Deck 10: Weathering, Soil, and Erosion

Question 1

If wind picks up sand particles and scours the lower portion of a rock, what specific type of physical weathering is this called? __________________________

Answer 1

Abrasion

Question 2

If a rock gets salt dissolved in water that are captured in fractures or joints and the water crystallizes to form salt gains in the joints, what type of specific chemical weathering has occurred to this rock?   ____________________

Answer 2

salt cracking

Question 3

The combined O and A soil horizons are also called ____________________.

Answer 3

topsoil

Question 4

If you see a block of material that has slid downhill as a consolidated unit over a gently curved fracture, you have observed what specific type of mass wasting? __________________________

Question 5

If leaching occurs from the uppermost soil horizons of dissolved ions and clays, which specific soil horizon will the materials leach into? _____________________

Question 6

If you see a road that has fractured due to rapid changes in temperature, what specific type of physical weathering have you observed? _____________________

A) Hydrolysis
B) pressure-release fracturing
C) thermal expansion and contraction
D) Abrasion

Question 7

If you wanted a balanced soil for your yard that has equal parts of sand, silt, and clay, you would find a piece of land rich in what type of soil? _____________

A) humus
B) loam
C) loess
D) silty clay

Question 8

If a rock becomes oxidized, what type of weathering has that rock undergone? ____________________

Question 9

When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, the meltwater from melting glaciers at its summit caused what type of mass wasting to occur? ____________________.

Question 10

If you are in a forest and see a tree stump breaking apart a rock, what type of weathering would this be considered?

Question 11

The process of moving loose gravel, sand, clay and soil by wind, water, or glaciers is ______________ which is different than the process by which solid rock is decomposed to loose gravel, sand, clay, and soil.

Question 12

The process by which solid rock is decomposed to loose gravel, sand, clay, and soil is called ____________________ which is different than the process of moving loose gravel, sand, clay and soil by wind, water, or glaciers.

Question 13

Feldspar weathers to form clay by the process of ____.

A) dissolution
B) hydrolysis
C) frost wedging
D) salt cracking

Question 14

A type of mass wasting in which loose sediment moves downslope as a slurry-like fluid is called a(n) ____________________.

Question 15

If a rock gets water in a fracture or joint and it freezes at night, what type of physical weathering does that represent?

Question 16

During ____, water dissolves a mineral to form a solution.

A) dissolution
B) hydrolysis
C) frost wedging
D) abrasion

Question 17

Frost wedging along canyon walls such as the Grand Canyon produce pile of loose, angular rock debris that accumulates beneath many cliffs and this pile of material is called what? _______________

A) litter
B) topsoil
C) caliche
D) talus

Question 18

If you see bent tree trunks that develops a J-shaped curve in a national park, this is an indicator of what specific type of flow? ___________________________________

Question 19

____________________ is a hardpan that forms in arid and semiarid soils when calcium carbonate precipitates and cements the soil particles together.

Question 20

The evaporative concentration of salts in soils, particularly those that are heavily irrigated, is called ____________________.

Question 21

In the weathering process of pressure-release fracturing, ____.

A) salts crystallize in cracks, enlarging fractures
B) bedrock minerals decompose to clay
C) bedrock expands and fractures when the overlying rock erodes away
D) bedrock dissolves and ground water carries the dissolved ions away

Question 22

____ is a layer of loose rock fragments, clay, silt, and sand overlying bedrock.

A) Loam
B) Humus
C) Litter
D) Regolith

Question 23

If you wanted to obtain information where you live, what specific soil report would you as the National Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) to provide you?

A) Soil order
B) Soil classification
C) Soil series
D) Soil analysis

Question 24

Granite commonly fractures by ____, a process in which plates of weathered material split away like layers of an onion and you can observe this type of weathering in Yosemite National Park.

A) salt cracking
B) exfoliation
C) chemical weathering
D) oxidation

Question 25

Rusting is an example of ____.

A) dissolution
B) hydrolysis
C) frost wedging
D) oxidation

Question 26

If you find a piece of limestone that has holes through it, this was caused because atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in rainwater and reacts to form a ________ that can chemically dissolve rock-like limestone.

A) strong acid
B) weak base
C) weak acid
D) strong base

Question 27

A high-latitude soil that forms over permafrost is called a(n) ____.

A) mollisol
B) gelisol
C) oxisol
D) aridisol

Question 28

Earthworms would most likely exist in which specific soil horizon which consists mostly of organic litter and humus, with a small portion of minerals? __________________

A) B
B) O
C) C
D) A

Question 29

Soils that are common in desert environments are called ____.

A) vertisols
B) histosols
C) gelisols
D) aridisols

Question 30

Soils that form from the weathering of underlying bedrock are called ____.

A) O horizon soils
B) transported soils
C) translocated soils
D) residual soils

Question 31

If you are hiking in the Grand Canyon along a cliff wall and a segment of bedrock slides downslope along a fracture plane, you have observed what specific type of mass wasting?

A) creep
B) a debris flow
C) a rockslide
D) a fall

Question 32

Weathering is the decomposition and disintegration of rocks and minerals at Earth's surface by ____.

A) both mechanical and chemical processes
B) chemical processes only
C) mechanical processes only
D) the movement of the rocks and minerals from one place to another

Question 33

The combined effects of mechanical and chemical weathering processes that can cause coarse crystalline igneous rocks to become rounded boulders are known as ____.

