GLY CH6

What factor(s) control the rate of weathering?

• Surface temperature

• Mineral makeup

• Particle size

• Moisture

• All of the above

Which best describes the "soil profile" and its relevance to weathering?

• Soil-forming processes occur laterally in the same layer, so different vertical profiles allow geologists to determine that variation from place to place

• Soil-forming processes occur from the bottom-up. This causes vertical variations in soil composition, texture, structure, and color

• Soil-forming processes occur from the top-down. This causes vertical variations in soil composition, texture, structure, and color

• Soil-forming processes occur in single layers at a time. This causes each layer to appear differently in composition, texture, structure, and color.

Which of the following is a good example of an exfoliation dome?

• Mount St. Helens

• Stone Mountain, Georgia

• Nevado del Ruiz

• Mount Pele

The most influential factor controlling soil formation is __________________________.

• Slope

• Time

• Plants and animals

• Parent material

• Climate

Assume that water filling a crack in a rock undergoes cycles of freezing and melting. Which of the following statement is true?

• water expands as it melts, causing the crack walls to be pushed apart

• water shrinks as it freezes, causing the crack walls to be drawn closer together

• water expands as it freezes, causing the crack walls to be pushed apart

• water shrinks as it melts, causing the crack walls to be pulled closer together

If granite and basalt outcropped in an area with a hot and humid climate __________.

• the granite would weather most rapidly

• the basalt would weather most rapidly

• both rocks would weather at the same rate

• there is no way of knowing which rock type would weather most rapidly

What is "sheet erosion"?

• Soil/sediment is moved downslope by gravitational forces, aided by the Sun

• Soil/sediment is moved by the power of the Sun and wind

• Soil/sediment is moved by running water in streams

• Soil/sediment is moved by thin sheets of water

Three general soil types were discussed in class and in your text. Which soil type is characterized by an accumulation of calcium carbonate and is generally found in the drier western United States (because chemical weathering is less intense in that location)?

• Pedalfer

• Pedocal

• Laterite

• Loam

• Topsoil

Which physical process is dominated by "root wedging"?

• Expansion

• Biological activity

• Mass wasting

• Frost wedging

The process of weathering is BEST described as the _______________________.

• Removal of material by water or air

• Chemical breakdown of a rock

• Alteration o f feldspar into clay minerals

• Transfer of rock material by gravity

• Disintegration and decomposition of a rock on the surface of Earth