Identify the important steps involved in the process of decomposition.
A. Leaching
B. Humification
C. Mineralisation
D. Stratification
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → A, B and C only
Decomposition breaks dead matter down into inorganic substances. Its steps are fragmentation, leaching, catabolism, humification and mineralisation.
A. Leaching — Correct. Water-soluble inorganic nutrients go down into the soil. There they settle as salts that plants cannot use.
B. Humification — Correct. It forms humus, a dark substance that resists microbes and breaks down very slowly.
C. Mineralisation — Correct. Microbes break humus down further and release inorganic nutrients.
D. Stratification — Incorrect. Stratification is the arrangement of plants in vertical layers (trees, shrubs, herbs). It describes the structure of an ecosystem, not a step of decomposition.
NCERT Extract:
Decomposition – …
