Fastrack Defence

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Answers 62.C 114.C 132.A

Laterization is a pedogenic process common to soils found in tropical and subtropical environments. High temperatures and heavy precipitation result in the rapid weathering of rocks and minerals. Movements of large amounts of water through the soil cause eluviation and leaching to occur. Almost all of the by products of weathering, very simple small compounds or nutrient ions, are translocated out of the soil profile by leaching if not taken up by plants for nutrition. The two exceptions to this process are iron and aluminum compounds. Iron oxides give tropical soils their unique reddish coloring. Heavy leaching also causes these soils to have an acidic pH because of the net loss of base cations. Podzolization is associated with humid cold mid-latitude climates and coniferous vegetation. Decomposition of coniferous litter and heavy summer precipitation create a soil solution that is strongly acidic. This acidic soil solution enhances the processes of eluviation and leaching causing the removal of soluble base cations and aluminum and iron compounds from the A horizon. This process creates a sub-layer in the A horizon that is white to gray in color and composed of silica sand. Calcificationoccurs when evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation causing the upward movement of dissolved alkaline salts from the groundwater. At the same time, the movement of rain water causes a downward movement of the salts. The net result is the deposition of the translocated cations in the B horizon. In some cases, these deposits can form a hard layer called caliche. The most common substance involved in this process is calcium carbonate. Calcification is common in the prairie grasslands. Salinization is a process that functions in the similar way to calcification. It differs from calcification in that the salt deposits occur at or very near the soil surface. Salinization also takes place in much drier climates. Gleizationis a pedogenic process associated with poor drainage. This process involves the accumulations of organic matter in the upper layers of the soil. In lower horizons, mineral layers are stained blue-gray because of the chemical reduction of iron.