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Earth's Surface
Chapter 1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Uniformitarianism | The theory that the geologic processes that operate today also operated in the past. |
| Erosion | The process of wearing down and carrying away rocks. |
| Weathering | The process that breaks down rock and there substances. |
| Mechanical Weather | The process in which weather literally breaks down rocks into smaller pieces. |
| Chemical Weathering | The process that breaks down rock through chemical changes. |
| Abrasion | Wearing away rock by rock particles carried by water, ice, wind, or gravity. |
| Frost Wedging | Water slides into cracks in rocks and freezes there, expanding as it freezes. |
| Oxidation | Iron combines with oxygen in the presence of water during the process of oxygen. |
| Permeable | The name for a process in which 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 | A solid layer of rock beneath the soil. |
| Humus | A dark colored substance that forms as a plant and animal remains decay. |
| Fertility | A measure of how well the soil supports plant growth. |
| Loam | A specific type of soil made up of about equal parts of clay, sand, and silt. |
| pH Scale | A certain scale that measures acidity. |
| Soil Horizon | A layer of color, texture and composition than the layers above or below it. |
| Topsoil | A crumbly, dark brown soil that is a mixture of humus, clay, and other materials. |
| Subsoil | A type of soil that consists of clay and other particles of rock, but little humus. |
| Decomposer | The organisms that break the remains of dead organisms into smaller pieces and digest them with chemicals. |