In soil science, parent material is the underlying geological material (generally bedrock or a superficial or drift deposit) in which soil horizons form. Soils typically inherit a great deal of structure and minerals from their parent material, and, as such, are often classified based upon their contents of consolidated or unconsolidated mineral material that has undergone some degree of physical or chemical weathering and the mode by which the materials were most recently transported.
Read more about Parent Material: Consolidated, Unconsolidated, Climate and Weathering
Famous quotes containing the words parent and/or material:
“When we consider how much climate contributes to the happiness of our condition, by the fine sensation it excites, and the productions it is the parent of, we have reason to value highly the accident of birth in such a one as that of Virginia.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“If someone took the finest marble and knew how to shape it artfully: Prometheus’ material was lowly clay, but his statues walked.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)