Practice exam #3 - QUESTION 1

1. a) Translocation, Transformation, Additions, and Losses

b)Translocation: Movement of material within the soil - organic matter, Transformation: Decomposition of organic matter - nitrification, ammonification (inorganic-organic) etc., Additions - the addition of organic matter to the soil, Losses: loss of nutrients through leaching - nitrate. 

c)*making assumption that enrichment could be considered addition*

Regosolic: addition of material, Brunisolic: addition of Fe and Al, modified horizon (transformation?), Luvisolic: addition of silicate clay, Gleysolic: translocation of water (changing water table0, Organic: addition of Fe and Al, modified (transformation?), the addition/enrichment of organic matter, Chernozemic: addition of organic matter, Solonetzic: high Na (not sure which major category this belongs to) and addition of silicate clay, Podzolic: addition Fe and Al and addition of organic matter, Cysolic: translocation of thawing material, Vertisolic: translocation of mixing soils

here Gretchen you are not asked to identify whether or not it is an addition, transformation, translocation or loss, but simply the dominant soil forming process for each soil order.

By dominant soil-forming process, does this mean the lower case suffixes of the diagnostic horizon? For example if the suffix is p, would we talk about the soil horizon being disturbed by human activities?

Yes, that is correct