Chapter 5 test

c. mechanical weathering

The process that occurs when physical forces break rock into smaller pieces without changing the rock’s chemical composition is called ____.

b. frost wedging

Which of the following weathering processes involves the constant freezing and thawing of water?

d. reactions with oxygen

Which of the following is NOT associated with mechanical weathering?

d. unloading

What is responsible for the formation of exfoliation domes?

a. frost wedging

What type of mechanical weathering is most common in mountainous regions in the middle latitudes?

b. increases

When water freezes, its volume ____.

a. frost wedging

Which of the following is NOT related to chemical weathering?

c. spheroidal weathering

The gradual rounding of the corners and edges of angular blocks of rock is called ____.

a. a rock that has been changed into one or more new compounds

Which of the following is the result of chemical weathering?

c. clay minerals

The chemical weathering of feldspar produces ____.

a. chemical weathering

Whenever the characteristics and chemical composition of weathered materials have been altered, they have undergone ____.

a. carbon dioxide

The atmospheric gas that forms a mild acid when dissolved in water is ____.

d. chemical weathering

What would cause the inscription on a marble gravestone to become harder and harder to read over time?

a. biological evolution

Which of the following is NOT a factor that affects the rate of weathering in rocks?

d. all of the above (climate, chemical composition of the exposed rock, and surface area of the exposed rock)

Which of these factors affects the rate of weathering?

b. differential weathering

Rock features such as the sculpted pinnacles seen in Bryce Canyon National Park are the result of ____.

c. most effective in a warm, humid climate

Chemical weathering would be ____.

b. the marble would weather most rapidly

If granite and marble were exposed in an area with a hot and humid climate, ____.

c. limestone

Which of the following rocks would have the fastest rate of weathering in a warm, wet climate?

d. earthworms

Which of the following is NOT a major component of soil?

a. climate

The factor that has the greatest effect on soil formation is ____.

d. particle size

A soil’s texture is determined by ____.

b. plants

The main source of organic matter in soil is ____.

c. a flat area in a warm, wet climate

In which of the following areas will soil formation be greatest?

c. the A horizon

In a well-developed soil profile, which horizon is the uppermost layer?

a. transported soil

Soil that forms on unconsolidated deposits is called ____.

a. partially weathered parent material

What kind of material is found in the C horizon of a soil profile?

b. A, B, C

How are soil horizons ordered from the top of the profile to the bottom?

d. subsoil

The B horizon is also called the ____.

b. pedalfer

A soil that is characteristic of the humid eastern United States is ____.

a. laterite

A soil associated with the hot and wet tropics is ____.

b. iron oxide

Laterite soils contain high amounts of ____.

d. in the eastern half of the United States

Pedalfer soils would most likely be found ____.

d. They are very productive agriculturally.

Which of the following is NOT true of laterite soils?

b. faster

Compared to the past, rates of soil erosion are ____.

d. all of the above (clear-cut logging, clearing land for construction, and plowing land for farming)

Which of the following human activities has caused an increase in soil erosion?

d. all of the above (climate, slope steepness, and the type of vegetation)

The rate of soil erosion depends on ____.

a. increased dramatically

Since humans have appeared, the amount of sediments carried by rivers has ____.

b. sheet erosion, rills, gullies

What is the correct order for water eroding soil?

c. mass movement

The process responsible for moving material downslope under the influence of gravity is called ____.

c. gravity

What is the force behind mass movements?

b. Mass movements always lead to landslides.

Which of the following is NOT true about mass movements?

d. all of the above (saturation of surface materials with water, earthquakes, and removal of vegetation)

What factor commonly triggers mass movements?

b. The plant roots bind the soil and regolith together.

Why can the removal of vegetation trigger mass movements?

d. the angle of their slope is greater than 40 degrees

Oversteepened slopes often lead to mass movements because ____.

b. a wet spring before vegetation is growing

During what season would you expect mass movements to be a greater threat?

a. slide

A mass movement that involves the sudden movement of a block of material along a flat, inclined surface is called a ____.

c. a slump

When a block of material moves downslope along a curved surface, the type of mass movement is called __.

d. creep

What is the slowest type of mass movement?

b. a mudflow

A relatively rapid form of mass movement that is most common in dry mountainous regions is ____.

a. slippage of a block of material moving along a curved surface

Which of the following statements best describes a slump?

a. creep

Alternate freezing and thawing often leads to ____.