Across
- 2. Mostly minerals from parent material with organic matter incorporated. A good material for plants and other organisms to live.
- 3. Matter substance comprised of decomposed plant and animal residues, microorganisms and partially decayed plant material and microbes which provides structure, greater water holding capacity, diversity and greater nutrient availability to soil
- 4. organism which is microscopic such as bacteria, fungi, archaea or protists; also known as microbes
- 6. process by which plants emerge from a seed and begin growth
- 9. any chemical or mechanical process which rocks undergo changes in character and breakdown
- 10. The deposit at Earth’s surface from which the soil developed.
- 11. Mostly organic matter such as decomposing leaves. The O horizon is thin in some soils, thick in others, and not present at all in others.
- 12. Rich in minerals that leached (moved down) from the A or E horizons and accumulated here.
Down
- 1. soil created by humans
- 5. vertical slice of soil in its natural position
- 7. Leached of clay, minerals, and organic matter, leaving a concentration of sand and silt particles of quartz or other resistant materials – missing in some soils but often found in older soils and forest soils.
- 8. A mass of rock such as granite, basalt, quartzite, limestone or sandstone that forms the parent material for some soils
- 9. amount of water a soil can hold for plant use