A) oxidation
B) abrasion
C) spheroidal weathering
D) organic activity

Question 34

The soil layer that consists of partially weathered bedrock which grades into unweathered parent rock is the ____.

A) B horizon
B) O horizon
C) C horizon
D) A horizon

Question 35

If you were driving in a canyon and rock falls on the road, what specific type of mass wasting did you observe? ____

A) slide
B) fall
C) flow
D) slump

Question 36

A mixture of mineral grains and rock fragments, organic material, water, and gas that can support plant growth is called ____.

A) soil
B) bedrock
C) humus
D) litter

Question 37

The sculpting of rock formations by blowing sand is an example of ____.

A) oxidation
B) dissolution
C) corrosion
D) abrasion

Question 38

In the process of hydrolysis ____.

A) salts crystallize in cracks, enlarging fractures
B) minerals react with water to form a new mineral that has water as part of its crystal structure
C) bedrock expands and fractures when the overlying rock erodes away
D) bedrock dissolves and ground water carries the dissolved ions away

Question 39

If you go to a beach with very durable sand, it likely came from the weathering of granite and the durable mineral in the sand is called what? ______________________

A) calcite
B) feldspar
C) quartz
D) mica

Question 40

The ____ is the maximum slope or steepness at which loose material remains stable.

A) dip slope
B) mass wasting angle
C) angle of repose
D) slip slope

Question 41

If you see plants that have grown between the cracks in a rock, this is an example of mechanical weathering.

Question 42

If you see a rock that has been oxidized and turned a red color, this would mean that chemical weathering had occurred when air and water reacted with rock to alter its chemical composition and mineral content.

Question 43

If you see trees on a hill that tilt uphill, what specific type of mass wasting have you observed? _______________

A) Debris flow
B) Mud flow
C) Creep
D) Slump

Question 44

The removal of broken down rock material and sediments out of the Grand Canyon by the Colorado River is an example of erosion.

Question 45

During a rockslide, bedrock slides downslope along a fracture plane.

Question 46

Soils that are rich in clay and organic matter typically have a low cation exchange capacity.

Question 47

If you wanted to see the fastest type of mass wasting, you would want to see a rock fall.

Question 48

One good defense against mass-wasting damage on a hillside is to ____.

A) clear away all the trees and shrubs on upper parts of the hill
B) saturate the slope with water
C) bulldoze away lower parts of the slope
D) study an area's geology and history to determine if mass wasting has occurred on similar nearby slopes

Question 49

If you decided to purchase a piece of land that had andisols, you would be moving to the Pacific Northwest or to Hawaii where volcanic bedrock has formed soil.

Question 50

The type of mass wasting known as mudflow occurs when ____.

A) fine-grained particles flow downslope
B) rocks fall from cliffs
C) water-saturated soil slides over permafrost
D) blocks of material slide downhill over curved fractures

Question 51

In soils, leached ions and clay frequently accumulate in the ____.

A) B horizon
B) O horizon
C) A horizon
D) C horizon

Question 52

If you decide to buy a farm in the southeastern United States, ultisols or red clay soils would be the soil of choice because it is highly fertilized or nutrient enriched.

Question 53

If you soak a rock in pure water, it will not dissolve quickly like it would in acidic and basic solutions.

Question 54

During hydrolysis, saltwater that enters rock pores and cracks crystallizes, causing the rock to break.

Question 55

If you see a rock that has been abraded by wind, you have observed a special type of chemical weathering called dissolution.

Question 56

If you go to the desert and see red rocks that have been rusted because of their iron content, oxidation caused this to occur because the minerals reacted with oxygen.

Question 57

If you have a ____________ under your house, it would likely move at a rate of about one centimeter per year and it may damage your walls and fences over time.

A) Debris flow
B) Mud flow
C) Creep
D) Slump

Question 58

If you see a steep hillside that has limited on no vegetation on its slope, this can increase the probability of landslides occurring.

Question 59

If you decided to hike on a talus slope, it would have an angle of repose that is lower than rounded san grains because the angular blocks interlock and jam together.

Question 60

The alternate shrinking and swelling of humus tightens soil and prevents roots from growing easily.

Question 61

Explain how weathering can occur but erosion does not and then discuss how both often occur together.

Question 62

Explain how bedrock/parent rock relates to residual soils.

Question 63

Explain how water content in soil impact slope stability.

Question 64

Explain how volcanic eruptions impact mass wasting.

Question 65

Explain why the Moon still has early impact craters.

Question 66

Explain how human activity can influence weathering and erosion.

Question 67

Explain why the Earth no longer has most of its early impact craters.

Question 68

Explain how dissolution is different from hydrolysis.

Question 69

Explain how earthquakes impact mass wasting.

Question 70

Explain why alfisols are used frequently in agriculture and discuss how they form.

Question 71

Explain how water content in soil impact mass wasting.

Question 72

Explain how transported soils form and provide an example of transported soils.

Question 73

Explain what types of mass wasting you would expect in steep walled canyon. Describe at least two types and discuss the risk factor for humans and property.

Question 74

Explain how chemical and mechanical weathering can act together?

Question 75

Explain the angle of repose is used in building codes to prohibit construction in unstable areas.

Question 76

Explain how slope and steepness impact mass wasting.

Question 77

Explain which layers of soil you may have to manufacture if your yard does not have organic material.

Question 78

Explain how the type of rock and orientation of rock layers impact mass wasting.

Question 79

Explain how the steepness of a slope impacts mass wasting.

Question 80

Explain how climate influences soil formation.