Exam 2: Formation of Soils From Parent Materials

Eluviation of clay, iron, and other materials is the principal process responsible for the formation of an E horizon.

A soil developed in residual parent materials will likely have properties related to the properties of the rock below the C horizon.

Glacial till is a term used to describe parent materials that:

Soils developed in wind-blown parent materials such as loess are generally of little agricultural value.

Weathering of rocks usually is most intense in the center of a rock fragment, and gradually decreases toward the outside.

If you wanted to find a soil where physical weathering dominated over chemical breakdown you would be most apt to find it in ______.

Glacial till is laid down by melt waters gushing out from the front of glaciers.

The O horizons of a soil are dominantly organic horizons occurring above mineral horizons.

Sandstones are good examples of metamorphic rocks.

Glacial till can be recognized by the distinct layering of different kinds of particles.

Residual parent materials have formed in place and have not been transported from one area to another.

Secondary minerals are recrystallized products of the chemical breakdown and/or alteration of primary minerals.

The element most often involved in oxidation reactions as minerals weather is _____.

The parent materials for most coastal plain soils are residual in nature.

The reaction: mica + H₂O Æ K⁺ + OH^- + acid clay is an example of ________.

Which of the following is not considered one of the five major factors influencing soil formation?

Living organisms affect soil formation primarily by their constraining the level of oxygen in the soil.

Exfoliation is caused by changes in _________.

Even if all the glaciers present today in the world were to melt, the melt water would have no measurable effect on the level of the world's oceans.

Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic are three _________.