Soil

Question 1

Soil is actually quite a ______ _______.

Answer 1

complex substance

Question 2

What does soil support?

Answer 2

It supports plants, holds water, and brings us food.

Question 3

What is soil made up of?

Answer 3

Made up of disintegrated rock, broken down organic matter, gas, water, nutrients, and biological organisms.

Question 4

1 teaspoon of soil can contain up to….

Answer 4

100 million bacteria, 500,000 fungi, 100,000 algae, and 50,000 protists.

Question 5

What kind of resource is soil?

Answer 5

A renewable resource, but slowly regenerated.

Question 6

Because of the diversity, soil is actually considered a

Answer 6

micro-ecosystem

Question 7

Soil starts with

Answer 7

Parent Material

Question 8

Parent Material

Answer 8

the geological material that breaks down and forms sediment.

Question 9

Parent Material could be ______

Answer 9

mountainous rock, lava, sand dunes, glacier, river sediment, or bedrock

Question 10

Parent Material is broken down by either

Answer 10

chemical or physical processes called weathering.

Question 11

The weathering of parent material is just the ____

Answer 11

first step of soil formation

Question 12

Types of weathering

Answer 12

Wind, Rain, and Chemical

Question 13

The second step of soil formation is the movement of particles from one location to another called _______

Answer 13

erosion

Question 14

Once broken down and carried away…

Answer 14

rock debris will combine with organic matter, microbes, and other materials to form soil.

Question 15

Soil will exist in different ________, or layers

Answer 15

horizons

Question 16

What are the different horizons?

Answer 16

O horizon, A Horizon, B Horizon, C Horizon

Question 17

O horizon

Answer 17

Organic litter layer

Question 18

A horizon

Answer 18

Topsoil

Question 19

B horizon

Answer 19

Subsoil

Question 20

C horizon

Answer 20

Parent material

Question 21

The smaller the topsoil, the less amount of

Answer 21

plants

Question 22

Topsoil is

Answer 22

the most important layer with respect to plants as this where they gain their nutrients and food from. The nutrient content, ability to hold water, and depth will ultimately determine how well a plant will grow.

Question 23

Organic matter _____ as you travel down the horizons

Answer 23

decreases

Question 24

Leaching

Answer 24

The movement of nutrients through layers

Question 25

There are __ classifications of soil that soil scientists use that derive from where they originated.

Answer 25

12

Question 26

Soil color

Answer 26

can sometimes indicate fertility if it has a lot of oxygen, it will be red the darker the soil, the more nutrients

Question 27

Soil texture

Answer 27

Size of parent material particles

Question 28

Soil structure

Answer 28

the 'clumsiness' of soil | how well does it hold up

Question 29

Soil pH

Answer 29

the acidity of soil | pine trees make soil acidic

Question 30

Mollisols

Answer 30

located in great plains, rich in nutrients

Question 31

Ultisols

Answer 31

located in Deciduous forests, are strongly leached, acid forest soils with relatively low native fertility

Question 32

Ardisols

Answer 32

located in deserts, contain CaCO3-, limited leaching, dry

Question 33

Oxisols

Answer 33

located in intertropical regions in the world, highly weathered soil

Question 34

Vertisols

Answer 34

located in Denton, Texas and Mississippi river, heavily clayed that gets cracks in the soil, river bed soil

Question 35

Soil Texture consists of three categories

Answer 35

silt, sand, and clay

Question 36

Ultimately soil is affected by its

Answer 36

regional characteristics

Question 37

Some areas allow for more ______ ________

Answer 37

cation exchange

Question 38

Cation Exchange

Answer 38

how plants uptake nutrients

Question 39

What makes for better cation exchange?

Answer 39

Finer texture and more organic matter

Question 40

Who was better soil? The Amazon rainforest or the Kansas plains?

Answer 40

The Kansas Plains

Question 41

Different soils in Denton county are:

Answer 41

``` Blackland Prairie (black) on the East Cross Timbers (reddish brown) at Ryan HS Grand Prairie (white/gray) - on the West ```

Question 42

______ is a huge problem in American agriculture. Almost equally as important is ______, or the arrival of the eroded material at a new location

Answer 42

Erosion; deposition

Question 43

Erosion generally happens ______ than soil formation can occur

Answer 43

faster

Question 44

How have we increased erosion?

Answer 44

through over cultivating fields, overgrazing rangelands, and clearing forests.

Question 45

What are the types of soil erosion?

Answer 45

Splash Erosion: from a constant drip, irrigation, one spot getting hit by a raindrop. Gully Erosion: Dry river beds Rill Erosion: Eroding on elevation Sheet Erosion: low lying area that collects water that doesn't go away (almost only happens in TX)

Question 46

After a long time of erosion, the end product is the removal of ______ and loss of _______ __ ________

Answer 46

topsoil; nutrients of plants

Question 47

As this happens, plants and vegetations die, driving….

Answer 47

erosion even deeper.

Question 48

Desertification

Answer 48

the process of an area becoming more and more like a desert.

Question 49

Crop rotation

Answer 49

only farm at a certain part of your land at a time

Question 50

Contour farming

Answer 50

fitting your fields around your topography

Question 51

Terracing

Answer 51

Take a hillside but because it's too steep you cut away at the mountain

Question 52

Shelterbeds

Answer 52

surround land by trees

Question 53

Intercropping

Answer 53

planting different species of plants in the same place

Question 54

No-till farming

Answer 54

every planting season people saves soil

Question 55

Irrigation

Answer 55

Watering crops artificially

Question 56

Over-irrigation can deposit

Answer 56

salt and excess nutrient sediments on the soil's surface as the water evaporates.

Question 57

Salinization

Answer 57

over time the build up of salt levels on the surface causes this process, that ultimately kills plants. In order to stop salinization, don't overwater.