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Geology & Earth Sciences vocabulary · Soil

Parent material

Meaning in geology & earth sciences, with examples

nounCommon term

In geology & earth sciences, parent material means: The rock or loose sediment from which a soil develops through weathering. Its minerals strongly affect the soil's texture, colour and fertility.

In Turkish: ana materyal, ana madde

How it is used

One of the classic soil-forming factors, together with climate, organisms, relief and time. Parent material may be the bedrock below the soil or sediment brought by rivers, wind or glaciers. In a soil profile it corresponds to the C horizon.

Example sentences

  1. Soils developed on basalt parent material are often dark and fertile.

  2. Here the parent material is river sediment, not the bedrock below.

Common collocations

  • soil parent material
  • parent material and climate
  • weathered parent material
  • soil-forming factors
  • soilThe loose top layer of the land surface, made of weathered rock particles, organic matter, water and air, in which plants grow.
  • soil profileA vertical section through a soil from the surface down to the rock beneath, showing its different layers, called horizons.
  • soil horizonOne of the distinct layers in a soil profile, roughly parallel to the surface, that differs from the others in colour, texture or composition.
  • weatheringThe breaking down of rock at or near the Earth's surface by physical, chemical or biological processes, without the pieces being carried away.

More terms: Soil

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