Exam 3: Soil Classification

Soil scientists generally map the soils in a landscape by sampling the soil in ______.

Vertisols are characterized by high contents of swelling-type silicate clays.

Soils in which of the following suborders would be more likely to occur in Minnesota than in Texas?

In which of the following epipedons is the organic matter level generally lowest?

The nomenclature of Soil Taxonomy is characterized by all but which one of the following statements?

Soil scientists from which country first conceived the idea that soils were natural bodies?

You are seeking a soil with high clay content but one that is not sticky when wet nor hard and cloddy when dry. In which of the following suborders would you most likely find this soil?

Soils classified as Inceptisols have the least well developed profiles of those in any order in the Soil Taxonomy system.

An argillic horizon is a diagnostic horizon characterized by the subsurface accumulation of silicate clays.

The two most significant characteristics of the classification system used in the United States are a unique system of terminology and focus on measurable soil properties as a primary basis for the classification.

The map units on a detailed soil map on Web Soil Survey are most likely to be labeled with names from which category of Soil Taxonomy?

Which of the categories in the Soil Taxonomy system indicates properties that have implications for root growth as well as for the construction of building foundations?

Argillic horizons are characterized by ___.

Because soil development is just beginning in Entisols, these soils are generally less variable in properties than are those in the Andisol or Ultisol orders.

Spodosols are generally less acidic and less sandy than are Alfisols.

Soils in this order are commonly sandy in texture, quite acidic and develop primarily under coniferous trees in cool to cold climates

You would be more apt to find an Gelisol in Alaska than in Iowa.

A pedon is a 3 dimensional field unit occupying about 1000 square meters (1 hectare) of land area.

For agricultural use in a given region, a soil with an ochric epipedon could generally be expected to be more productive than one with a mollic epipedon.

Mollisols are characterized by a deep epipedon that is high in organic matter.