Soil Horizons
This soil layer is mostly made of leaf litter and organic debris.
What is the O horizon?
This process breaks rock into smaller pieces without changing its chemistry.
What is physical weathering?
Rows of trees planted to reduce wind erosion.
What is a shelterbelt?
Growing a single crop over a large area.
What is monoculture?
Loss of soil productivity in dry regions.
What is desertification?
This horizon is known as topsoil and contains the most nutrients for plants.
What is the A horizon?
Warm, wet climates increase this type of weathering.
What is chemical weathering?
Alternating crops to maintain soil nutrients.
What is crop rotation?
Farming that relies heavily on fossil fuels and chemicals.
What is industrial agriculture?
Removing too much plant cover by grazing animals.
What is overgrazing?
This layer experiences the most leaching of minerals.
What is the E horizon?
The movement of eroded material to a new location.
What is deposition?
Step-like farming on steep slopes.
What is terracing?
This movement greatly increased global food production.
What is the Green Revolution?
The biggest global cause of soil degradation.
What is erosion?
Minerals such as iron and clay accumulate in this horizon.
What is the B horizon?
This process adds organic matter to soil from dead organisms.
What is decomposition?
Planting multiple crops together to reduce erosion and pests.
What is intercropping?
Large facilities where animals are raised in concentrated conditions.
What is a feedlot?
Desertification is most severe when evaporation does this relative to precipitation.
What is exceeds precipitation?
This horizon is solid bedrock and not soil.
What is the R horizon?
Soil forms through weathering, deposition, and this process.
What is decomposition?
Salt buildup caused by excessive irrigation.
What is salinization?
The amount of crop produced per unit area.
What is yield?
The historical U.S. event caused by drought and poor farming.
What is the Dust Bowl?