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1.2: Activity 1 - Soil Formation

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    Name: ______________________________

    Section: _____________________________

    Student ID#:__________________________

    Read through and complete the following activity and questions. All questions should be answered and completed labs are due at the end of the laboratory period. No late work will be accepted.

    1) As best you can and in your own words, define, “soil.”

    2) Refer to the soil monoliths identified by your instructor at the front of the classroom. Using these monoliths for reference, please draw an interpretive diagram of soil by incorporating the terms PEDON, HORIZON/LAYER, and PROFILE together into one image. Label each of these key terms/parts on your diagram.

    Screen Shot 2021-06-22 at 11.37.07.png

    3) Please fill in the following blanks and answer the questions referring to each of the soil forming factors indicated below:

    Soil forming factor Contributing element
    Climate

    1. _______________________

    2. Precipitation

    3. Evaporation
    Organisms

    1. Human influence

    2. ________________________

    3. ________________________
    Relief

    1. ________________________

    2. Erosion/sedimentation on the landscape
    Parent Material

    Give two examples of a parent material type:

    1. _________________________

    2. _________________________
    Time

    Why would it be important to assess the

    formation of soil over time?

    4) Indicate whether each of the following examples represents an ADDITION, LOSS, TRANSFORMATION, or TRANSLOCATION within the soil. Note: some answers are used more than once. (6 points)

    1. Clay particles are moved by water moving from an upper E horizon to a lower B horizon within a soil profile…
    2. The forces of nature have acted upon the soil over time, weathering sand sized particles into smaller clay sized particles within the top horizon of a soil profile…
    3. Surface mineral soil material is washed away by the force of a monsoon…
    4. Organic material is mixed into the upper 20cm of the soil profile by the activity of burrowing worms…
    5. Dust particles fall on to the surface of a soil…
    6. Nitrate is leached from the A horizon within the soil profile…

    This page titled 1.2: Activity 1 - Soil Formation is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Anna R. Schwyter & Karen L. Vaughan (UW Open Education Resources (OER)) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.