Evology Final Flashcards
(39 cards)
Components of soil?
Climate, topography, biota, and time
What is weathering?
Decomposition of soil
Differentiate consolidated vs unconsolidated parent material
Consolidated has been formed in geological substrates and unconsolidated has been transported by water, ice,wind, or gravity
Factors affecting soil formation
Topography, time, biota, and parent material
Differentiate the differences Bowen the 3 O horizons
Oi, tree leaves, slightly decomposed. Oe, moderately decomposed. Oa highly decomposed
Differentiate the 5 soil horizons
O- accumulation of organic matter l at the soil surface. A- surface of mineral soil. E- can be distinguished by the overlying A horizon by its light color. B- site of maximum illumination. C- unconsolidated parent material underlying the A, E, and B horizons
What is illuviation and eluvation?
Illuviation is accumulation and eluvation is leaching
What are he physical properties of soil
Texture, color, structure, bulk density, and pore space
What is soil texture?
Relative proportions of the different size mineral particles in the soil
What is pure space?
Portion occupied by air and water
Differentiate the three major categories of soil
Gravitational is water that drains through, capillary is water that is retained, and hydroscopic is water that is held strongly
What is cohesion?
The ability of water molecules to stick together forming a column of water
What is adhesion?
The ability of water molecules to stick to the cellulose in cell walls
What is ph?
A measure of soil acidity or h ion concentration
Affects of soil acidity on plant growth
Altered nutrient availability, adversely affects root membrane permeability, decreased microbial diversity
What is cation exchange capacity?
Capacity of soil to attract and hold positively charged ions to the net negatively charged surface of clay or organic material
Differentiate macro and micronutrients.
Macro- plants require greater quantities of nutrients.
Micronutrients- plants require little quantities and aren’t important
Examples of macronutrients
Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium, and sodium
Examples of micronutrients
Iron, copper, molybdenum, boron
Basic building blocks of biological tissues
C, H, and O
3 processes of atmospheric deposition.
Wet deposition, dry deposition, and cloud deposition
Biological fixation of nitrogen.
Helps availability of ammonium in the soil
2 processes in which nutrients incorporated biologically active compounds
Uptake and assimilation
Process of mineralization
The release of NH4 during the microbial breakdown of proteins, amino acids, and other N-containing organic compounds
