The Basics of Soil

4. complex mixture of minerals, water, air, organic matter, and organisms
5. soils act like a living _______ to clean water before it moves into an aquifer
7. the smallest soil particle, less than 0.002 mm
10. a mass of rock that weathers to form the parent material for some soils
13. there are more _____ in a single tablespoon than there are people on the plant
14. the soil structure of common garden soil
15. what gets under our fingernails or on our clothes
16. provided by soil for animals and organisms
18. the "E" in this horizon, light in color
20. most soils have three major ____ (A, B, C) and some have an organic horizon (O)
21. horizon rich in minerals that moved down from A or E horizons

1. soil texture found in the very middle of the soil triangle
2. a tool used to help identify the soil type
3. the arrangement of soil particles into small clumps called peds or aggregates
6. describes the shape of the land and direction it faces, plays a roll in soil formation
8. type of change we may see in soil. Example: humans adding fertilizer or bagged potting soil
9. the CL in soil formation
11. the 5 major factors that influence soil formation
12. major activity that degrades soil
17. minerals from parent material with a little organic matter, makes up this soil horizon
19. number of soil textural classes
21. soil particle that is 0.05 ro 0.002 mm in size
22. the largest soil particle at 2.0 to 0.05 mm
23. soils high in _____ are deep orange-brown to yellow-brown