Soils

Traps in Soils

• Gives only part of the answer
  Recall the full definition or list of factors and check the option covers it.
• Uses an everyday idea instead of the geography
  Test the intuition against the physical process; geography terms and causes often differ from their everyday sense.
• Confuses glacial and desert landforms
  Glacial erosion: cirque/corrie, arête, pyramidal peak, U-shaped valley, hanging valley. Glacial deposition: moraine, drumlin, esker, erratic. Desert (wind): barchan, seif, yardang, zeuge; desert (water): wadi, playa, bajada, inselberg.
• Confuses soil types and processes
  Horizon A (topsoil, humus, eluviation), B (subsoil, illuviation), C (weathered parent rock). Podzols: coniferous areas, acidic, leached. Chernozems: temperate grasslands, rich humus. Laterites: hot wet tropics, iron/aluminium oxides.
• Confuses types of rainfall
  Convectional: intense surface heating (equatorial afternoons). Relief/orographic: air forced over highlands (windward wet, leeward rain shadow). Frontal/cyclonic: warm air rises over cold air (temperate).