ESC/BIO 334-SOIL SCIENCE
 

Study Guide
(last updated 02/10/2005 07:40:59 AM)

Short  daily quizzes with up to five questions will be used to assess class preparedness and  comprehension.  A third to a half of all quiz questions come from the study guide.  Questions and terms on the study guide may not be covered in class; it is therefore your responsibility to know questions that accompany assigned readings.  Study guide terms in  bold are key concepts from the upcoming lecture.  Some of these these concepts will be included on the daily quiz. See the Past  Quizzes and Examinations for M. Francek to help review for quizzes

Date Topic

Terms and Study Questions that Accompany Chapter Readings
 

 Questions that accompany research summaries
1/10 What is Soil?
 

 

 Chapter 1
-humus, law of the minimum

--Soil provides these four basic growth factors to plants 
--What nutrient is most often deficient in soil?
--texture, structure
 		 The Sound of Deadly Danger
1. How do seismic waves and radar detect mines?
2. Name 2 of the 4 limitations presently associated with this method.
What Job Skills do Employers Expect from a Course in Soil Science?
1. What is the most important personal attribute sought by employers?
2. Name 2 or 3 job skills sought by employers
 Key Agricultural Events in the Last 50 Years
1. What are the top five agricultural events in the last 50 years?
1/12 Soil Physical Properties

 

 Chapter 2
-blocky, bulk density, chroma, hue, value, loam, particle density, platy, concretion, pore space, soil texture, mottles, gleying, soil structure

-What is the relationship between structure and drainage?
-Why are dark soils often cold soils?

bulk density, particle density
 

 Desert Dust Kills Florida Fish
1. What is the connection between Sahara soil erosion and Gulf Coast Red tides?
 
1/17  No Class
 		   
1/19

Soil Physical Properties

 Chapter 2

--blocky, bulk density, chroma, hue, value, loam, particle density, platy, concretion, pore space, soil texture, mottles, gleying,  soil structure

--What is the relationship between structure and drainage?
--Why are dark soils often cold soils?
-soil separates, size range in mm for sand, silt, and clay-

 



 

 Scientists get "Dirt" on how Earthquakes Work
1. Why is it important to see how soil behaves at different gravity levels?
2. What is soil liquifaction?

 

 
1/24 Soil Physical Properties

 


 

 Chapter 2
blocky, bulk density, chroma, hue, value, loam, particle density, platy, concretion, pore space, soil texture, mottles, gleying, soil structure

-What is the relationship between structure and drainage?
-Why are dark soils often cold soils?

--soil forming factors (CLORPT)
 

 Soil Compaction not Always Grounds for Deep Tillage
1. Name 3 natural ways compaction can be alleviated.
Dirt Radar
1. What are fractals? 
2. What soil properties can be measured by radar?
Clays May Have Aided Formation of Primordial Cells
1. How can clays catalyze chemical reactions needed for the basic building blocks of life?
 

 
1/26 Soil Formation and Morphology
 
 		  Chapter 6

--albic horizon, alluvium, argillic horizon, calcic horizon, colluvium, diagnostic horizon, fragipan, loess, mollic epipedon, pedon, polypedon, soil forming factors (CLORPT)
 		 The Effect of Landscape Features on Atmospheric Deposition
1. Discuss the spatial distribution of soil contamination in terms of elevation, tree type, and canopy position.
Urban Agriculture: Feeding the Body, Feeding the Soul
1. What urban locations are the sites for urban agriculture?
2. What are some advantages of urban agriculture?
1/31  Soil Formation and Morphology 


 
Test 1 review sheet

 Chapter 6


--albic horizon, alluvium, argillic horizon, calcic horizon, colluvium, diagnostic horizon, fragipan, loess, mollic epipedon, pedon, polypedon, soil forming factors (CLORPT)
pedon, order, suborder, formative element, root--

 Ill Winds Carry Toxic Dust
1. What type of land use mobilizes contaminant laden dust?  What acts as a sink?
2. How does coral death relate to dust?
When Cities Face Geologic Forces
1. How, specifically, do soils impact hazards in Kobe, Japan, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Colorado Springs, Colorado?
2/2 Test 1, Soil Taxonomy
  		 Chapter 7
alfisols, aquic conditions, aridisols, entisols, formative element, histosols, inceptisols, mollisols, oxisol, pedon, polypedon, root of order, suborder, great groups, soil series, spodosols, udic moisture, ustic moisture, ultisols, vertisols, xeric moisture

--Know the location,  general physical and chemical properties, and management concerns for the major soil orders

Book questions: p. 238, 1-7, 9, 12, 16, 17.

 
2/7  Soil Taxonomy

 		 Chapter 7
--alfisols, aquic conditions, aridisols, entisols, formative element, histosols, inceptisols, mollisols, oxisol, pedon, polypedon, root of order, suborder, great groups, soil series, spodosols, udic moisture, ustic moisture, ultisols, vertisols, xeric moisture

--Know the location,  general physical and chemical properties, and management concerns for the major soil order,

Book questions: p. 238, 1-7, 9, 12, 16, 17.

Dust Begets Dust
1. How does dust amplify the process of desert creation?
2. How might the effect of aerosols mimic the impact of greenhouse gases?
 Dust, the Thermostat
1. What particles make up dust?
2. What is the importance of phosphorus enrichment to Amazon basin soils?  What is its origin?
3. What % of dust derives from natural sources?


