Minerals
What is the softest mineral?
What is the hardest mineral?
Softest = Talc
Hardest = Diamond
How are mineral crystals formed?
Cooling of magma
How are soils formed?
Weathering of parent material (rock)
What layer of soil does erosion remove?
Topsoil
Describe crop rotation.
Plant different crops in a field every year
What is the difference between cleavage and fracture?
Cleavage = clean breaks along certain lines
Fracture = jagged, rough breaking
Sand, gravel, and rocks are mined from...
Quarries
What are the two types of weathering?
Physical & chemical
How does compaction affect soil?
Removes spaces in soil that would hold roots and water
Describe windbreaks.
Rows of trees/shrubs to prevent wind erosion
What do we use to measure the hardness of minerals?
Mohs Hardness Scale
Gold, copper, and iron are mined from...
Mines
Rank the 3 particles that make up soil from largest to smallest.
Sand (largest), silt, clay (smallest)
What is it called when water causes an accumulation of salts until the soil is unable to grow crops?
Salinization
It takes hundreds of years for how much topsoil to be created?
1 inch
What are the 6 physical properties used to identify all minerals?
1. Color
2. Luster
3. Hardness
4. Streak
5. Density
6. Cleavage & Fracture
How do mineral deposits get underground?
Plate tectonics moves mineral deposits under other pieces of land.
What is organic matter in relation to soil?
Decaying material at the top of the soil horizon
What are the 3 types of wind erosion?
Creep, saltation, suspension
Describe no-till farming.
Plant new seeds through the remnants of previous crops
What are the 5 characteristics of all minerals?
1. Minerals occur naturally in the earth
2. Minerals are inorganic (not formed from living things)
3. Minerals are always solids
4. Minerals have a definite chemical composition
5. Minerals have a crystal structure
Explain how mineral crystals are formed based on the cooling of magma.
Slow cooling = large crystals
Quick cooling = small crystals
Very quick cooling = no crystals
List the 6 soil horizons from top (surface) to bottom (underground).
Organic matter
Topsoil
Eluviation layer
Subsoil
Parent rock
Bedrock
What are the 5 types of water erosion?
Sheet, rill, ephemeral, gully, streambank
How much faster is soil being lost than it is being formed?
17 times