Exam 6: Weathering and Soil

How does slope orientation affect soil development? (Hint: Which slopes receive the most sunlight?)

Why would a pile of gravel weather faster than a single solid boulder?

What is the surface area of the cube? (Hint: What is the formula for the area of a square? How many sides does a cube have?)

Chemical weathering will break down a rock by changing the molecular compounds that make up the rock.

________ is decayed remains of plant and animal life.

________ weathering is when physical forces break solid rock into smaller sediments.

Study this image and think about what the climate is like in this region.Which weathering process would you assume is responsible for material A?

Mount Rushmore National Memorial was created at the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s by the use of explosives and jackhammers to sculpt granitic igneous rock.Which category of weathering (mechanical or chemical)best describes how the rock was broken down? Explain why you believe this is so.

What environmental condition is reduced on a batholith in order to generate weathering via sheeting?

Which horizons make up the topsoil?

What are the five controls of soil formation?

What effect will roots have on a sedimentary rock?

Fine-grained particles or iron oxide accounts for red, yellow, and brown colors in soil horizons.

Organic acids can chemically weather a rock.Where would these acids originate?

Rainwater will combine with which atmospheric gas in order to create carbonic acid?

Can soils can be eroded from distant sources and deposited as soil in new locations?

________ is the upper few feet of regolith that contains minerals and organic matter, water, and air and is capable of sustaining life.

The Dust Bowl disaster of the 1930s was one of the greatest ecological and agricultural disasters in American history, resulting in thousands of deaths and a historic mass migration.The causes of the Dust Bowl, however, were both natural and man-made.Discuss the causes of the Dust Bowl and rate their severity.In your opinion, which do you think were the most powerful and did the most damage to the soil?

What is the definition of sheet erosion?

Assume the image above is in southern Arizona and rather than seeing patches of snow, you are seeing a desert.Which weathering process would you then assume is responsible for material A?