Definition or explanation | Term |
Breakdown of rock into smaller pieces of the same material; No change in composition of rock, or bits it breaks into | Mechanical weathering |
The process in which layers or sheets of rock gradually break off | Exfoliation |
The process of weathering down rock by friction | Abrasion |
The breakdown of rock by chemical reactions that change the rock's composition | Chemical Waethering |
The decayed organic matter in soil | Humus |
A soil layer with physical and chemical properties that differ from those of soil layers above or below it | Soil horizon |
Teh soil horizons in a specific location; a cross section of soil layers that displays all soil horizons | Soil profile |
The expansion of desert conditions in areas where the natural plant cover has been destroyed | Desertification |
Recently fallen organic matter | Surface litter |
A naturally formed solid that is usually made of one or more types of minerals | Rock |
Cutting down of trees | Deforestation |
Actions and influences which cause land to break down. May include agricultural practices (fertilizers, machinery use/plowing, monocropping, overgrazing, irrigation) | Degradation |
The process of items dissolving into the soil | Leaching |
The process by which weathered (broken down) particles, such as pebbles, sand, and dust, are carried away and deposited somewhere else by wind, water, gravity, or ice | Erosion |
A mixture of weathered rock, decayed plant and animal material, water, and air | Soil |
A type of powdery, slippery soil | Silt |
The protection and preservation of soil | Soil Conservation |
Loose material from erosion and weathering | Sediment |
The process by which natural forces break down rocks | Weathering |