Name: ______
ESPM 120 EXAM 1
October 5, 2005
Multiple Choice (3 points each)
1. The science which focuses on understand the natural processes that form soils and their geographical distribution is:
a. Edaphology
b. Geography
c. Pedology
d. Geology
e. none of above
2. The amount and duration of water available in a soil is affected by (circle all correct):
a. rainfall amount
b. temperature
c. clay content
d. rainfall seasonality
e. topography
f. all of the above
3. Primary minerals are usually (circle all that are true):
a. in clay size fraction of soil
b. composed of silicate minerals
c. formed at low temperature
d. formed at high temperature
e. are altered to secondary minerals in soils
f. are a key source of nutrients to plants in soils
4. The Pliestocene epoch (circle all true):
a. is the age of dinosaurs
b. began 10,000 years ago
c. most soils are not older than the Pleistocene
d. ended 10,000 years ago
e. all of above
5. Soil erosion (circle all correct)
a. is very slow in areas with abundant organisms such as gophers
b. is proportional to the slope gradient
c. is strongly affected by rock type and climate
d. doesn’t occur unless humans perturb the landscape
6. A B horizon (circle all correct):
a. is usually a subsurface horizon
b. represents the parent material
c. can form from transformations and transfers
d. can form in many climates
e. usually requires a few hundred years or more to form
f. all of above
7. The distribution of different particle sizes can be determined by sedimentation because the rate at which different grains fall is determined by:
a. the viscosity of the fluid
b. diameter of the particle
c. density of the particle
d. all of above
e. none of above
8. Bulk density in soils can change by human management through the following (circle all correct)
a. human foot traffic
b. compaction by farm implements
c. loss of soil organic matter by farming
d. humans usually increase soil bulk density
e. human usually decrease soil bulk density
9. Clay sized minerals in soils are usually (circle all correct):
a. primary minerals
b. secondary minerals
c. phyllosilicates
d. 1:1 and 2:1
e. positively charged
10. A soil series is:
a. a series of soils that all have nearly the same horizon characteristics and properties
b. is what soil surveyors map in the field
c. is, in terms of soil geography, somewhat analogous to a biological species
d. all of the above
• Soil swelling occurs
a, more in a sodium (Na) rich soil than in a calcium (Ca) rich soil
b. when soils are compressed
c. when soils absorb water
e. is irreversible.
SHORT ANSWER (5 POINTS EACH)
11. Most people know little about Hilgard. Provide very brief comments about the following aspects of his life: childhood life, initial contribution to soil science, his role and contributions to soils at Berkeley.
12. Contrast cation exchange capacity to base saturation, defining each in the process.
(50 points) SOIL PROFILE QUESTIONS
For the following soil profile:
1. Name the horizons (either on picture or in order here).
2. Briefly discuss processes that contributed to form each layer.
3. Calculate the total C in the surface horizon (per square meter) (bulk density = 1.25 g/cm3; no gravel).
4. Would the dark color of the A horizon give us a low or high Munsell color VALUE?
5. What contributed to the soil structure in horizon1 and what and how did the structure in horizon 3 form?