Deck 6: Weathering, Soils, and Erosion

Question 1

Which of the following components of a "typical"soil is least abundant?

A) water
B) gases
C) organic matter
D) mineral matter
E) unweathered rock

Answer 1

organic matter

Question 2

Which of the following components of a "typical"soil is most abundant?

A) water
B) gases
C) organic matter
D) mineral matter
E) unweathered rock

Answer 2

mineral matter

Question 3

What is a general term for fragmental rock at the Earth's surface?

A) massive
B) regolith
C) xenolith
D) basalt
E) lithosphere

Answer 3

regolith

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT needed for plant growth?

A) water
B) air
C) humus
D) mineral matter
E) All of these are needed.

Question 5

Which chemical weathering reaction is basically the same as rusting?

A) solution
B) oxidation and hydration
C) desiccation
D) hydrolysis
E) elutriation

Question 6

Which chemical weathering reaction transforms feldspar to clay?

A) solution
B) oxidation and hydration
C) desiccation
D) hydrolysis
E) elutriation

Question 7

Which chemical weathering reaction creates limestone caverns?

A) solution
B) oxidation and hydration
C) desiccation
D) hydrolysis
E) elutriation

Question 8

Which soil horizon is known as the zone of leaching?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) O

Question 9

Which soil horizon contains humus?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) O

Question 10

A hard, white, crusty calcium carbonate deposit within the B horizon in the arid desert regions of the American Southwest is called which of the following?

A) caliche
B) quartz
C) coal
D) adobe
E) clay

Question 11

Which of the following is a residual soil?

A) one developed on river gravel
B) one developed on granite
C) one developed on sand dunes
D) one developed on volcanic ash
E) one developed on glacial dust

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT a type or agent of physical weathering?

A) frost wedging
B) fire
C) plant roots
D) salt crystal growth
E) spheroidal weathering

Question 13

Which term listed below is NOT one of the major soil orders?

A) perisols
B) aridisols
C) oxisols
D) vertisols
E) histosols

Question 14

Which item below refers to the uppermost of the permafrost zones?

A) talik
B) permafrost
C) permafrost table
D) active layer
E) laterite

Question 15

In the Arctic, what is the top of a permanently frozen layer called?

A) talik
B) permafrost
C) permafrost table
D) active layer
E) laterite

Question 16

Judge the following sentence according to the criteria given below: Frost wedging is not a major concern in tropical regions BECAUSE the most important chemical weathering reactions are solution, oxidation, hydration, and hydrolysis.

A) The assertion and the reason are both correct, and the reason is valid.
B) The assertion and the reason are both correct, but the reason is invalid.
C) The assertion is correct, but the reason is incorrect.
D) The assertion is incorrect, but the reason is correct.
E) Both the assertion and the reason are incorrect.

Question 17

Who views soil as the loose material at Earth's surface that can be easily moved and built upon?

A) engineer
B) farmer
C) geologist
D) hydrologist
E) pedologist

Question 18

Judge the following sentence according to the criteria given below: Clay minerals are the most important minerals in soils BECAUSE clays adsorb a great deal of water and plant nutrients due to a high surface area to volume ratio.

A) The assertion and the reason are both correct, and the reason is valid.
B) The assertion and the reason are both correct, but the reason is invalid.
C) The assertion is correct, but the reason is incorrect.
D) The assertion is incorrect, but the reason is correct.
E) Both the assertion and the reason are incorrect.

Question 19

What would you call a soil with 30% clay, 40% silt, and 30% sand?

A) loam
B) clay loam
C) silt loam
D) sandy loam
E) loamy sand

Question 20

A student was asked the following question: What are the environmental factors that determine the development of soils, and which are the most important regarding the rate of development? As an answer, the student wrote the following, "The environmental factors that determine the development of soils are climate, parent material, relief of the land, and time. Climate and parent material are the most important factors for the rate of soil development."How would you judge this student's answer?

A) EXCELLENT (The response answers both parts of the question, and all statements are complete and correct.)
B) VERY GOOD (The response answers both parts of the question, all statements are correct, but one part is not answered completely.)
C) GOOD (The response only answers one part of the question, all statements are correct, but the other part of the question is not answered.)
D) MEDIOCRE (One part of the question is answered completely and correctly, but the other part is answered incorrectly.)
E) UNACCEPTABLE (The response does not correctly answer either part of the question.)

Question 21

Weathering is the removal and transportation of materials by, for example, running water.

Question 22

Animals contribute significantly to weathering.

Question 23

Physical weathering basically makes small rocks out of big ones.

Question 24

Water, when it freezes, can easily break rock because it expands.

Question 25

Ordinary rainfall interacting with atmospheric CO₂ produces weak carbonic acid.

Question 26

Hydrolysis of feldspar into clay depletes the soil of nutrients.

Question 27

The mineral quartz is resistant to weathering in comparison to other minerals.

Question 28

Rocks in cold, dry climates resist chemical weathering better than those in hot, wet climates.

Question 29

Fractured rock masses tend to weather more easily than massive monolithic ones of the same composition.

Question 30

Spheroidal weathering is the term applied when rounded river rocks are weathered.

Question 31

Spheroidal weathering is a form of physical weathering.

Question 32

Windblown dust from glaciated areas is called loess.

Question 33

In general, dark brown to nearly black soil color indicates high iron concentrations.

Question 34

On a global basis, China and India have suffered irreparable damage.

Question 35

Certain clay minerals tend to expand when they get wet.

Question 36

Transported soils are designated by their parent rock composition and climate (e.g., tropical basalt soil).

Question 37

Dairy cow regions of the United States are not farmed because they are covered by eolian soils.

Question 38

Large loess deposits are only found in the northern hemisphere.

Question 39

A soil with 30% clay, 10% silt, and 60% sand is called a sandy clay loam.

Question 40

Soil is considered a renewable resource because it is continually being formed.

Question 41

Explain how spheroidal weathering occurs.

Question 42

Where on Earth do you think chemical weathering processes would me most active and why?

Question 43

How do the layers in exfoliation domes differ from the layers visible in spheroidally weathered outcrops?

Question 44

What is a transported soil?

Question 45

Where are the highest sheet and rill erosion rates and resultant loss of cropland in the U.S.?

Question 46

Where are the highest rates of wind erosion in the Great Plains area of the U.S.?

Question 47

What is the difference between rill and sheet erosion?

Question 48

What are the advantages of strip cropping?

Question 49

What is the fundamental advantage of the ancient technique of terrace farming?

Question 50

Why has total U.S. cropland been decreasing?