SOILS whole thing

yay!

Which answer has a diagnostic epipedon that is 20 cm of organic material (as opposed to mineral material), and has a diagnostic subsoil horizon that depicts minimal soil development.

Histic, cambic

A soil has a thick, dark surface that has a high base saturation (50% or more). The diagnostic epipedon is a \______________ epipedon.

Mollic

The subordinate horizon designation "t", as in a "Bt" horizon, is used to designate which of the following subsurface diagnostic horizons?

Both argillic and kandic horizons

Which of the following subordinate horizons would occur in the B horizon of Ultisols?

Bt

An Inceptisol soil is relatively young, and is just starting to show signs of soil development. Which of the following subsurface diagnostic horizons is expected to be present?

cambic horizon

Where in Kansas would you expect to find the least amount of leaching and horizon development based on the climate?

Western Kansas

A soil profile has the following soil horizons:

Ap1

Ap2

E

Bt

2Bt

2C

What does the "1" and "2" to the right of the top two horizons indicate?

The A horizon was split into two horizons based on observed differences between the top and the bottom of the A horizon.

A soil horizon associated with gains, or "illuviation" of clay, Fe, Al, or some combination of these is known as a(n) \___________ horizon.

B

At which of the following landscape positions would we see soils with lots of additions?

Foot Slope

True of False: a footslope is a more stable landscape position than a summit.

False

Allluvial fans, glacial outwash, and alluvium are all parent materials deposited by what?

moving water

True or False: glacial till is sorted, while glacial outwash is mixed.

false

Which of the following statements about dunes and loess is correct?

Loess deposits are primarily silt sized particles, while dunes are primarily sand-sized particles.

Cryoturbation is an example of what pedogenic process?

Translocations

The \________________ is the interface of the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.

pedosphere

Plant roots acquire nutrients from the soil via three methods, including \__________, mass flow, and root interception.

diffusion

True or False: Soils formed from weathered rock that primarily consisted of quarts (SiO2) would have relatively low amounts of nutrient availability for plants.

True

The Tifton soil series is classified as a fine-loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Plinthic Kandiudult. Because it belongs to the Ultisol soil order, it has a base saturation at 2 m in depth that is:

below 35%

Which of the following soil orders would be considered the oldest?

Oxisols

The time aspect of soil development depends on which of the following?

Climate
Nature of parent material
landscape stability

In mineral soils, the pore space that is filled with either water or air makes up approximately \_____ of the volume of the soil.

50%

Which of the following soil horizons is not a mineral horizon?

O

In a soil survey, a soil mapping unit that contains at least two or more soil series that are similar to each other is termed a/an \_______________.

association

Which option has the soil moisture regimes in the proper order from wettest to driest?

aquic, udic, ustic, aridic

The regolith is defined as

unconsolidated material

The state soil of Texas is the Houston Black soil series, which is classified as "fine, smectitic, thermic Udic Haplusterts". To what soil order does the Houston Black series belong?

Vertisols

The Missouri state soil is the Menfro soil series, which is in the Typic Hapludalfs sub-group. To what soil order does the Menfro soil series belong?

Alfisols

The Florida state soil is the Myakka soil series, which is classified as sandy, siliceous, hyperthermic Aeric Alaquods. To what soil order does the Menfro soil series belong?

Spodosols

Which of the following has soil temperature regimes correctly ordered from coldest to warmest?

Frigid, mesic, thermic

A soil profile has a transition horizon between the E and the B horizons. This transition horizon has properties of both the E and B horizons, but is more like an B horizon. There are no areas with parts that are distinctly E or B horizon materials. What would the horizon designation be?

BE

Fastest rates of weathering would most likely occur in which of the following states?

Florida

Select the appropriate answer to complete the following analogy: Spodosols are to coniferous trees as \__________ are to deciduous trees.

Alfisols

True or False: Microporosity regulates oxygen availability in soil

False

Rates of gas diffusion into/out of soil decreases as \________ increases.

bulk density

Which of the following would cause dispersion of soil?

