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What type of weathering is when plants and animals break apart rocks?
Mechanical
what can happen to rocks when they come up out of the ground?
break apart (aka weathering)
Describe Thermal Stress
when rocks heat up and cool off, expanding and contracting
What is it called when oxygen reacts with rocks and metals breaks down into rust
oxidation
What is ice-wedging
When water gets in the crack of a road or a rock, freezes and expands, creating it a bigger crack or crumbling effect.
What can happen when the roots of plants come in contact with underground rocks?
WEATHERING!
Soil directly supports which type of life, plants or animals?
Plants
What do the lines on topographical maps represent?
Elevation
How can animals contribute to weathering?
They break down the rocks when burrowing underground
How can large rocks end up in random places?
Glaciers carry them
How can gravity cause weathering?
Rocks can fall down hills, causing them to crash and break apart
What is erosion?
the removal of weathered material
What type of weathering is taking place when plant acids break down rocks?
chemical weathering
How does a floodplain form
when a river floods and deposits sediment
what is called when loose rock and sand brush up against solid rock surfaces on the landscape?
wind abrasion
What is chemical weathering?
When rocks are broken down by chemicals such as those found in acid rain
What are the layers of soil called?
Horizons
How long can it take to develop healthy soils?
thousands of years
What are at least 2 of the 4 components of soil?
small rocks, organic matter from living organisms, water, and air
What two things in the air or soil react with each other to form carbonic acid?
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Water (H20)
Plant roots produce organic acids that can dissolve in dissolve what in which types of rocks?
Minerals
How do glaciers move materials?
As glaciers move they scrape the earth's surface and transport rocks, sediment and other materials
How do plants break down rocks?
plant acids are released from roots
What is sheet flow?
when rain rolls down a hill over-land