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Soil & Rocks
Minerals, Soil, Rocks, And Weathering
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is weathering? | the process by which rocks break down due to environmental and chemical processes |
| Mechanical weathering is... | a process that occurs when rocks are broken apart by physical processes |
| When rocks are weathered by mechanical processes, what is the only thing that changes? | the appearance |
| Three causes of mechanical weathering are: | ice wedging, burrows, and and plant roots cracking rock |
| Chemical weathering is... | a process that occurs when chemical reactions dissolve or change the minerals in a rock |
| When rocks are weathered by chemical processes, what changes? | the chemical composition |
| Three causes of chemical weathering are: | natural acids, plant acids, and oxidation |
| What is ice wedging? | water fills a crack, freezes, expands, thaws, and creates pressure causing the rock to crack |
| How do limestone caves form? | carbonic acid reacts with the calcite in the limestone |
| What is oxidation? | the process by which some materials are exposed to water and oxygen |
| In order for a rock to rust, it most likely contains this element. | iron |
| How does climate affect the rate of weathering? | mechanical weathering is more common in colder climates and chemical weathering is more common in warmer climates |
| How does surface area affect the rate of chemical weathering? | when surface area increases, chemical weathering speeds up |
| what is soil made of? | weathered rock, decayed organic matter, mineral fragments,water and air |
| The five soil horizons are labeled... | O, A, B, C, and bedrock |
| All the horizons of soil create the soil... | profile |
| Horizon O is found... | above A |
| Horizon O consists of... | fresh to partly decayed organic matter |
| Horizon A is found... | below O and above B |
| Horizon A consists of... | highly decomposed matter in a mineral matrix |
| Horizon B is found... | below a and above c |
| Horizon B consists of... | fine organic material and clay minerals derived from the A horizon |
| Horizon C is found... | below b and above bedrock |
| Horizon C consists of... | heavily decomposed parent material |
| Bedrock is also known as... | parent material |
| What is leaching? | the transportation of material through sucking the material from the A horizon to the B horizon |
| Dark, nutrient rich humus can be found in this horizon. | O or A |
| Partially weathered rock can be found in this horizon. | C |
| This horizon has a lighter color, less humus and receives nutrients through leaching? | B |
| What is humus? | a dark colored substance and formed as plant and animal remains decay |
| What does humus provides for vegetation? | nutrients |
| What horizon has the most nutrient rich soil, favorable for plant growth? | A |
| Which is the least favorable? | Bedrock |
| What five factors affect soil formation? | climate, slope of land, types of rock, types of vegetation, and the amount of time between weathering |
| Why is A horizon darker than B horizon? | A has more decayed material |
| What are the steps in the process by which soil forms? | 1.rocks weather on surface 2.plants grow, causing roots to crack the rock 3.animals leave behind organic material 4.organic material accumulates over the rocks |
| Why does soil in NJ look different than soil in California? | different minerals |
| What is the name of New Jersey's soil? | Downer Soil |
| What does our soil mainly consist of? | sand, silt, and clay |
| What are all the characteristics that all minerals share? | 1.naturally occurring 2.inorganic solid 3.definite chemical composition 4.organized arrangement of atoms |
| What are the two natural processes by which minerals form? | magma and solution |
| A crystalline solid has atoms that are arranged in... | orderly, repeated patterns |
| What are the four tests we can perform on minerals to identify them? | hardness, streak, luster, and cleavage and fracture |
| What is the name of the scale we can use to determine how hard a mineral is? | Moh's Hardness Scale |
| What is the difference between a mineral that breaks with cleavage and a mineral that breaks with fracture? | cleavage is a smooth, flat surface and fracture is a jagged, uneven, rough edge |
| A unique characteristic of magnetite is... | magnetism |
| A unique characteristic of calcite is... | reactivity |
| What is a gem? | a highly prized mineral |
| Some examples of gems are... | pyrite, amethyst, sapphire, peridot, etc. |
| What is an ore? | a mineral that contains a useful substance that can be mined for a profit |
| Some examples of ores are... | hematite, bauxite, dolomite, etc. |
| The most abundant element found on Earth is... | oxygen |
| Why was the rock cycle created? | to show how rocks change |
| How does the Principle of the Conservation of Matter relate to the rock cycle? | matter is recycled, not destroyed or created |
| Due to weathering and erosion, rocks are broken down into smaller pieces called... | sediments |
| What is the difference between weathering and erosion? | weathering is the breaking down of rocks and erosion is the movement of sediments |
| Where does an extrusive igneous rock form? | outside the earth |
| Does it cool quickly or slowly? | quickly |
| Where does an intrusive rock form? | inside the earth |
| Does it cool quickly or slowly? | slowly |
| What is the difference between a foliated metamorphic rock and a non-foliated metamorphic rock? | foliated has layers and non-foliated don't have layers |
| What are the three types of sedimentary rocks and where do their sediments come from? | 1.organic- from once living things 2.detrital- from fragments of other rocks 3.chemical- from solution |
| What type of rock is limestone? | a chemical sedimentary rock |
| What type of rock is granite? | an intrusive igneous rock |
| Mount Rushmore is made primarily out of what type of rock? | granite |
| What happens to a mountain that has been weathered over many years? | it smoothes out |