Engineers refer to any loose material on the surface of the Earth as soil. How does this differ from the definition Earth scientists prefer?
A) Earth scientists only use the word soil to refer to the inorganic part of weathered, surface materials.
B) There is no difference, the definition is the same.
C) Earth scientists use the term soil only for the organic part of the surface materials.
D) An engineer's "soil" is equivalent to what Earth scientists call regolith; but for Earth scientists soil has a more specific meaning.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Engineers use the term soil to refer to any loose material on the surface of the Earth, while Earth scientists use the term soil more specifically to refer to the organic and inorganic components of weathered surface materials. They use the term regolith to refer to the loose material on the surface of planets and moons. Therefore, an engineer's "soil" is equivalent to what Earth scientists call regolith, but for Earth scientists, soil has a more specific meaning.

Engineers Refer to Any Loose Material on the Surface of the Earth