IB ESS Topic 5: Soil Systems and Society, Questions and answers, 100% Accurate, rated A+

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IB ESS Topic 5: Soil Systems and Society, Questions and answers, 100% Accurate, rated A+ pedosphere - ✔✔-soil - the combination of the biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere soil... - ✔✔-a complex ecosystem made up of minerals, organic material, gases and liquids which forms the habitat for many species of plant and animal soil storages - ✔✔-the energy and matter within soil - organic matter, organisms, nutrients, minerals, air and water soil transfers - ✔✔-biological mixing, translocation, leaching translocation - ✔✔-movement of soil particles in suspension (liquid) leaching - ✔✔-minerals dissolved in water moving through the soil soil inputs - ✔✔-organic matter from leaf litter and dead or decaying organisms - inorganic matter from parent material (rock), precipitation and energy soil outputs - ✔✔-uptake by plants (minerals and water) soil erosion soil transformation - ✔✔-decomposition or organic material taking place weathering causes large particles (rocks) to become smaller nutrient cycling within soil minerals - ✔✔-metal atoms and compounds which make up rocks - dissolved in water to become an inorganic storage in soils humus - ✔✔-plant and animal material in the process of decomposition - generally the top layer of soil soil horizons - ✔✔-the layers of soil in a cross-section which is modified over time as organic material leaches downwards and mineral material moves upwards O (soil horizon) - ✔✔-leaf litter - newly added organic material A (soil horizon) - ✔✔-mineral horizon at the surface showing organic matter enrichment - where humus forms E (soil horizon) - ✔✔-subsurface horizon showing depletion of organic matter, clay, iron and aluminium compounds B (soil horizon) - ✔✔-subsoil horizon showing enrichment of clay material, iron aluminum, or organic compounds - where soluble minerals and organic matter tends to be deposited from the layer above C (soil horizon) - ✔✔-horizons of loosened or unconsolidated material - mainly weathered rock from which soil forms R (soil horizon) - ✔✔-hard bedrock - parent material soil structure - ✔✔-the proportions of clay <0.002mm particles, silt 0.002 - 0.05mm particles, and sand 0.05 - 2mm particles sandy soils - ✔✔-gritty and fall apart easily - good drainage and air supply to the roots, however, leaching is rapid clay soils - ✔✔-good nutrient retention, however, heavy soils which are relatively impermeable and have poor drainage loam soils - ✔✔-roughly 40 - 40 - 20 sand, silt, clay ideal for agriculture due to sand's drainage and porosity, clay's nutrient retention and silt keeping the other two together porosity - ✔✔-e.g. high in sand soils, low in clay the amount of space between particles in soil permeability - ✔✔-e.g. high in sand soil, low in clay the ease at which gases and liquids can pass through the soil infiltration - ✔✔-the penetration of water into the soil NPK - ✔✔-the most important soil nutrients for plant growth - often leach out or may be removed when plants are harvested often found in soil fertilisers containing nitrogen, phosphates and potassium (potash) terrestrial - ✔✔-of the Earth - meaning "land" in ecology LEDC - ✔✔-less economically developed country - a country with low to moderate industrialisation and low to moderate average GNP per capita GNP - ✔✔-gross national product - the economic productivity of a country - often give per capita (the average per person) MEDC - ✔✔-more economically developed country - a highly industrialised country with high average GNP per capita agribusiness - ✔✔-the business of agriculture production including farming, seed supply, breeding, chemicals for agriculture, machinery, food harvesting, distribution, processing and storage commercial agriculture/farming - ✔✔-large scale production of crops and livestock for sale subsistence agriculture/farming - ✔✔-farming for self-sufficiency to grow enough for a family cash cropping - ✔✔-growing cr [Show More]

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