PLS 366 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
A declining ratio of Si:Al is considered an indicator of ____________. - Answers -more
complete weathering
% base saturation - Answers -=100 X (Basic cation charge/total charge)
mollic - Answers -high base saturation
Umbric - Answers -low base saturation
Ochric - Answers -low base saturation, thin, light
Melanic - Answers -Volcanic materials
O horizon - Answers -organic surface layer
A horizon - Answers -mineral horizon at surface or below O
E horizon - Answers -eluviation layer. loss of organic matter, clay, Fe, Al
B horizon - Answers -Illuvial horizon
C horizon - Answers -parent material
R horizon - Answers -bedrock
Ap endopedon - Answers -indicates A horizon has been plowed
Entisols - Answers -recent (youngest soil order)
Inceptisols - Answers -tundra, mountains
Andisols - Answers -volcanic ash soil
Aridisols - Answers -develops in areas of short wet periods
small scale variability - Answers -Local topography, effects of organisms, thickness of
parent material layers
medium scale variability - Answers -lithosequence, chronosequence, toposequence
Catena - Answers -same parent material, climactic
conditions, different topographic location and
, drainage
county soil survey report - Answers -general soil map, detailed map sheets, interpretive
information
three types of parent materials (PM) - Answers -Residual, Organic, Transported
colluvial - Answers -gravity
Alluvial - Answers -Streams, rivers
Eoline - Answers -wind
Lacustrine - Answers -Lakes
NAME THE TWO WAYS IN WHICH SOIL TEXTURE IS DETERMINED. - Answers -
field or feel method, hydrometer method
soil structure - Answers -the way sand, silt, and clay particles are arranged into
aggregates or peds
4 soil structure types - Answers -granular, platy, prism-like, blocky
granular - Answers -rounded, sphere like (A horizon)
Platy - Answers -flat, elongated. E horizon
prism-like - Answers -tall, narrow. shrink-swell causes vertical cracks. B horizon
blocky - Answers -roughly cubic. mostly in B, sometimes in A horizon
particle density (Db) - Answers -2.65 g/cm^3
Bulk Density - Answers -dry weight soil (g)/volume of soil (before drying)
soil forming processes - Answers -losses, translocations, transformations
albic - Answers -the loss of clays, Fe and Al oxids to lower horizons leaving behind a
bleached, pale appearance.
cryic - Answers -MAST 0˚-8˚C No permafrost
mesic - Answers -Pertaining to moist (not wet) sites, Mean annual soil temperature
between 8 and 15ºC at a depth of 50 cm or lithic or paralithic contact if shallower then
50 cm.
A declining ratio of Si:Al is considered an indicator of ____________. - Answers -more
complete weathering
% base saturation - Answers -=100 X (Basic cation charge/total charge)
mollic - Answers -high base saturation
Umbric - Answers -low base saturation
Ochric - Answers -low base saturation, thin, light
Melanic - Answers -Volcanic materials
O horizon - Answers -organic surface layer
A horizon - Answers -mineral horizon at surface or below O
E horizon - Answers -eluviation layer. loss of organic matter, clay, Fe, Al
B horizon - Answers -Illuvial horizon
C horizon - Answers -parent material
R horizon - Answers -bedrock
Ap endopedon - Answers -indicates A horizon has been plowed
Entisols - Answers -recent (youngest soil order)
Inceptisols - Answers -tundra, mountains
Andisols - Answers -volcanic ash soil
Aridisols - Answers -develops in areas of short wet periods
small scale variability - Answers -Local topography, effects of organisms, thickness of
parent material layers
medium scale variability - Answers -lithosequence, chronosequence, toposequence
Catena - Answers -same parent material, climactic
conditions, different topographic location and
, drainage
county soil survey report - Answers -general soil map, detailed map sheets, interpretive
information
three types of parent materials (PM) - Answers -Residual, Organic, Transported
colluvial - Answers -gravity
Alluvial - Answers -Streams, rivers
Eoline - Answers -wind
Lacustrine - Answers -Lakes
NAME THE TWO WAYS IN WHICH SOIL TEXTURE IS DETERMINED. - Answers -
field or feel method, hydrometer method
soil structure - Answers -the way sand, silt, and clay particles are arranged into
aggregates or peds
4 soil structure types - Answers -granular, platy, prism-like, blocky
granular - Answers -rounded, sphere like (A horizon)
Platy - Answers -flat, elongated. E horizon
prism-like - Answers -tall, narrow. shrink-swell causes vertical cracks. B horizon
blocky - Answers -roughly cubic. mostly in B, sometimes in A horizon
particle density (Db) - Answers -2.65 g/cm^3
Bulk Density - Answers -dry weight soil (g)/volume of soil (before drying)
soil forming processes - Answers -losses, translocations, transformations
albic - Answers -the loss of clays, Fe and Al oxids to lower horizons leaving behind a
bleached, pale appearance.
cryic - Answers -MAST 0˚-8˚C No permafrost
mesic - Answers -Pertaining to moist (not wet) sites, Mean annual soil temperature
between 8 and 15ºC at a depth of 50 cm or lithic or paralithic contact if shallower then
50 cm.
