Weathering vocab.

Oxidation

When some materials are exposed to oxygen and water, chemical weathering occurs

Litter

consists of leaves, twigs, and other organic material that eventually can be changed to humus by decomposing organisms. It helps prevent erosion.

Sheet erosion

happens when rainwater flows into lower elevations, carrying sdiments with it.

Chemical weathering

is the process that breaks down rocks through chemical changes. Some agents are: water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, living organisms, and acid rain.

Ice wedging

mechanical weathering process that occurs when water freezes in the cracks of rocks and expands, breaking the rock apart.

Tombolos

A tombolo is a sandbar that extends outward from the shore, connecting an island with the mainland.

Mass movement

A type of erosion that occurs when gravity causes huge amounts of soil or rock debris to be carried down a slope. A mudslide is one example of this.

Soil profile

A vertical section of soil from the surface down to the bedrock that shows the horizons.

Abrasion

1. The wearing down of rock particles by friction due to water or wind or ice. 2. type of erosion that occurs when windblown sediments strike rocks and sediments

Horizon

A specific layer of soil in a soil profile.

Spit

Long, narrow deposit of sand connected at one end to a shore

Humus

The part of soil made up of decayed leaves and organic matter that helps plants grow.

Erosion

The picking up and moving of soil or sediment. This occurs when running water, sea waves, wind, or glaciers pick up and carry away materials from the earth's surface.

Weathering

The process in which rocks are broken down into smaller pieces by ice, water, the wind, changes in temperature, plants, animals, or by chemicals

Carbonation

The process of carbon dioxide being absorbed into clouds, the cause of acid rain. The mixing of carbonic acid with another substance to cause chemical weathering.

Soil

This covers most of the earth's land, and is made up mostly of disintegrated rocks.

Deposition

This occurs when silt, sand, and other materials are carried by flowing water and deposited at other places on the earth's surface.

Leaching

Water moving down through the soil and carrying away dissolved minerals and nutrients from the topsoil.

No- till farming

practice of leaving plant stalks in the field to protect the soil

Contour farming

process of planting along the natural shape of slopes of the land

Acid precipitation

rain or snow more acid than unpolluted rain water; leaches valuable nutrients from the soil, causing tree death and plant tissue injury; damages stone buildings and statues.

Mechanical weathering

rocks are broken apart by physical processes such as ice, digging animals, or tree roots