Soil and Its Functions: An In-depth Look at Wetlands, Biosolids, and Soil Formation, Quizzes of Geology

Download Soil and Its Functions: An In-depth Look at Wetlands, Biosolids, and Soil Formation and more Quizzes Geology in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 Soil (Environmental Geology) DEFINITION 1 a medium for growing plants, the loose surface material developed by weathering and a foundation of material for structure TERM 2 Functions of soil DEFINITION 2 Supporting plants that provide us with food and fiber cleaning and storing water recycling waste providing habitat for diverse forms of life transferring matter among earth system TERM 3 How does soil store and clean water DEFINITION 3 Soils contains small voids (aka Pores). During heavy precipitation, water can displace air in the voids and fills the void completely with water, hence saturating the soil. TERM 4 Wetlands DEFINITION 4 includes mushy and swampy areaHighly saturated with water TERM 5 Waste recycling DEFINITION 5 Soil filters out small particles in the water and supports biological activity that further decays organic matter. TERM 6 Biosolids DEFINITION 6 Sewage Sludge TERM 7 Usage of sewage sludge DEFINITION 7 Fertilizers TERM 8 Main process that provides carbon to soil DEFINITION 8 Photosynthesis of plants TERM 9 Soil respiration DEFINITION 9 decomposition of organic materials in soil produces carbon dioxide that escape to the atmosphere TERM 10 Soil Forming Process DEFINITION 10 Broken bedrock materials or sediments (parent materials) Chemical Processes ( hydrolysis, oxidation, dissolution) Soil life (churn soil, degrade and metabolised organic materials, add waste and emit carbon dioxide to form weak acid TERM 21 Soil order DEFINITION 21 a systematic classification system to categorize and compare soil TERM 22 Examples of soil order DEFINITION 22 Spodosols aridisols mollisols oxisols TERM 23 Spodosols DEFINITION 23 Developed in cool, moist coniferous forest (Pacific Northwest, Northeast States, Great lake region) acidic, have a subsurface of humus accumulation (AlO, FeO, OH) Brown to reddish color Acidic nature required neutralization with lime to help agricultural plants TERM 24 Aridisols DEFINITION 24 developed in arid regions (Southwest states) Calcite and other minerals easily dissolved by water remains in the soil water moves upward in this type of soil (capillary action & adhesion) contains biological soil crust (cyanobacteria, mosses, lichen) holds the soil particle together TERM 25 Capillary action DEFINITION 25 the upward movement of water TERM 26 Adhesion DEFINITION 26 the attraction of water to mineral grain surface TERM 27 Mollisols DEFINITION 27 Grasslands (central and western states) Thick accumulation of organic material from plant roots Fertile and excellent for agricultural purposes Produces crops people eat TERM 28 Mollisols are commonly known as DEFINITION 28 breadbasket TERM 29 Oxisols DEFINITION 29 develop in warm, wet tropical forests (Coastal Louisiana, Southern Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, US virgin islands) deeply weathered soils leached much of their original mineral contents AlO and FeO rich soil without abundant nutrients for plants (light redish color) TERM 30 Oxisols are also known as DEFINITION 30 laterites TERM 31 Soil Property determines DEFINITION 31 how well soils can serve useful functions TERM 32 Factors defining soil quality DEFINITION 32 Physical Compositional Biological TERM 33 Types of soil structures DEFINITION 33 Granular Blocky Prismatic Platy TERM 34 Shear Strength DEFINITION 34 is a measure of how well the soil resists force before fracturing internally TERM 35 Compressibility DEFINITION 35 measures how a soil compacts under applied forces TERM 46 Protozoa DEFINITION 46 mobile organism in soil waste from protozoa is a source of plant nutrients TERM 47 Fungi DEFINITION 47 stationary organism (mostly around plants root) Eg. Mushroom, yeast Enzyme secreted by fungi help decompose organic matter and make nutrients available for plants TERM 48 Worms DEFINITION 48 AKA nematodes (commonly earthworms) recycle earth nutrients eats anything in the soil in front of them. Casting (waste) from the worms are nutrients to the plant ( 5 tons of casting in 1 acre of fertile land) Promotes internal soil drainage, aeration and mixing of nutrients TERM 49 Arthropods DEFINITION 49 churns on soil to improve soil structure and provide nutrients helps to control protozoa population TERM 50 Contribution of biological components to soil DEFINITION 50 aid soil weathering process support vegetation growth cycle matter and energy TERM 51 Soil degradation and loss DEFINITION 51 poor agriculture degraded 1/3 of 1.5 billion hectares of cropland Major cause of soil degradation is wind and water erosion 11 tonnes/ hectares (5 tons/acre) lost to water erosion TERM 52 W.C. Loudermilk DEFINITION 52 relationship between civilization and land usage Soil loss leads to collapse of civilization TERM 53 Types of Soil degradation and loss DEFINITION 53 Erosion Soil contamination Biodiversity Depletion Nutrient Depletion Urbanization and soil TERM 54 Erosion DEFINITION 54 Mainly water and wind erosion