Is frost wedging an example of mechanical weathering or of chemical weathering?
Mechanical
What is a large fan of sediment that forms where a stream enters a larger body of water?
Delta
What is the process of forming hard surfaces in desert areas by erosion by loose sediments.
Deflation
Where do native soils come from?
What is the breaking off of rocks by layers?
Exfoliation
Loosens and kicks them up
What are large hills formed from deposited sand?
Dunes
Soil conservation
Why is water an agent of chemical weathering?
Because of the acids naturally found in it
Extremely slow mass wasting (downward movement of soil and rocks)
What is glacial drift?
All of the deposited sediments from glaciers
What soils are normally very fertile?
Ones that have sufficient water (though not too much) and plenty of dead organic material
Define carbonic acid and humic acid.
Carbonic acid - formed from CO2 dissolving in water
Humic acid - formed when water dissolves decaying plant matter
What is mass wasting?
The downward movement of rocks and soil by gravity alone
The process of forming hard surfaces in desert areas by erosion of loose sediments
List four factors that affect the rate of soil formation.
Fast chemical weathering = fast soil formation
Wet areas have faster soil formation than dry areas
Volcanoes cause fast formation
Glaciers cause fast formation
List and explain five factors that affect chemical weathering.
Minerals in the rock -Some minerals are more resistant to acid than others
Climate - warm and moist climates cause more chemical weathering
Topography - gentle hills hold more water than steep hills
Vegetation - holds a lot of water in the soil
Amount of rock surface - more rock surface means more chemical weathering
Based off of size
What is the difference between cirques and tarns?
Cirques - bowl-like depressions carved from glaciers
Tarns - small lakes found in some cirques
Describe the three soil horizons, including their color.
C horizon - rests directly on top of the bedrock, consist of broken and weathered pieces of bedrock, normally has a very pale color
B horizon - contains weathered minerals from the C horizon, color depends on the type of weathered minerals
A horizon - the most fertile part of the soil, is often dark because it has a lot of humus