Mechanical Weathering
Erosion
Chemical Weathering
Soil
Vocab
100
grinding away of rock by rock particles carried by water, ice, wind or gravity
What is abrasion?
100
process that breaks down rock and other substances
What is weathering?
100
chemical weathering breaks down rocks through ______________
What is chemical change?
100
solid layer of rock beneath the soil
What is bedrock?
100
as plants shed leaves, they form a loose layer called
What is litter?
200
process of wedges of ice in rocks widen and deepen cracks
What is ice wedging?
200
work continuously to wear down and carry away the rocks at Earth's surface
What are weathering and erosion?
200
chemical weathering can produce ___________ as it breaks down rocks
What are new minerals?
200
measurement of how well soil supports plant growth
What is fertility?
200
crumbly dark brown soil made up of humus, clay and other minerals
What is topsoil?
300
moles, gophers, and some insects are examples of this type of mechanical weathering
What is animal action?
300
geologists make inferences based on the theory of this
What is uniformitarianism?
300
combination with water in the presence of oxygen
What is oxidation?
300
largest soil particle size
What is gravel?
300
soil that is made up of about equal parts clay, sand and silt
What is loam?
400
mechanical weathering eventually wears away whole __________
What are mountains?
400
_________ can dissolve minerals that bind rock together
What is rainwater?
400
chemical weathering creates ____________ in the rock, so the rock breaks apart more easily
What are holes or soft spots?
400
deepest soil horizon
What is horizon C?
400
full of tiny, connected air spaces that allow water to seep through
What is permeable?
500
when the outside of the rock cracks and flakes off like layers of an onion is due to this type of mechanical weathering
What is release of pressure?
500
two types of weathering
What are mechanical and chemical?
500
plant like organisms that grow on rocks
What are lichens?
500
the substance earthworms produce that enriches the soil they live in
What is nitrogen?
500
form in warm, wet climates, may be low in humus
What is southern forest soil?
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