Soil Formation and Erosion
What are the two main types of weathering that lead to soil formation?
What are physical and chemical weathering
The theory that Earth's lithosphere is divided into plates that move is called what?
What layer of Earth contains the tectonic plates?
What is the lithosphere
What are the three main soil types?
What is the atmospheric layer that contains weather and the greenhouse gases most responsible for climate effects?
What is the troposphere
What is the O Horizon
At what type of boundary do mid-ocean ridges from?
What is the zone where one tectonic plate sinks beneath another called?
What does soil porosity mean?
What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere and what percentage does it make up?
What is Nitrogen at 78%
What is the term for the movement of soil by wind and water?
What is erosion
What is the term for molten rock below the Earth's surface?
What is magma
What causes tectonic plates to move?
What is convection currents in the mantle.
What type of soil is best categorized for agriculture?
What is loam
What is the ecological role of lichens in soil formation?
What is they break down rock through chemical weathering
What type of soil particle is the smallest and holds the most nutrients?
What is clay
What type of boundary creates the Himalayas?
What is a convergent boundary
What type of plate boundary commonly produces earthquakes like the San Andreas Fault?
What are transform boundaries
Why is nitrogen a limiting nutrient in soils?
What is it requires bacterial fixation to be useful?
What is the process by which water seeps into the ground?
What is Infiltration.
Name two human activities that accelerate soil erosion.
Deforestation, agriculture/tilling, overgrazing, construction, etc.
What geological process recycles Earth's crust over millions of years?
What is the rock cycle
Name one environmental benefit and one environmental cost of volcanic activity.
Benefit: nutrient rich soils, creation of new land
Cost: ash clouds, habitat destruction, lava flows, air pollution
Name one method farmers use to maintain or increase soil fertility.
Composting, crop rotation, cover crops, reduce tillage, adding manure, etc.
Name to major pollutants regulated by the clean air act.
What are PM, SO2, NO, CO, ozone, and lead