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Pumas Soil Vocab
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| weathering | The chemical and physical processes that break down rock at Earth’s surface. |
| erosion | The process by which water, ice, wind, or gravity moves weathered rock and soil. |
| mechanical weathering | The type of weathering in which rock is physically broken into smaller pieces. |
| abrasion | The grinding away of rock by other rock particles carried in water, ice, or wind. |
| ice wedging | Process that splits rock when water seeps into cracks, then freezes and expands. |
| chemical weathering | The process that breaks down rock through chemical changes. |
| oxidation | A chemical change in which a substance combines with oxygen, as when iron oxidizes, forming rust. |
| soil | The loose, weathered material on Earth’s surface in which plants can grow. |
| bedrock | The solid layer of rock beneath the soil. |
| humus | Dark-colored organic material in soil. |
| fertility | A measure of how well soil supports plant growth. |
| soil horizon | The layer of soil that differs in color and texture from the layers above or below it. |
| topsoil | Mixture of humus, clay, and other minerals that forms the crumbly, topmost layer of soil. |
| subsoil | The layer of soil beneath the topsoil that contains mostly clay and other minerals. |
| litter | The loose layer of dead plant leaves and stems on the surface of the soil. |
| decomposer | Soil organism that breaks down the remains of organisms and digests them. |
| Dust Bowl | The area of the Great Plains where wind erosion caused soil loss during the 1930s. |
| soil conservation | The management of soil to prevent its destruction |
| contour plowing | Plowing fields along the curves of a slope to prevent soil loss. |
| conservation plowing | Soil conservation method in which the dead stalks from the previous year’s crop are left in the ground to hold the soil in place. |
| crop rotation | The planting of different crops in a field each year to maintain the soil’s fertility. |
| sediment | Earth materials deposited by erosion. |
| deposition | Process in which sediment is laid down in new locations. |
| mass movement | Any one of several processes by which gravity moves sediment downhill. |