ARKANSAS ENVIROTHON STATE SOILS TEST

Multiple choice questions, circle the correct answer:

1. Generally, most of the macronutrients in soil are most readily available at pH values between:
4.5 and 5.5
1. 5.5 and 6.5
2. 6.5 and 7.5
3. 7.5 and 8.5
4. 8.5 and 9.5

 

2. Nitrification is the conversion of:
1. ammonium to nitrous oxide
2. nitrate to ammonium
3. nitrous oxide to nitrogen gas
4. ammonium to nitrate
5. none of the above

 

3. Which of the following activities is most likely to decrease soil quality?
1. contour farming
2. leaving soil bare over winter
3. strip-cropping
4. adding organic matter to the soil

 

4. Soil reaction or pH refers to:
1. The activity of iron ions in the soil
2. The activity of hydrogen ions in the soil
3. The activity of clay in the soil
4. The activity of carbon dioxide in the soil
5. All of the above

 

5. Which of the following best describes the chemical processes responsible for mineral weathering?
Reduction, hydrolysis, hydration, oxidation
1. Carbonation, disintegration, hydration, oxidation
2. Combustion, reduction, hydration, assimilation
3. Decomposition, carbonation, disintegration, hydration
4. All of the above

 

6. For most pesticides, is the most important soil property controlling the degree of adsorption.
permeability
1. illuviation

C.       organic matter

4. none of the above

 

7. Which of the following terms is NOT used to describe soil consistence?
1. friable
2. plastic
3. pliable
4. firm

 

8. Which of the following soil amendments would NOT be expected to lower soil pH:
1. acid treatments
2. limestone
3. anhydrous ammonia
4. chemical amendments that contain sulfur

 

9. The measurement of soil bulk density is widely used to estimate:
1. porosity
2. texture
3. mineral content
4. microbial activity
5. none of the above

 

10. Which of the following parent materials is unconsolidated weathered or partly weathered mineral material that accumulated as consolidated rock disintegrated in place?

A.      Alluvium
B.       Colluvium
C.       Residuum
D.      Loess

11. Which of the following drainage classes’ would a hydric soil most likely have?
1. well drained
2. excessively drained
3. moderately well drained

D.      poorly drained

 

12. Wind blown soil particles are commonly referred to as___________.
1. sediments
2. eolian
3. duff
4. organic

 

13. Which of the following is a coarse fragment?
1. clay
2. sand
3. gravel
4. silt

 

14. A subsoil with columnar structure is a good indication that the soil has a high________content.
1. silt
2. sodium
3. organic matter
4. lime

 

15. Which of these is NOT a geographic landscape position?
1. upland
2. wetland
3. floodplain
4. terrace

 

True or false questions

 

16. Available water holding capacity is the amount of water that a soil can store and release to plant roots.
17. Soil erosion removes surface soil, which often has the highest biological activity and greatest amount of soil organic matter.
18. The physical condition of a soil as related to its ease of tillage, fitness as a seedbed and impedance to seedling emergence and root penetration is called consistence.
19. Calcium is a soil macronutrient.
20.  In a pine stand, the soil pH is generally acidic.
21.  All soils will produce trees of commercial value.
22. Terrace soils refer to those soils formed in old alluvial sediments.
23. Potassium is the essential plant nutrient that is the most easily leached from the soil.
24. The presence of mottles in a soil profile indicates impeded soil drainage.
25. Frequent cultivations have a positive impact on soil organisms.
26. Munsell soil color notations are comprised of hue, value, and chroma.
27. Generally the deeper the soil, the greater the site index.
28. A soil mapping unit is made up of only one type of soil.
29. The risk for compaction is greatest when soils are wet.
30. Soils high in coarse fragments are harder to compact than fragment free soils.
31. Soil pH can vary to as much as a whole pH unit during the growing season.
32. If a soil profile exhibits relatively thin layers of light and dark colored materials stratified approximately parallel to the surface, it is likely that the soil is located on a floodplain.

 

Fill in the blank Questions

33. A soil has a color of yellowish brown, 10YR 5/6. What is its hue?
     
34. List the five factors of soil formation.

Use the soil survey to answer the following questions about the location identified on the map. Circle the correct answer or fill in the blank

 

35. The map unit symbol and soil series name for the soil at this site are:

Map unit symbol: ____                                                 

Soil series name:                                                              

 

36. The legal description or location of this site is

Section                                         

Township                                     

Range                                            

 

37. If you were going to build a dwelling without a basement on this soil what degree of limitations would it have?

A.      Slight
B.       Moderate
C.       Severe

 

38. What degree of limitations would the soil have for Picnic Areas?

A.      Slight
B.       Moderate
C.       Severe

 

39. What is the suitability for this soil as a source of Topsoil?

A.      Good
B.       Fair
C.       Poor

 

Answer the following multiple choice questions from information at this site:

 

40. What is the slope category for the area between the slope stakes at this site?

A.      0 to 1 percent slopes
B.       1 to 3 percent slopes
C.       3 to 8 percent slopes
D.      8 to 12 percent slopes

 

Identify the texture of each of the soils in the sample buckets:

 

41. Sample 1

A.      Loam
B.       Silt Loam
C.       Silty Clay Loam
D.      Silty Clay

 

42. Sample 2

A.      Loam
B.       Silt Loam
C.       Silty Clay Loam
D.      Silty Clay

 

43. Sample 3

A.      Loam
B.       Silt Loam
C.       Silty Clay Loam
D.      Silty Clay