily be broken apart into (undesirably) small particles (such soils are ideal for agriculture and plant growth)

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11
Q

What is soil porosity?

A

the void size ebtween particles within a soil, expressed as the percentage of void space in the soil

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12
Q

soil porosity has a direct relationship with…what soil characterisitc

A

soil permeability

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13
Q

Describe the porosity of sand and why it is as such

A

High porosity due to large particle size making it difficult to compact (maintained void space)

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14
Q

What is a well graded soil?

A

soil with a wide range and even distribution of soil particle sized, in which smaller soil particles fill the voids created by larger grains

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15
Q

what is gap-graded soil

A

soil that contains various particle sizes, but in which gradation between sizes is broken by gaps of some particle sizes

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16
Q

what is uniformly graded soil?

A

soil consis of a single range of particle sizes

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17
Q

What is permability and what soil dynamics does it impact?

A

permeabilty is rate at which water moves through soil

it impacts infiltration rates (rate at which water flows into soil through small pores)

and it imapcts percolation: downward movement of water in a soil

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18
Q

What is typically the ratio of highly permeable soils. how can poorly draining soils be amended to improve permeability?

A

large rations of sand and gravel. add more sand and gravel

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19
Q

What is typ ratio of low permeable soils. How can highly permeable soils be amended to decrease permeabilty

A

High clay composition. Add clay or peat moss or other highly absorbent organics

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20
Q

What is a hydric soil?

A

soils with low permeability in areas subject to reguarl moisture - they are heavily saturated with water for long periods of time, rednering the soils anearobic and typ bluish in color

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21
Q

In what design instance are infiltration rates important?

A

greenstormwater mgmt

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22
Q

in what design instance is percolation particularly important?

A

septic systems. soils with slow perc rate cannot accomdate septic systems

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23
Q

What is a soil’s bearing capacity?

A

the measur of a soil to decrease in volume under the pressure of a given weight.

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24
Q

What is the angle of repose

A

the max slope at which a loose material can be piled and remain stable

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25
Q

what is soil elasticitiy?

A

Abilyt of a soil to return to its OG shape after ebing subjected to a load condition - like rubber ball

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26
Q

What is soil plasticity?

A

Ability for soil to be deformed under pressure without breaking apart? like plastic

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27
Q

What is soil lquid limit?

A

the min moisture content at which soil will flow under its own weight

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28
Q

What type of soil offers best base course for roads and foudnations? Why?

A

Well graded soil - offer greater stablity and bearing capacity that soil with uniform size or those that shrink and expand through drying and wetting cycles (like clay, think cracked mud bottom of a puddle)

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29
Q

What site patterns have a big impact of soil erosion besides soil characterisitcs?

A

precip patterns
topo or slope
soil disturbance
site location (such as coast adjacent to ocean and storm erosion, or wildfires causing hyrdrophobic soils that decrease infiltraiton and cause erosion

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30
Q

what issues can erosion cause?

A

removing / stripping topsoil (fertile good soil)
introduce high sediment loads into watershed
reduced water quality
stream aggradation (filling in with sediment)

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31
Q

What are best practices in reducing soil erosion?

A

preserve existing veg

reduce total area of land distrubance

stabilize excavated areas (seed sodding mluching ect)

minimize distrubance to steep slopes

scheudle clearn and grading activites during dry season

locate non point pollutions sources (construction access roads fro example) in areas that do NOT drain into water bodies

use erosion control fencing blankets,

Stablize drainage channels with erosion resist material such as rip rap

32
Q

What are common types of erosion?

A

Gully erosion - widening and depending and headbutting of small channels

Rill erosion - removal of soil with formation of shallow channels

Sheet erosion - removal of a fairly uniform layer of soil from land surface by action of rain or runoff

33
Q

How is soil fertility described?

A

Through NPK rations : Ntrogren, phosphorous and potassium (K)

34
Q

How do you read NPK values of a fertilizer - for example 20-10-20

A

20 parts nitrogren, 10 parks phosphorous, 20 parts potassium

35
Q

What does nitrogen support for plants?

A

raphid growht and dev of foliage and fruit

36
Q

What does phosphorous support for plants?

A

helps plant convert other nutirents into usable building blocks with which to grow

37
Q

What does K potassium do for plants?

A

stengthens plan abiltty to resist disease

38
Q

What is soil Ph, how measured? and how does in impact plants?

A

Ph measure on scale from 0 to 14. 7 neutral, below 7 acidic, above 7 alkaline

impacts the solubilty of minerals and nutrients availabitly to plants

most plants pefer 5.5 to 7.5

39
Q

How do you amend soil for acidity and for alkalinity?

A

overly acidic soil - add lime

over alkaline soil - add sulfur

soils high in salt can be ameded with gypsum

40
Q

What can overly alkaline soil cause in plants? how does manifest in plants?

A

iron chlorosis

Chlorotic plants have yellowed leaves with green veings and browing along the leaf margin

41
Q

What is considered the MOST important variable when siting a new project?

A

Topography - site planning and design should follow or otherwise relate to existing landforms to respect context and save money -site disturbance is costly!

42
Q

What equation can you use to calculate precide percent slope if given a distance and contour elevation data

A

slope = rise/run

43
Q

What is the minimum slope sited by most sources as the minimum slope necessary for a site to shed water and have proper drainage

A

2%

44
Q

When expresses as a percentange - what are typ slope categories and how steep is each category?

