Soil TCA 1 review

What is soil?

Natural material that covers land surfaces.

What is an agricultural use of soil?

Used for planting crops.

Which organisms improve soil?

Earthworms, ants, crawfish, moles, and other organisms.

What are acidic soils considered?

Sulfur, and alkaline soils are said to be lime.

What is the term used to describe soil with roughly equal amounts of sand, silt, and clay?

Loam.

What soil particle is sticky when wet?

Clay.

What are sandy soils considered?

Sandy Loam.

What is the vertical cross section of soil called?

Soil Profile.

What is the uppermost layer of soil made of partially decayed plant and animal debris?

Humus.

What is a mixture of the composition of soil particles called?

Soil texture.

What is the ease with which air and water may pass through the soil?

Soil permeability.

What basic textural class contains clay, silt, and sand?

Loam.

What soil particle creates very small pore spaces, resulting in poor aeration and water drainage?

Clay.

What is true of basic or alkaline solution?

pH greater than 7.

What can be added to amend acidic soil?

Lime.

What happens to soil nutrients when pH is very high or low?

Soil nutrients become less available to plants.

What is the best soil pH for nutrient uptake?

6.5.

What soil pH would benefit from the addition of lime?

Below 6.0.

To which soil horizon does soil erosion caused by deforestation have the biggest impact?

A horizon.

To which soil horizon has the highest concentration of humus?

O horizon.

What is the movement of organic matter, chemical substances, and mineral particles from upper to lower horizons by water?

Leaching.

What type of soil would need lime more often?

Acidic soil.

What influences soil pH?

Parent material, organic matter, rain, human activity.

A change in pH number down 1 means the soil is how much more acidic?

10 times more acidic.

Most plants will do well in a soil with a pH of...

6.0-7.0.

What is a soil that is strongly alkaline?

pH greater than 9.

What scale is used to measure soil acidity?

pH scale.

What can be added to soil to reduce the acidity (raise the pH)?

Lime.

What can be added to soil to lower the acidity (drop the pH)?

Sulfur.

Which soil particle creates a very small pore space?

Clay.