Rocks and weathering
The process that breaks down rock and other substances
What is weathering?
Process that splits rock when water seeps into cracks, then freezes and expands
What is frost wedging/freezing and thawing?
Rock is broken down through chemical changes
What is chemical weathering?
The solid layer of rock beneath the soil
What is bedrock?
Anything in the environment that humans use
What is natural resource?
The process of wearing down and carrying away rocks
What is erosion?
Weathering caused by animals underground breaking through compacted soil and small rocks
What is animal actions/burrowing?
Burning coal, oil, and gas for energy creates pollutants that release into the atmosphere and react with water vapor in clouds, creating this
What is acid rain?
Soil made up of equal parts clay, sand, and silt
What is loam?
The management of soil to limit its destruction
What is soil conservation?
Rock is physically broken into smaller pieces
What is mechanical weathering?
Roots from plants grow in cracks and expand causing cracks to break or pry apart
What is plant growth?
Iron combines with oxygen in the presence of water, causing rust to occur.
What is oxidation?
Dark-colored substance that forms as plant and animal remains decay
What is humus?
A farmer plants different crops in a field each year
What is crop rotation?
A material full of tiny, connected air spaces that allow water to seep through it
What is permeable?
Wearing away of rock by particles carried by water, ice, wind, or gravity
What is abrasion?
When CO2 dissolves in water it creates this weak acid which can easily weather marble and limestone
What is carbonic acid?
Crumbly, dark brown soil, mixture of humus, clay, and other minerals
What is topsoil/A horizon?
Farmers plow their fields along the curves of a slope instead of in rows
What is contour plowing?
Principle stating that the geological processes that operate today also operated in the past
What is uniformitarianism?
Erosion removes material from the surface of a mass of rock. After this event occurs, the outside of the rock begins to crack and flake off
What is release of pressure?
These living organisms produce weak acids which slowly dissolve rock. (2 answers)
What are plants (roots) and lichens
Consists of clay and other particles of rock, but little humus
What is subsoil/B horizon?
Dead weeds and stalks of the previous year's crops are plowed into the ground to help return soil nutrients, rain moisture, and hold soil in place
What is conservation plowing?