IB ESS SL 5.1.6 Soil Transfers Questions
Practise IB ESS SL 005.001.006 by applying soil transfers concepts to environmental systems questions.
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2026
- Course
- ESS SL
- Level
- SL
Exam points
- identify transfers of matter within soil profiles, including biological mixing, leaching or eluviation, percolation, infiltration, plant uptake and movement of soil material
- distinguish transfers from transformations and explain how water, minerals, organic matter and nutrients move through soil systems
- apply and evaluate soil-system transfers using evidence, comparing their effects on nutrient distribution, water movement, soil quality, erosion and ecosystem functioning
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IB ESS SL 5.1.6 Soil Transfers Questions question 1
[Maximum number: 4]
Outline two transfer processes and two transformation processes that occur within the soil.
Transfers: [2max]
a. leaching of dissolved nutrients;
b. percolation/infiltration of water;
c. water/mineral uptake by plants;
d. erosion of material by wind/water/landslides;
e. mixing of soil by animals (includes any translocation by humans);
Transformations: [2max]
f. rock weathering;
g. decomposition of dead organic matter;
h. nitrification/denitrification by microorganisms / nitrogen fixation by free-living soil bacteria;
i. respiration by soil organisms/roots;
j. evaporation of soil water...;
k. ...leading to salinization of soil (solid ionic salt instead of dissolved);
I. soil water/permafrost freezing/thawing;
m. soil compaction (transforms air pores/physical change);
Note: Do not credit falling organic matter, littering, surface organisms dying, flooding, dust, rainfall, transpiration, photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation by lightning as these do not occur "within" the soil.
Do not credit as single terms: evaporation, respiration, freezing, thawing, leaching, if not clearly linked to soil.
Flows should be clearly identified as transfers or as transformations for credit.
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