1. By: Christin Conkwright (:

2.  Soil is the unconsolidated mineral or organic material on the surface of the earth.  Soil serves as a medium for the growth of plants.

3.  A farmer and a scientist have a different understanding of soil.  To a scientist soil is a mixture of small mineral fragments and organic material.  The layer of rock beneath soil is called bedrock.

5.  The type of soil that forms depends on the type of rock that weathers.  The rock that is the source of soil is called parent rock.

7.  Besides coming from bits of rock soil can also come from decayed plant and animal material. humus.  This material is called humus.  Humus is the organic part of soil.

8.  Soil in tropical climates receives a lot of rain.  As water moves through the soil it leaches material from topsoil downward.  Because of this tropical topsoil is very thin.  Because of low rain in the desert there are low rates of chemical weathering.  There are salts in the soil that can become very concentrated, this is very toxic.

9.  Temperate areas get enough rain for chemical weathering, but not so much that the nutrients are leached out.  These develop thick fertile soils.  Temperate soils are some of the most productive soils in the world.  Chemical weathering occurs very slowly here.  This means that soil formation occurs slowly.  Soil in the arctic tends to be thin and is unable to support many plants.

10.  Soil provides minerals and other nutrients.  If soil loses these nutrients then plants will not grow.  Without plants humans would be doomed.