The Identification & Classification of Soils (Quiz Questions)
The information in WebSoilSurvey is generally used to _______ when designing a construction project.
1) Locate favorable sites 2) Indicates areas that require most intense on-site investigation than others
Argillic horizons are characterized by ________.
Accumulation of silicate clays
Which of the following soil map units consists of the most nearly level land? (BeC2, BeB2, CgE2, BeC3, CgE)
BeB2
Which of the following soil map units consists of the most severely eroded soils? (BeC3, BeC2, CgE2, CgE, BeB2)
BeC3
In soils of which great group would you most likely find wide surface cracks during periods of dry weather?
Calciusterts
Soils in which suborder would be most likely to occur in Minnesota than Texas?
Cryolls
In which soil orders would recent alluvium most likely be a common parent material?
Entisols
True or false: A 1:5000 soil survey covers a larger area with less detail than a 1:1000000 soil survey.
False
True or false: A pedon is a 3 dimensional field unit occupying about 1000 square meters (1 hectare) of land area.
False
True or false: A polypedon or individual soil is a group of closely related pedons that conceptually approximates what in the United States is called a soil series.
False
True or false: An argillic diagnostic horizon is an example of an epipedon.
False
True or false: Because soil development is just beginning in Entisols, these soils are generally less variable in properties than are those in the Andisol or Ultisol orders.
False
True or false: During the last ice age, glaciation was a major contributor of the parent material that ultimately formed the soils in North Carolina.
False
True or false: Examples of diagnostic horizons include Ap, E & Bt.
False
True or false: Examples of genetic horizons include kandic, spodic, ochric, mollic and oxic.
False
True or false: For agricultural use in a given region, a soil with ab ochric epipedon could generally be expected to be more productive than one with a mollic epipedon.
False
True or false: Forests would typically have more organic accumulation than grasslands.
False
True or false: Geographic information about soils addresses primarily changes in field soil properties in the vertical direction but not the horizontal direction.
False
True or false: Glacial till can be recognized by the distinct layering of different kinds of particles.
False
True or false: Organic matter distribution in the profile is a significant criterion for differentiating epipedons.
False
True or false: Soils classified as Inceptisols have the least well-developed profiles of those in any order in the Soil Taxonomy system.
False
True or false: Soils in the Oxisols order are deeply weathered and have deep subsurface horizons of silicon oxide.
False
True or false: Spodosols are generally less acidic and less sandy than are Alfisols.
False
True or false: Subsoil is equivalent to the O horizon.
False
True or false: The B horizon is the zone where you would expect maximum elluviation.
False
True or false: The C horizons are generally more completely weathered than the other horizons.
False
True or false: The broadest category of classification in Soil Taxonomy specifies 12 soil orders, 4 of which are for primarily comprised of organic soils.
False
True or false: The categories of Soil Taxonomy can be listed from the broadest (first) and most specific (last) as: order, suborder, great group, subgroup, series, family.
False
True or false: The names give a clear indication of the modes of genesis of the soil.
False
True or false: Ultisols are formed under the ultimate weathering conditions. Of the 12 soil orders, the ultisols are the most highly weathered.
False
True or false: Ultisols are the result of physical weathering only.
False
Which of the categories in the Soil Taxonomy system indicates properties that have implications for root growth as well as for the construction of building foundations?
Family
In which of the following processes are space satellites used to collect geographic information about soils?
Geo-positioning & Multi-spectral imagery
Investigating the soils of northern Canada in summer, you dig a soil pit easily through fairly uniform peat material until, at 75 cm deep, your shovel hits a layer that is frozen solid. Into which type of soil are you most likely digging?
Histel
If the soils are to be used for crop production, for which soil order would land drainage be most critical?
Histosols
In which epipedon is the organic matter level generally lowest?
Ochric
If properly interpreted, a colored-keyed soil suborder map made in WebSoilSurvey would be a good source of information for ________.
Planning areas of future urban expansion in a county
Soil scientists from which country first conceived the idea that soils were natural bodies?
Russia
The map units on a detailed soil map in a county soil survey report are most likely to be labeled with names from which category of Soil Taxonomy?
Series
Which of the categories of Soil Taxonomy provides the greatest specificity of soil properties?
Series
Highly trained soil scientists generally map a soil landscape by sampling the soil in ____________.
Series of bore holes concentrated near expected soil boundaries
Soils in this order are commonly sandy in texture, quite acidic and develop primarily under coniferous trees in cool to cold climates.
Spodosols
True or false: A 1:5,000 soil survey covers a smaller area with more detail than a 1:1,000,000 soil survey.
True
True or false: A soil developed in residual parent materials will likely have properties related to the properties of the rock below the C horizon.
True
True or false: An aquic soil moisture regime connotes a higher degree of soil moisture saturation than an ustic one.
True
True or false: An argillic horizon is a diagnostic horizon characterized by the subsurface accumulation of silicate clays.
True
True or false: An umbric diagnostic horizon is an example of an epipedon.
True
True or false: Andisols are found mostly near recently active volcanoes.
True
True or false: Epipedons are diagnostic subsurface horizons that are one of the primary means of classifying soils in the United States.
True
True or false: Epipedons are diagnostic surface horizons that are one of the primary means of classifying soils in the United States.
True
True or false: Examples diagnostic horizons include kandic, spodic, ochric, mollic and oxic.
True
True or false: Examples of genetic horizons include R,E,O,B, C & A.
True
True or false: Histosols generally have higher organic matter contents than Mollisols.
True
True or false: Modern county soil survey reports provide information on the suitability of soils for construction of such projects such as sewage lagoons, roads and streets, and septic tank drainage fields.
True
True or false: Mollisols are characterized by a deep epipedon that is high in organic matter.
True
True or false: Organic matter distribution in the profile is a significant criterion for differentiating epipedons.
True
True or false: Oxisols are more highly weathered than are the soils of any other order.
True
True or false: Russian scientists were the first to develop the concept of soils as natural bodies
True
True or false: The B horizon is the zone where you would expect maximum illuviation.
True
True or false: The O horizons of a soil are dominantly organic horizons occuring above mineral horizons.
True
True or false: The broadest category of classification in Soil Taxonomy specifies 12 soil orders, 11 of which are for mineral soils.
True
True or false: The broadest category of classification in Soil Taxonomy specifies 12 soil orders. One order describes frozen soils. One order describes organic soils. The remaining 10 orders describe mineral soils.
True
True or false: The family category focuses on properties affecting plant roots and suitability for engineering uses of soils.
True
True or false: The name of a subgroup indicates the order, suborder, and great group of which it is a member.
True
True or false: The soil and a soil are two extremes in the concept of soils that is basic to most classification schemes.
True
True or false: The two most significant characteristics of the classification system used in the United States are a unique system of terminology and focus on measurable soil properties as a primary basis for the classification.
True
True or false: Vertisols are characterized by high contents of swelling-type silicate clays.
True
True or false: You would be more apt to find a Gelisol in Alaska than in Iowa.
True
A soil has a thick black A horizon, a distinct B horizon, has reasonably stable soil structure, and was formed under grassland natural vegetation. In which suborder is it most likely classed?
Udolls
You are seeking a soil with high clay content but one that is not sticky when wet nor hard and cloddy when dry. In which of the following suborders would you most likely find this soil?
Ustox
A soil pedon is ______.
a three-dimensional unit that embodies the primary characteristics of an individual soil