approximately 2 billion tonnes of top soil lost in this nature Causes : Vegetation on soil being removed. (tilling, construction site clearing, overgrazing, deforestation, creating roads and hiking trails) TERM 55 Wind Erosion DEFINITION 55 Mainly in Arid regions Dust Bowl ( Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas) TERM 56 Dust Bowl DEFINITION 56 WWI, farmers flocked to prairie land of this region to grow wheat. Cleared native grassland and during rain fall, wheat grew 1931-1939, drought season, no rain, wheat fail to grow, the ground is left without vegetation. When the wind blew across the plains, "Black Blizzard" (Dense fast moving dust storms) forms widespread awareness of the destructive consequences of poor farming practices TERM 57 Black Blizzard DEFINITION 57 disrupted travel damage buildings shut down business problems with breathing (long term respiratory problems) Farming was made impossible under this conditions - even more farmlands are given up TERM 58 Lesson learned from Dust Bowl DEFINITION 58 improved practices to prevent erosion and protect soil TERM 59 Water erosion DEFINITION 59 Rills (small streamlets) Sheet flow (thin nonchannalized overland flow) Cause = row cropping and plowing - leave bare soil that can be battered by rain and easily eroded by runoff of surface water. Cause = Grazing - destroy vegetation that cover on soil Cause = Deforestation TERM 60 Causes of Water erosion DEFINITION 60 Row Cropping or plowing Grazing Deforestation TERM 71 Fertilizer contamination of soil DEFINITION 71 Organic Fertilizer - Manure (contains Salmonella and E.Coli) Manufactured fertilizer - mainly iron and zinc but can contain high concentration of arsenic, cadmium, chromium. At low levels are good for the crops but high level will be toxic for crops and animals) TERM 72 Pesticides contamination of soil DEFINITION 72 Used mainly to kill insects that eat plants and microbes that spread plant disease Eg. Arsenic can be found in pesticide used in Texas and New Jersey Eg. DDT Vegetable contains 70% of traceable pesticides Orange juice contains 50% of traceable pesticides TERM 73 Herbicides DEFINITION 73 Kills unwanted plants - weeds TERM 74 DDT DEFINITION 74 Organic chemical very good at killing insects WWII - used to protect troops from malaria and typhus Bio-magnification of DDT occurred - DDT started to accumulate among animals and being brought up to higher food chains (Fish -> Fish-eating birds) Fish-eating birds with high level of DDT will lay eggs with brittle shells. A drop in birds population 1972, EPA banned the use of DDT TERM 75 Biodiversity Depletion DEFINITION 75 Occurs when monoculture farming - only planting one type of crop on a specific area Application of pesticides - prevent many things from growing in soil TERM 76 Nutrient Depletion DEFINITION 76 Primary lost due to water removing water-soluble minerals Removal of harvest - prevents the nutrients from recycling back to the soil Monoculture farming Heavy tilling of soil - increased oxygen content, rapidly increase the decomposition of organic matter, decrease humus level. Soil Erosion and High acidity TERM 77 Urbanization and soil DEFINITION 77 Slow and almost irreversible damage to the soil 2 million acre of farmlands are converted for urban and rural development (1/5 are prime croplands) TERM 78 Sustaining Soil Resources DEFINITION 78 Soil conservation Soil protection Soil remediation TERM 79 Soil Conservation DEFINITION 79 1935, created Soil Conservation Service now known as Natural Resource Conservation Service educate and train to protect soil and prevent irreparable harm to soil TERM 80 Ways of soil conservation DEFINITION 80 Contour farming - catch soil and water Terracing - reduce surface runoff and erosion Tilling fields when storms are not likely to decrease erosion improved machinaries - aerate, plant and weed fields without great churning Strip farming (Cultivating crops in parallel strips) - harvest and tilled at different time to ensure some areas are always covered with crops (corn, wheat, soy) Planting barriers such as tree rows - protect field from wind and control erosions Crop Rotation - prevent selective nutrient depletion (corn and soy) Reducing tillage and adding organic waste - maintain or increase organic content in soil TERM 81 Methods of Soil Remediation DEFINITION 81 Bioremediation Phytoremediation Desalination of soil TERM 82 Bioremediation DEFINITION 82 using bacteria to eat the contaminants and metabolize them into nontoxic substance increasing oxygen content increase bacteria population TERM 83 Phytoremediation DEFINITION 83 using plants to clean up soil. Certain plants can selectively take up and concentrate toxic substance, which they will degrade or release to the atmosphere in modified form. These metal-bearing plants will be harvested and disposed by burning. The ashes will be deposited in landfills TERM 84 Phytomining DEFINITION 84 used plants to accumulate metals. the metal-bearing plant will be burned and ashes sold for it's metal content Eg. Streptanthus Polygaloides (milkwort jewelflower) - hyperaccumulator of nickel. TERM 85 Desalination of soil DEFINITION 85 Prevention is easier than cure