 
2/9 Soil erosion
 		 Chapter 14


-detachment, erosion control methods, gullies, rills, loess, saltation, suspension, transport, USLE

 Choked into extinction
1. How would a methane release at the end of the Permean ruin soils, kill vegetation, cloud water, and lower oxygen?
The K-T Impact Extinctions: Dust didn't do it
1. What is wrong with the dust hypothesis?
2. What is believed to have caused extinctions?
 

 
2/14  Soil erosion
 


 

 

 

 

 Chapter 14

-detachment, erosion control methods, gullies, rills, loess, saltation, suspension, transport, USLE

 

 After the Forest Fire: Evergreen Needles Prevent Soil Erosion
1. Which conifer is more effective at reducing rain splash erosion?  Cities built on fertile lands
 1. Cities account of __% of the U.S. land area
but it could rival the production on  ___% of the country's surface area, the amount currently in ag.
2. In what ways could cities actually bring about an increase in NPP?

 

 
2/16 Using the Soil Survey Manual in Land use Decisions
 		 Chapter 19
-land use capability class, phase of a series, prime farmland, soil potential index, soil potential rating, unique farmland, benchmark soils

Book questions: p. 577: 1, 4, 6-8

Cleaning up Runoff: Making Manure borne Pathogens Stay Put
1. Under which of the texture and vegetation categories was pathogen transport greatest/least?
Fertile Ground: Snippets of DNA persist in soil for millennia
1. What is useful about DNA persisting in Arctic soils?
2/21 Using the Soil Survey Manual in Land use Decisions Chapter 19


-land use capability class, phase of a series, prime farmland, soil potential index, soil potential rating, unique farmland, benchmark soils

Book questions: p. 577: 1, 4, 6-8

 Natural Approach to Cleaning Up Toxic Freeway Runoff Urged
1. Name the organic and inorganic pollutants associated with road runoff.
2. Describe the role of soil in Stenstrom's bio-filtration basins by roads.
Charting the Future of Nanogeoscience  
2/23 Soil Pollution

 

 Chapter 17+18
 

bioaccumulate, carcinogenic, chronic toxicity, eutrophic, half-life, heavy metals, nonpoint source, point source, radioactive substance, teratogenic, BMPs, biological vs. cultural control, IPM, prime vs. unique farmland

 Researchers Create new Strategy for Removing Arsenic from Soil
1. How is phytoremedation used for arsenic?
2. How does the ECS gene make arsenite less mobile? 3. What is “one of the most important aspects of this research”?
Sewage Sludge: Pros and Cons
1. Contrast the risk assessment approach taken by the U.S. and the Netherlands.  Cite specific examples.
2. What is soil ecology?
 
2/28 Soil Pollution

 

 Chapter 17+18

bioaccumulate, carcinogenic, chronic toxicity, eutrophic, half-life, heavy metals, nonpoint source, point source, radioactive substance, teratogenic, BMPs, biological vs. cultural control, IPM, prime vs. unique farmland

 In the Same Way Dishwashing Detergents Clean Greasy Dishes, Scientists are Using Detergent-Like Surfactants to Clean Contaminated Regions Underground
 1. What are the surficants and the threat they can pose in the vadose zone?
 
3/2 Soil Pollution, Exam 2 Chapter 17+18

bioaccumulate, carcinogenic, chronic toxicity, eutrophic, half-life, heavy metals, nonpoint source, point source, radioactive substance, teratogenic, BMPs, biological vs. cultural control, IPM, prime vs. unique farmland

 Edible Urban Plants Found to Contain Lead
1. Rank the following parts of edible plants for increasing levels of lead:  roots, shoots, fruits.
3/7 No Class    
3/9 No Class    
3/14  Soil Water   A New Hope for Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils
 1. How do roots and shoots act differently in the process of metal accumulation and tolerance?
Composting toilets key to global sanitation, say scientists
1. What is the advantage of “EcoSan” over traditional disposal methods?
Charting the Future of Nanogeoscience
1. What is nanogeoscience?
2. Name 2 of 3 ways that toxins can adhere to soil particles
3. Give a specific example of biometrics.
3/16 Soil Water
 		  


 
3/20 Soil Water  

 

  
3/21  Soil Chemical Properties  
 
 


 
3/23  Soil Chemical Properties    
3/28  Soil Chemical Properties    
3/30 Organisms and Residues    
4/4 Organisms and Residues
Francek out		    
4/6  Organisms and Residues
Francek out		    
4/11 Exam 3, Acidic Soils and Liming--Demonstration of the measurement of soil pH and humus content    
4/13 Acidic Soils and Liming--Demonstration of the measurement of soil pH and humus content    
4/18 Acidic Soils and Liming--Demonstration of the measurement of soil pH and humus content  

 		  
4/20 Tentative Date-Field Trip, Plant Nutrients, N, P, K  if the field trip is rained out.     
4/25  Rain date for Field Trip Date-or Plant Nutrients, N, P, K if the field trip is rained out.     
4/27 Plant Nutrients, Ca, Mg, S, and micronutrients    

 

Return to the Soil Science Home Page | Return to Resources for Earth Science and Geography