Sodium

\__________________ can result in poor aggregation, and thus increased bulk density.

loss of organic matter

Soil compaction causes a/an \_______ in bulk density.

increase

Which of the following soil property would decrease as a result of compaction?

Porosity

True or False: A decrease in porosity would result in a decrease in aeration.

True

Which of the following practices would cause compaction?

using tall bias tires with low tire pressure

Compacted soils would have a particle density that is \____________ soils that have not been compacted.

equal to

What is the bulk density (in g/cm3) of a soil sample that has a total volume of 350 cm3, and a dry mass of 420 g?

1.2

What is the bulk density (in g/cm3) of a 670 g moist soil sample that weighed 485 g dried and filled a 320 cm3 container? (Round to the nearest tenth)

1.5

Rill erosion is defined as the \_________.

erosion caused by channels that form from water erosion that are small enough to be smoothed by tillage equipment.

A gardener is planning on building a raised garden bed that has interior dimensions of 8.2 ft long, 4.5 ft wide, and 1.5 ft high. It will be filled with soil that has a bulk density of 70 lb ft-3. How many total pounds of soil is required if the raised garden bed is completely filled?

3875

What is the weight of soil, in Mg, in a hectare of soil to a depth of 12 cm if the soil has a bulk density of 1.35 Mg/m3?

1620

Which of the following soil pore sizes retains "plant available water"?

Mesopores

What is the percent porosity of a soil sample that is 115 cm3 in total volume, and dry weighs of 150 g? (Assume the particle density is 2.65 g cm-3)

51%

A soil sample weighs 311 g upon saturation and has a volume of 180 cm3. After being dried in an oven at 1050C it weighs 210 g. What is the porosity of the soil? (Note water has a density of 1 g/cm3)

.56

In water logged soils (saturated and anaerobic conditions), which of the following are required in order to form redox features?

Presence of OM
Presence of Iron
active microbes
reducing conditions

In a soil profile description, one horizon's color is described as "reddish-yellow (10YR 6/8)". The chroma is

8

In the Munsell color system, which of the following values would be the lightest (reflects the most light)?

10

Compaction can result in platy structure. Thus, water movement/infiltration would be \____________ through a soil with platy structure than in a soil with granular structure.

slower

The structure of a ped that is polyhedrals with subrounded and planar faces lacking sharp angles would be described as\________.

subangular blocky

The columnar structure is found in a \_________ horizon with high \______ concentration.

natric, sodium

Soil structure is described by the\______.

type
size
grade

A soil structure was labeled with the number "1" in a soil profile description. The structure grade would be \_____.

weak

True or False: Manipulation of plastic soils would result in destruction of soil structure.

true

Which of the following two soil textures would have the highest surface area?

silty clay loam with 10% sand and 35% clay

If today is a warm day, and tomorrow is cool, then which of the following conditions would result in the coolest soil tomorrow?

bare, dry soil

Which of the following soils would have the slowest infiltration rate?

clayey soils

What is the texture class of a soil sample with 25% sand and 15% clay.

silt loam

A soil scientist uses the hydrometer method to determine soil texture. The initial soil mass is 30 g. At the 40 second mark (when only silt and clay particles remain in suspension) she determines that there is 21 g of soil suspended in the 1 L cylinder. At the 7 hour mark (when only clay particles remain in suspension) she determines that there is 9 g of soil suspended in the 1 L cylinder. Assuming that no temperature or blank corrections are needed, what is the soil texture class?

clay loam

Sand particles have a diameter between \_____mm and \________ mm.

.05 and 2.0

In a soil profile description, one horizon's color is described as "pink (2.5YR 8/4)". The chroma is:

4

A capillary tube is inserted into a pan of water under standard conditions (20°C). If the tube has a radius of 0.04 cm, how many centimeters up the tube will the water rise? h \= .15cm2/r

3.75 cm

Which of the following textures would exhibit the highest capillary rise?

clay loam

Tillage and compaction can disrupt pore connection, resulting in \______ rates of infiltration.

low

Which of the following would cause decreased infiltration rates?

removal of crop residue

Conservation tillage and no-till practices increase infiltration because those practices promote \________.

organic matter

Wetting agents reduces surface tension to \_______ infiltration in hydrophobic soils, but should be used with caution because over application can \_______ capillary flow in soil.

increase, decrease

Which of the following does a tensiometer measure?

soil moisture potential

True or False: Fine-textured soils have more plant available water and better retention of water than coarse-textured soils.

