USA · Soil Science Society of America · professional · unverified source
Fundamentals of Soil Science exam and a Professional Practice exam, plus education and experience requirements.
Relevant to the soil health, soil carbon and remediation subjects. Built from general knowledge.
Official source: https://www.soils.org/
Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.
1. Black cotton soils of the Deccan inherit their smectite clays mainly from weathering of:
D. Basalt
Basalt weathering yields smectite-rich clays. Granite gives sandy soils; sandstone and limestone give other soils.
Earth Systems & Environmental Geoscience · Weathering and soil formation from parent material
2. Simonson's four groups of soil-forming processes are additions, losses, transformations and:
B. Translocations
Translocations move clay, organic matter, iron and salts within the profile.
Soil Science & Soil Health · Soil formation factors and processes; soil profile
3. The layer in a stony field has 12 g C/kg in the fine earth, bulk density 1.3 g/cm3 (fine earth), depth 30 cm and 20% coarse fragments by volume. What is the SOC stock after the coarse-fragment correction?
D. 37.4 t C/ha
Stock = 46.8 x (1 - 0.2) = 37.4 t C/ha. 46.8 ignores stones, which hold no organic carbon; 56.2 adds them; 9.4 keeps only the stone fraction.
Soil Organic Carbon & Carbon Sequestration · Soil sampling for carbon: depth, bulk density and equivalent soil mass
4. Which plants are typically used first to revegetate nutrient-poor mine spoils?
C. N-fixing grasses, legumes, trees
Pioneers build soil nitrogen and organic matter before native successional species.
Land Degradation, Desertification & Soil Conservation · Mine-spoil and wasteland reclamation
5. Which metal species is more mobile at high pH, unlike cationic metals?
B. Chromate, hexavalent chromium
Oxyanions such as chromate and arsenate sorb less as pH rises.
Soil Contamination, Toxicology & Remediation · Heavy metals: forms, mobility and plant uptake
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