Soil Formation and Erosion
This type of weathering increases the surface area of exposed rock
What is physical weathering?
This molecule is the second most abundant in the atmosphere
What is oxygen, or O2?
The boundaries of a watershed are called these
What are divides?
This term is defined as incoming solar radiation, which is the main source of energy on Earth
What is insolation?
This type of weathering releases essential nutrients from rocks
What is chemical weathering?
This process can occur both biotically and abiotically, and results in the removal of rock fragments from an ecosystem
What is erosion?
Air pressure and density have this relationship with altitude
What is an inverse relationship?
As height goes up, pressure and density decrease
Water flows faster in watersheds when this is steeper
What is slope?
A surface, such as fresh snow, that is strongly reflective of incoming sunlight will have this level of albedo
What is high?
Meteors burn up in this layer of the atmosphere due to increasing friction
What is the mesosphere?
This horizon is also known as topsoil
What is the A horizon?
The presence of this greenhouse gas causes the stratosphere to warm, and protects the surface from UV radiation
What is Ozone, or O3?
If the soil composition of a watershed is high one of these particles, it will have more water flowing on the surface and that water will be at risk of increased rates of sedimentation
What is clay or silt?
NOT sand
On these days, hours of daylight and darkness are equal
What are equinoxes?
What is the R horizon?
What is bedrock?
The underlying rock material from which the inorganic components of a soil are derived is called this
What is parent material?
This, the hottest layer of the atmosphere, is also home to the aurora borealis
What is the thermosphere?
These are two reasons why humans frequently colonize floodplains
Floodplains contain fertile soil
Floodplains are flat
Floodplains are close to rivers for transportation
The Midnight Sun phenomena occurs in this location during the month of June
What is the North Pole?
Dams obstruct river flow and alter watersheds. This is one way that water flow is altered upstream of a dam
What is increased flooding, resulting in the formation of a reservoir behind the dam?
This is the least weathered soil horizon
What is the C horizon?
What are the troposphere and the mesosphere?
Dams obstruct river flow and alter watersheds. This is one way that water flow is altered downstream of a dam
What is reduced water flow?
What is reduced sediment flow?
What is increased flood control?
In the Southern Hemisphere, the solstice observed in this month will cause their longest day of the year
What is December?
The Earth is closest to the Sun during this month
What is January, at Perihelion?