Weathering and Formation of Soil
Sun, 08/25/2019 - 15:02 - Adarsh
Exam Prep Study Notes (Things to remember)
Weathering
- Mechanical weathering breaks existing rock into smaller pieces without changing the composition of the rock.
- Ice wedging and abrasion are two important processes of mechanical weathering.
- The main agents of mechanical weathering are moving water, wind, glacial ice and gravity.
- Chemical weathering decomposes or breaks down existing rock, forming new minerals that are stable at the Earth's surface.
- Water, carbon dioxide, and oxygen are important agents of chemical weathering.
- Different types of rocks weather at different rates. More resistant types of rocks will remain longer.
Soils
- Soil is an important resource. Life on Earth could not exist as it does today without soil.
- The type of soil that forms depends mostly on climate but to a lesser extent on original parent rock material.
- Soil texture and composition plus the amount of organic material in a soil determine a soil's qualities and fertility.
- Given enough time, existing rock will produce layers within the soil, called a soil profile.
- Ultimately, the climate of a particular region will produce a unique type of soil for that climate.
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