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Rocks to Soil
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Erosion | The process of wearing down and carrying away rocks. |
| Weathering | The process that breaks down rock and other substances. |
| Mechanical Weathering | A type of weathering in which rock is physically broken into smaller pieces. |
| Chemical Weathering | The process that breaks down rock through chemical changes. |
| Abrasion | The wearing away of rock by rock particles carried by water, ice, wind, or gravity. |
| Frost Wedging | Water seeps into cracks of rock then freezes, expanding the rock, and then it thaws. Wedges of ice widen and deepen the rock. |
| Oxidation | Oxygen in air is an important cause of chemical weathering, and iron mixes with oxygen with the presence of water to make rust in a process called this. |
| Permeable | A material is full of tiny, connected air spaces that allow water to seep through it. |
| Soil | The loose, weathered material on Earth's surface in which plants can grow. |
| Bedrock | The solid layer of rock beneath soil. |
| Humus | A dark-colored substance that forms as plant and animal remains decay. |
| Fertility | A measure of how well the soil supports plant growth. |
| Loam | Soil that is made up of |