Erosion refers to the process of wearing away and transporting rock, soil and other geological materials from one location and depositing them somewhere else without further movement by wind, water or ice agents. Deposition occurs once they no longer move due to erosion agents such as wind, water or ice agents.
Look out for muddy streams after heavy rainfall as evidence of erosion in your area. Erosion is an inexorable natural process influenced by many different variables.
Physical Erosion
Water can be an immense force that erodes rocks and soil, changing the shape of landscapes in its wake. Physical erosion occurs when natural forces such as wind, rain or ice wear away bits of rock or soil from surfaces exposed to these forces before being transported by natural currents to other locations for deposit. Erosion can take place over short distances or millions of miles.
Water erosion takes four forms: sheet erosion, gully erosion, splash erosion and rill erosion. How a piece of land erodes depends on climate, soil characteristics and topography.
Plant growth plays a key role in erosion via a process known as bioerosion. Plant roots pull up bits of soil as they grow, breaking apart rocks. Rocks that come into constant contact wear away through attrition; this process helps river rocks become smoother than those elsewhere.
Chemical Erosion
Water can erode rocks through many means. Chemical erosion occurs when acid in the water reacts with minerals or rocks to cause their breakdown and wear away.
This phenomenon occurs frequently along beaches and oceans, where waves wash away sand and rock particles into the sea. Rivers and streams also provide fertile grounds for carbonic acid-laced rainwater to dissolve limestone deposits, creating caves or sinkholes in its wake.
Another form of chemical weathering is oxidation, in which iron reacts with oxygen in the air to form compounds like rust that give rocks their characteristic reddish hue similar to patina on cars.
Vegetation helps prevent erosion by keeping particles from being carried away by running water and wind currents, but without vegetation much faster erosion occurs – for instance sand dunes in Badain Jaran section of Gobi Desert have grown up to 50 meters (170 feet).
Soil Erosion
Soil erosion can be caused by various factors. Natural forces, like wind and water, can erode soil while human activities are the primary culprit on a property’s own. Cutting down trees for agricultural purposes or plowing up grasses to create fields can accelerate soil erosion by leaving exposed soil exposed and vulnerable.
Detachment is the initial stage of erosion, where rocks or soil sediments begin to disintegrate due to forces like gravity, ice, water, or wind that have enough energy to break apart weak bonds that hold particles together.
Once erosion takes place, loose particles are carried to another location for deposition. This process could occur locally such as when dust from a sand dune is deposited nearby or thousands of miles away like when southern Australian sand was transported and dumped onto New Zealand beaches. Deposited materials could include chemicals such as fertilizers or pesticides which pollute the environment.
Water Erosion
Water erosion occurs when rain, melting snow, flowing rivers or glaciers, freeze/thaw cycles or freeze/thaw cycles wear away the land’s surface layer. Water can transport soil in various ways: either via rills (small channels) or gullies (larger channels that are too wide to accommodate machinery used in agriculture).
As water flows downhill, its speed determines how fast or slowly erosion occurs. Rivers flowing along gentler slopes tend to erode more slowly, creating meanders along their paths as they go.
Water erosion can occur anywhere around the world, with places with sloped landscapes being more vulnerable than others. It poses a significant problem for those farming or raising livestock on such land as it reduces soil quality, undermines building foundations and pollutes surface and underground waters with sediment. One effective solution to stop erosion is planting trees and shrubs on your landscape as their organic matter will help bind soil particles together and make it less likely that they’re uprooted by water flow.