True

For the soil profile described in Table 2, what is the equivalent depth of plant available water for the 45-77 cm deep horizon?

8.2 cm

For the soil profile described in Table 2, what is the total available water holding capacity (Total AWHC)?

28.2

Plant available water is held in \_______, whereas unavailable water is held in \_______.

mesopores, micropores

Two tensiometers (A and B) are installed next to each other, but with ceramic tips at different depths. The ceramic tip of tensiometer A is installed at a depth of 50 cm, and has a soil moisture potential of -500 kPa. The ceramic tip of tensiometer B is installed at a depth of 100 cm, and has a soil moisture potential of -300 kPa. Under these conditions, in what direction would capillary water flow?

upwards from B to A

Which of the following soil texture classes would have the highest amount of gravitational water?

sandy loam

For Soil A in Table 1, what is the percent volumetric water content at 15 bars tension?

21%

For Soil B in Table 1, what is the equivalent depth of plant available water at the current wetness, in inches, if there was 12 inches of this soil (rounded to the nearest tenth of an inch)?

1.2 in

For soil A in Table 1, what is the volumetric water content at the current wetness? Current wetness - 22%; bulk density - 1.40 g/cm3

30.8%

For soil A in Table 1, what is the percent capillary water, by weight, if the soil is at field capacity? Field capacity - 56% air dry - 12%

44%

A soil sample has a volume of 745 cm3. When it was collected it weighed 1125 g wet, and weighed 985 g when it was dried. What was the volumetric water content?

18.7%

For soil B in Table 1, how much irrigation water, in inches, would be required to bring the top 15 inches of soil from the current wetness up to field capacity?

4.3 in

At saturation, which soil would have the least volumetric water content?

sandy soil

Unsaturated flow of water through soil is driven by \_____________, and it is controlled by \______________.

tension gradient, tortuosity

True or False: Hydraulic conductivity of soils is affected by organic matter.

true

Which of the following are used in urban environments to store rainwater and decrease storm water runoff.

green roofs
rain gardens
permeable concrete

Gravitational water is defined as

water held between field capacity and saturation

The soil water potential range between field capacity and wilting point is approximately \_______ bars.

-.3 to -15

Which of the following is true about water movement through a coarse-textured layer in a fine-textured soil?

the coarse layer will not wet until the overlying soil becomes nearly saturated the coarse layer releases water to the underlying soil as soon as it wets

The component of total soil water potential that relates due to presence of solutes is the:

osmotic potential

Healthy worm populations are important for high infiltration rates. Which of the following would likely cause a decrease in worm populations?

residue removal

If the same amount of irrigation water was applied through flooded furrow irrigation to soils with the following three texture classes, which texture class, which texture class would allow the deepest penetration of irrigation water?

Sandy Loam

The attraction of water molecules to solid surface is called \__________, and it is caused by \_______bonds.

adhesion, hydrogen

From the water demonstrations in lecture, surface tension was decreased by adding a drop of dish soap to the water. What property of water causes this surface tension phenomenon?

Cohesion

In a water (H2O) molecule, the two H share their electrons with the O. This type of bond is called \_______.

covalent

A \_______________ is defined as an area of land drained by a single system of streams, is bound by ridges, and all precipitation that falls on it is either lost to evapotranspiration, stored in the soil, or drained via runoff through a single point on the landscape.

watershed

True or False: There is more CO and CH4 being emitted into our atmosphere than is being removed.

True

Which of the following substrates would NOT result in N immobilization? (C:N ratios are in parentheses)
a. Lawn clippings (20:1)
b. Pine Sawdust (600:1)
c. wheat straw (80:1)
d. Maple leaf litter (34:1)

Lawn Clippings (20:1)