Soil Vocabulary

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Across
  1. 2. A complex life form that is a symbiotic partnership of two separate organisms, a fungus and an algae. Produces chemicals that lead to chemical erosion and is a pioneer organism..
  2. 4. The permanent degradation of land that was once arable. Often found in arid and semi-arid environments.
  3. 6. Loose, unconsolidated sediments that have been deposited at the base of hillslopes by either rainwash, sheetwash, slow continuous downslope creep, or a variable combination of these processes.
  4. 7. A streambank that is nearly vertical, found on the outside of a bend in a river, and are caused by the moving water of the river eroding the riverbank.
  5. 9. Occurs when oxygen combines with another substance and creates compounds called oxides (rust is evidence of this).
  6. 10. Loss of soluble substances and colloids from the top layer of soil by percolating precipitation. The materials lost are carried downward (eluviated) and are generally redeposited (illuviated) in a lower layer.
  7. 11. Wetlands that form as rivers empty their water and sediment into another body of water, such as an ocean, lake, or another river.
  8. 13. Dark, organic material that forms in soil when plant and animal matter decays.
  9. 14. Soil with roughly equal proportions of sand, silt, and clay. Often very fertile.
Down
  1. 1. Loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or delta. Usually very productive soil.
  2. 3. Material left behind by a moving glacier. This material is usually soil and rock. Also known as glacial till.
  3. 5. As the river curves around the bend in the river, the water slows down and sediment is dropped to the river bed. Over time, this sediment builds up and makes this feature.
  4. 8. Windblown dust and silt deposits. Fine, mineral-rich material found on the edge of deserts. Often develops into extremely fertile agricultural soil that is slow to erode.
  5. 12. The transport of soil material from upper layers of soil to lower levels by downward percolation of water across soil horizons