A

0 - 3% - nearly level
3-7% - gently sloping
7 to 12% moderate
12 to 25% strongly
25 to 40% steeply sloping
40 to 70% very steeply sloping
70% plus - EXTREMELY sloping

45
Q

What is slope analysis and what is it used for

A

used to ID steep and u buildable sopes

used to ID possible locations for building, access and stormwater mgmt needs

46
Q

Wht is a slope’s aspect and what does it impact?

A

a slopes orientation - or direction the slope faces relative to the sun

impacts the amount of solar radiation a site will recieve

47
Q

Name the slope aspects and their relationship to microclimate

A

southern slopes - most sun in winter

southeastern slopes - most desireable mircorclimate

north facing slopes - much colder

northwestern facing slopes - cold winter winds

western slopes - hosttest in the summer

48
Q

What does a geology specific inventory and analysis related to and what factors does it take into consideration

A

realted to geomorhphology - study of physical features and their realtion to gelogic structures)

takes landforms, seismiz hazards and depth to bedrock into consideration

49
Q

What does geologic maps data generally show? what is key constraint to remember for design?

A

age and distrib of rock layers and attibutes of these layers.

will id seismic lines and faults

rock is WAY more expesnive to remove than soil

50
Q

What is time of concentration? what should be noted about physical distance vs time?

A

refer tot he amoutn of time needed for water to flow from the most remote point in a watershed to the watershed outlet

the most remote point is not necessarily most physically far away point - it is the area the takes the longest to drain / reach the outlet

51
Q

What is the rational equation? What is it used for? what are its variables?

A

Rational equation is used to determine the rate of runoff

Q = ciA

Q is preak discharge measured as cubic feet per second
c is runoff coefficinet
i is rainfall in iches per hour
A is drainage area measured in acres

52
Q

What is a 100 year floodplain?

A

an area of land the has a 1% chance to flood in any given year

53
Q

What restrictions are imposed on 100 year flood plain?

A

land use is highly restricted, for purposes of LARE - buildings cannot be constructed inside the boundaries of the floodplain

54
Q

What is the definitive resource for floodplain information (on LARE)

A

FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps

55
Q

What is a base flood elevation, what do they determine?

A

whole foot elevations of the 100 year floodplain that have been studied in detail at selected intervals. in areas where building has occurred in 100 year FP - BFE calcs are used to determine he height at which building need to be constructed to be safe from flooding

56
Q

What’s i freeboard

A

any portion of the flood in excess of base flood elevation (measured in feet)

57
Q

in the absence of FEMA maps - how are the extents of flood plains determined

A

topo
soils
veg types
extent of past flows

58
Q

Flood hazards can generally be mitigated by…

A

expanding stormwater infiltration
minimizing impervious surface use
decreasing the volume of runoff during storms

restricting development of areas outside the floodplain

59
Q

in what two primary ways does land use change negatively impact the watershed. what increase and what decreases

A

increasing flooding

impacting water qualtiy

60
Q

What four primary WATER QUALITY impacts can originate from land use change sources

A

erosion and sedimentation

chemicals

illegal dumping

microorganisms

61
Q

What are the two water quality pollutions sources

A

point source - a single identifiable source of pollution from which pollutant is being discharged (aka factory smokestack)

non point source - pollution caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over or through the ground - during which it absorbs various natural and human made pollutants and deposits them into water sources

62
Q

Describe the processes of sedimentation (aka aggradation) in rivers.

A

river carves out outer bank or fast moving area and picks up / erodes away material, then river slows down / moves slower on inner bank and pools and drops sediment

63
Q

What is TMDL

A

Total max daily load is the calc of the max amount of pollutant allowed to enter a waterbody so that the waterbody will continue to meet water quality standards

64
Q

What resources can LAs reference for climate data for planting

A

USDA hardiness zones

65
Q

What is albedo

A

measurement of objects reflectivity or level of “whiteness”

high albedo surfaces help cool areas

66
Q

What is the angle of incidence

A

the angle at which a ray of light is hitting a surface

67
Q

What is azimuth

A

direction of a celestial object from observer, expressed as angular distance from north or south point on the horizon to the point at which. a vertical circle passing through the object intersects with the horizon

68
Q

drainage wind

A

like cold air drainage - moves from higher to lower elevation

69
Q

microclimates are linked to aspects on site - please describe common mircoclimates and their attributes

A

southern - warm / most sun in winter

southeastern - most desirable

northern - cold in winter

northwestern - cold and windy

western orientation - most sun / hottest in summer

70
Q

What differentiates soil series fromeach other?

A

Soil texture

They will orginate from same parent material and have similr horizons

71
Q

What is geomorphology

A

description of landforms

72
Q

What is an assesor’s map use for

A

to located buildings and land in order to determine their worth

73
Q

For hydrology, what is a LOMR

A

Letter of Map revision - Change in flood elevations, flood zones, floodplain and floodway delineations and planimetric features

74
Q

What three attributes can be interpreted from a topography map?

A

slope
aspect
elevation

75
Q

What is the most likely source to determine natural regional drainage patterns?

A

Topographic map.

76
Q

Drainage basin divides occur at

A

ridges.

77
Q
A

LARE Prep (11 decks)

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