Soil Secrets
The dark, decayed organic matter that gives rich topsoil its color
Humus
The breaking down of rock
Weathering
About this percent of Earth's water is stored in glaciers and ice caps
2.1%
Water drains quickly through sand but slowly through clay because sand has greater this
Permeability
A smaller stream that flows into a larger stream, river, or lake
Tributary
The role of a plant in a food chain/web
Producer
Where I graduated college from
St. John's University
The O horizon is this layer, made of leaf litter and humus
The organic Layer
The movement of weathered material from one place to another
Erosion
This amount of Earth's water is stored in oceans
97%
A well must reach this line to pump water
Water table
An area of land saturated by water or covered by a shallow layer of water
Wetlands
Fungi and bacteria that break down dead organisms
Decomposers
I am this many years old
23
Seeds sprout and most roots grow in this horizon, better known as topsoil
The A layer (horizon)
Carbonic acid dissolving limestone is this type of weathering
Chemical
In this stage of the water cycle, water vapor cools and forms cloud droplets
Condensation
The amount of empty space between soil particles. More of it means more stored water
Porosity
Many of Minnesota’s lakes formed when these retreated and left basins that filled with water
Glaciers
The year the Declaration of Independence was adopted
1776
Christmas
This horizon is the subsoil, made of clay and minerals washed down from above
The B layer (horizon)
Water freezing in cracks and splitting rock apart is called this, and it causes spring potholes in Minnesota
Ice wedging
After rain falls, water either flows over the land or soaks into the ground. These are the two processes
Runoff and infiltration
The zone above the water table where the pores in the soil hold air and moisture
Zone of aeration
The land area that drains into one particular stream, river, or lake
Watershed
The term for when a species has no more living members
Extinction
I have this many brothers and sisters. I need the number of each. Not counting In-laws
5 brothers
Made of broken-down bedrock with almost no organic matter, this is the deepest soil horizon
C layer (horizon)
These are the four agents of erosion. Must name all four.
Wind, water, gravity, ice
Plants release water vapor through their leaves in this process
Transpiration
Name two common sources of groundwater pollution
Sewage and harmful chemicals
Name two of the three major functions of wetlands
Absorbing floods, filtering pollutants, providing a home for wildlife
The US founding document that begins with "We the people"
The Constitution
My favorite sit-down restaurant
Texas Roadhouse