Exam 5: Weathering and Soil

Transportation is the picking up or physical removal of rock particles by an agent such as running water or glaciers.

A soil formed entirely through the weathering of basalt would not contain sand-sized grains of __.

In arid climates, soils are thin and soil water tends to move ______

Compared with quartz, minerals that include the positively charged ions of aluminum, iron, magnesium, and calcium are ___ vulnerable to chemical weathering by acidic solutions.

Olivine weathers rapidly because its isolated silicon-oxygen tetrahedra are held together by _________ ionic bonds to iron and magnesium.

Water can combine with iron oxide to form ______.

Water that has trickled down into a joint in a rock can freeze, expand, and _____.

Because the crystal structure of ice is different from that of water, liquid water expands when it freezes.

An acid is a chemical compound that gives off hydrogen ions (H⁺) to a chemical reaction.

The _______ horizon is the dark-colored soil horizon that is rich in organic material and forms just below the surface vegetation.

______ is weathered unconsolidated material on top of solid bedrock.

Which of the following landforms are created from unloading?

Sand-size grains of feldspar can be preserved in a soil profile over great time periods because of feldspar's resistance to chemical weathering.

Of the many processes that cause rocks to disintegrate, the most effective are ____.

In tropical regions where temperatures are high and rainfall abundant, highly leached soils called _______ (oxisols) form.

Hydrogen ions given off by natural acids can disrupt the crystal structure of most minerals, making the structure susceptible to further decomposition.

The B-horizon in soil is the zone of accumulation.

When feldspar is attacked by carbonic acid it forms _____.

Chemical weathering will eventually change a quartz crystal into clay minerals.

_______ is a byproduct of rock weathering.