Author Question: A cemetery in New England contains headstones from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries. ... (Read 20 times)

sc00by25 · **on:** Jul 16, 2018

A cemetery in New England contains headstones from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries. Headstones from the seventeenth century are made of slate.

Headstones from the mid-nineteenth century are made of marble. The information on the seventeenth-century headstone is clear and easy to read, whereas the nineteenth-century headstone is now illegible. Why? What weathering has occurred?What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Why are tropical rainforest soils poor for farming?

What will be an ideal response?

Smiles0805 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 16, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Answer: The slate headstone will be more legible/resistant. Marble is a softer rock and much more prone to dissolution from slightly acidic rain.

Answer to Question 2

Answer: Answers can include:
- The high amount of precipitation leaches most of the soluble materials
- Trees lock up most of the nutrients in their trunks
- Clearing of rainforests accelerates soil erosion
- Strong sunlight bakes the soils to a bricklike consistency