Name_________________________________________________________
Date____________
The Ground Beneath Our
Feet – Cloze Notes
What Makes Up Healthy Soil?
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Soil Texture
The soil’s quality is based on the
proportions of soil particles.
Soil texture affects
– Consistency:
• soil’s ability to be
broken up.
– Infiltration:
• ability of water to
• Mineral fragments, humus, air,
move through soil.
water, and living things
– Plant roots, Insects,
Sizes of Weathered Rock That Make
Up Soil
Worms
• Humus
– Organic Material
– Can support the growth of
vegetation
• Parent rock
– source of mineral
fragments in the soil
Different Types of Soil
Soil Formation
• Every soil type is a mixture of
• Soil starts out as rock
sand, silt, clay.
• The surface rocks break down
into smaller pieces and is mixed
with organic matter.
• Over time this creates a thin
layer of soil.
• Decaying matter makes the soil
thick and rich
•
The right mixture is called loam.
• Loam =
• 40% sand
• 40 % silt
• 20 % clay
Name_________________________________________________________
What is a Soil horizon?
• O
- Litter from dead plants
and animals (humus)
• A
– Topsoil: contains organic
material and usually dark in
color
• E
– Zone of intense leaching.
Feels sandy and appears
light from lack of clay and
iron material
• B
– Collects dissolved
substances from upper
horizons. Contains clay and
silt material from above
layers. Occasionally red
from oxidization of iron
(rust).
• C
– Weathered bedrock.
• R
– Bedrock
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Period_______