Soils Midterm

Geophagy

Eating dirt.

Plant macronutrients from air

Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), Oxygen (O).

Plant macronutrients from soil

Cations: Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K); Anions: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Sulfur (S), Silicon (Si).

Hydration

Chemical weathering by binding of intact water molecules to minerals.

Hydrolysis

Involves H+ and OH-; H+ acts as a cation to change minerals in chemical weathering.

CLORPT

An acronym representing Climate, Organisms, Relief, Parent material, Time.

Colluvium

Poorly sorted rock fragments detached from heights and carried downslope, mostly by gravity.

Alluvial deposits

Sediments found in floodplains, alluvial fans, and deltas.

Loess

Silt with some very fine sand and coarse clay, blown from deserts.

Eluviation

Movement of water through soil layers, leading to leaching.

Illuviation

Deposition of minerals in a soil layer.

Humus

Organic matter in soil.

Soil texture

The size of soil particles.

Soil structure

The manner in which soils are aggregated together.

Carbonation

C filled rain water that is acidic and decomposes minerals.

Playa

A salt deposit.

Dissolution

The dissolving of minerals in water.

Abrasion

The process of materials banging into each other.

Pressure release

Overlying materials are removed, rocks underneath expand and fracture while rising to surface.

Entisols

Soils with no horizons and no water sorting.

Inceptisols

Soil that is starting to develop horizons.

Histosols

Wetland soil that contains a lot of organic matter and is acidic.

Vertisols

Deep, cracking clay soils that are constantly churning.

Aridisols

Arid, desert soils.

Mollisols

Prairie soils rich in native organic matter and very fertile.

Alfisols

Soils found in cooler, temperate deciduous forests.

Ultisols

Soils from warmer, temperate deciduous forests.

Spodosols

Soils found in conifer forests or taiga.

Gelisols

Permafrost soils, contain peat, often churning.

Oxisols

Soils found in tropical rainforests.

Spodosol horizons

Features include an Albic (white/albino) E horizon and spodic (deposition, high in iron and aluminum) B horizon.

Productivity

The rate at which an organism accumulates biomass.

Isostatic rebound

Earth's heaving up when material is removed from the top.

Relict soil

Soil that was formed under a different climate and did not change.

Regolith

Material that is dirt (not classified as soil).