Name: _______________________________________ Date: ____________ Class: ________ P#: ____
1.
What is the term for the process in which rocks break down? ______________________________
2.
What is the term for when rocks are broken into pieces by physical means?
_________________________________________
3.
List agents, or causes, of mechanical weathering. _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4.
Explain ice wedging and how it causes mechanical weathering. _________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5.
What is the term for a type of mechanical weathering that happens when rocks are worn away by contact with other rocks? _______________________________
6.
What three ways can abrasion can occur. ___________________________________________________
7.
Explain how plants can cause mechanical weathering. _________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
8.
Explain how animals can cause mechanical weathering. ________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
9.
What is the term for when rocks break down because of chemical reactions?
________________________________________________
10.
Explain how water can cause chemical weathering. ________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
11.
Acids are an agent of chemical weathering. Name the three ways acids can cause chemical weathering.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
12.
Explain how air, through the process of oxidation, causes chemical weathering.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

13.
Soil is a loose mixture of _______________________________,
___________________________, __________________________, and ____________________.
14.
Which horizon has the most fertile soil and many organic things? _________________________
15.
Which horizon has some nutrients from the horizon above because of leaching?
_________________________
16.
Which horizon is made mostly of bedrock? ____________________________
17.
What is the term for the movement of substances from Horizon A to Horizon B as water passes through? _________________________
18.
What is the term for the dark, organic material found in Horizon A that is formed from the decayed remains of plants and animals? _______________________
19.
What happens to a plant soon after it dies? ___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
20.
What does soil provide for plants? ___________________________________________________
21.
What does soil provide for animals? _________________________________
22.
Would a low rate of chemical and mechanical weathering cause the soil to be more fertile or less fertile? ______________
23.
A low ____________________ level is an indicator that soil has been overused.
For 24-29, use the figure to the left.
24.
What layer does #1 represent? __________________________
25.
What layer does #2 represent? __________________________
26.
What layer does #3 represent? __________________________
27.
Which number would you find the most humus? __________
28.
Which number shows the oldest layer of soil? _________
29.
Which number shows the youngest layer of soil? _________
30.
What is the term for the method of keeping soil fertile by protecting it from erosion and nutrient loss? ____________________________________

31.
Give 2 examples of #30 and explain them.
a.
_________________________________________________________________________ b.
_________________________________________________________________________
32.
Put the following items in order to show how fertile soil is formed. a.
Weathering b.
Fertile soil c.
Plants live/die d.
Animals live/ die e.
Rock




33.
What is the term for when wind removes the top layers of fine sediment or soil and leaves behind the larger rock pieces? __________________________
34.
What type of rock is formed from weathering and erosion? _____________________________
35.
What is the difference between weathering and erosion?
_______________________________________________________________________________
36.
What is the term for when loose rocks fall down a steep slope as a result of gravity?
______________________________
37.
In which type of erosion is material like silt constantly transported up the side of a dune?
_____________________
38.
What two types of erosion are responsible for the formation of the Grand Canyon?
_______________________________________
39.
How do plant roots help stop wind erosion? ___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
40.
What geological processes have changes the landscape of Georgia the most during the last
10,000 years? _________________________________

41.
What is the name of the coastal landform created by wave erosion that forms when wave action continues to erode a sea cave, cutting completely through the rock?
____________________________
42.
What type of erosion causes a U-shaped valley to form? _________________________
43.
What type of erosion would a construction site most strongly affect? Why?
_______________________________________________________________________________
44.
What type of river starts in the mountains and moves fast with many rapids?
________________________________________
45.
What is the term for the material carried and deposited by a glacier? ____________________
46.
What happens to rocks when ocean waves crash into them over long periods of time?
___________________________________________
47.
Deposition occurs along the _____________________ of a stream’s meander where the water flows ______________________________.
48. There are rocks on the road as you are driving in the mountains. What is that example of erosion by gravity called? _____________________________.
49. Barrier islands are formed due to what type of water erosion? _________________________

Weathering, Erosion, and Soil Study Guide KEY
1. weathering
2. mechanical weathering
3. types of mechanical weathering: wind, water, ice, gravity
4. water gets into cracks, freezes and expands, melts and breaks rock apart
5.abrasion
6. wind, water, gravity
7. roots grow into rocks breaking them apart
8. burrowing holes
9. chemical weathering
10. dissolves it
11. acid in groundwater, acid in living things, acid precipitation
12. when oxygen the air reacts with iron, it will rust.
13. air, organic material, rock fragments and minerals, water
14. Horizon A
15. Horizon B
16. Horizon C
17. leaching
18. humus
19. breaks down or decays and becomes part of the soil.
20. nutrients and water storage
21. habitat
22. less
23. nutrient
24. Horizon A
25. Horizon B
26. Horizon C
27. 1

28. 4
29. 1
30. soil conservation
31. terracing – prevents erosion from steep hill; No-till farming – farmers leave the left-over plants on the soil; Cover crops – restores nutrients; Contour plowing – plow in a wave formation
32. rock, weathering, animals live/die – plants live/die, fertile soil.
33. deflation
34. sedimentary
35. weathering breaks rocks down; erosion moves it
36.rock falls/ rock slide
37.wind
38. water and wind
39. anchors the soil – nutrients. – root system
40. water erosion and deposition
41. sea arch
42. glacier erosion
43. wind, - because they remove vegetation
44. youthful river
45. till
46. break down into parts – sand
47. inside -- slower
48. rock slide 49. wave erosion