| A | B |
|---|
| weathering | breaking down or changing of rocks at or near Earth's surface |
| mechanical weathering | physically breaking rocks into smaller pieces without changing its mineral composition |
| chemical weathering | changing rock into one or more new compounds |
| frost wedging | breaking of rock by water in cracks that feezes and thaws |
| differential weathering | when different parts of a rock weather at different rates |
| unloading | when igneous rock is exposed and erodes reducing pressure |
| talus | rock piles at the base of a cliff |
| exfoliation | after unloading slabs of rock separate and break loose |
| carbonic acid | a weak colorless unstable acid formed by dissolving carbon dioxide in water |
| spheroidal weathering | when corners and edges are chemically weathered becoming more rounded |
| soil | a combination of mineral, organic matter, water and air that supports plant growth |
| regolith | layer of rock and mineral fragments that covers Earth's surface |
| residual soil | soil that forms on bedrock |
| transported soil | soil that forms on unconsolidated deposits |
| soil profile | vertical section through all the soil horizons |
| A Horizon | topsoil |
| B Horizon | subsoil |
| C Horizon | partially weathered parent material |
| rills | tiny streams that erode soil |
| soil texture | proportions of different size particles in soil |
| soil structure | how soil particles clump together |
| parent material | soils source of mineral matter |
| soil fertility | nutrients available in soil for plants |
| soil horizon | layers or zones of soil with specific characteristics |
| pedalfer | soil of humid regions that contains iron oxides and aluminum rich clays in the B horizon |
| pedocal | soil of drier regions with calcium carbonate in upper horizons |
| laterite | red, leached soil found in tropics rich in oxides of iron and aluminum |
| gullies | trenches in soil eroded away by water |
| loam | soil consisting of fairly equal amounts of clay, silt & sand |
| humus | organic matter in soils |
| mass movement | transfer of rock and soil downslope due to gravity |
| saturating | o fill or soak so completely that nothing more can be absorbed |
| torrential | falling rapidly and with force |
| rockfall | when rocks or rock fragments fall freely through the air |
| rockslide | when mass of rock slides downslope |
| slump | the downward movement of a block of rock or material along a curved surface |
| mudflows | soil and rock containing a large amounts of water that flow quickly downhill |
| creep | the slow downhill movement of soil and regolith |
