Soil Vocabulary. 6th Grade--16 cards

Erosion

The process by which water,ice,wind or gravity moves weathered particles of rock and soil

Weathering

The chemical and physical process that breaks down rock and other subtances

Soil

Mixture of minerals humus,air,and water on Earth surface

Bedrock

Rock that makes up Earths crust; also the solid rock layer beneath the soil

Humus

Dark-colored organic material in soil

Fertility

A measure of how well soil supports plant growth

Loam

Rich,fertile soil that is made up of about equal parts of clay,sand,and silt

Soil Horizon

A layer of soil that differs in color and texture from the layers above or below it.

Top soil

The crumbly top most layer of soil made up of clay and other minerals and humus

Subsoil

The layer of soil below topsoil that has less plant and animal matter than topsoil and contains mostly clay and other minerals

Decomposer

An organism that gets energy by breaking down biotic waste and dead organism and returns the raw materials to the soil/water

Porosity

The quality of being porous or full of tiny holes.Liquids go right through things that have Porosity

Soil Profile

the soil horizons in a specific location; a cross section of soil layers that displays all soil horizons

Clay

Smallest rock particle in soil

Sand

Largest rock particle in soil

Silt

Rock particles in soil that are between sand and clay in size.