Erosion occurs when rocks, sand and other materials wear away from Earth’s surface. Deposition occurs when this eroded material is transported elsewhere for deposition – examples include river deltas and fertile soils.
Climate, topography, vegetation and tectonic activity all play a part in erosion; some of these factors even speed it up.
Water
The water cycle plays an integral part in erosion and deposition. Rain is one of the primary drivers of erosion; as it falls on land it picks up loose material to transport downhill. Erosion depends on both how much water there is available as well as its steepness; presence of vegetation also has an impactful influence on erosion patterns.
Plant roots may penetrate small cracks in rocks and over time they widen these spaces further, eventually eroding solid rock like limestone and creating caves due to erosion.
Water carrying erosion-produced materials usually flows into one of several bodies of water such as a stream, river, pond, lake or ocean. Once here, it begins to deposit its load of debris – including particles that have fallen into the water as sediment which eventually forms soil upon which plants can grow.
Soil
Soils are layers of sand, clay, organic material and other minerals on Earth’s surface that result from climate, topography and organism interactions (flora and fauna) over time with parent materials that form soil. Soils vary greatly in texture, structure, consistency, coloration and chemical composition based on climate conditions, topography changes and organism interactions with parent materials.
Erosion refers to the movement of soil particles due to wind, water, gravity or ice; when this material is then deposited somewhere else it is known as deposition.
Soils are more than just dirt; they contain an enormous variety of living and nonliving things, from bugs and worms to bacteria, fungi, roots, feces, lichens and the remains of dead trees and grasses rotting away in their entirety. Soils are dynamic; their composition changes due to factors like weather, plant growth and decomposition processes and human activities affecting them; erosion can play an integral part in maintaining ecosystems by providing material for deposition as well as by altering landscapes in drastic fashion.
Vegetation
Erosion alters landscapes by altering soil nutrient distributions and depositing sediment into rivers and oceans. Even minor variations in nutrient concentrations have profound impacts on river ecosystems and regional ecological security.
factors affecting erosion include climate, topography, vegetation and tectonic activity. Climate can accelerate how quickly weathered rocks and dirt erode; earthen floodplains tend to experience greater levels of erosion than rocky mountain sides.
Plants can help prevent erosion. The roots of trees, for instance, anchor the soil and reduce movement due to raindrop impact, surface runoff or wind-induced splash erosion. Vegetation also acts as a deterrent, increasing infiltration rates while simultaneously decreasing surface roughness and sheet erosion rates.
Soil erosion can contaminate waterways, killing fish and other species. Sediments swept away from erosion can clog streams and rivers worsening flooding; and degraded land due to erosion can no longer support crops and livestock – thus losing fertile land over time. However, sustainable agriculture practices can prevent soil erosion while helping preserve fertile lands for future use.
Rocks
Rocks can generally be divided into three categories: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks form when magma cools on Earth’s surface or at ocean floor depths before congealing. Sedimentary rocks develop over time through weathering and erosion processes while metamorphic ones result from subjecting existing rock to high pressure without melting.
Erosion is a mechanical process driven by water, wind, gravity or ice (see Chapter 10, Mass Wasting) that transports sediment from its source to another location. Water is the main agent behind erosion; it erodes both rocks and soil quickly due to its ability to move them quickly across surfaces such as rivers or ocean floors; certain rocks that resist erosion more than others produce unique geological features like the Grand Canyon cliffs or mushroom-shaped rock formations in Bryce Canyon National Park or Goblin Valley State Park of Utah.
Weathering occurs when plant roots burrow through small cracks in rocks to increase the size of cracks over time; this process is known as weathering. Over time, erosion by the Colorado River created the Grand Canyon – more than 160 kilometers (99 miles long and 29 kilometers (18 miles wide in some places). Streams carry sediment that erodes off into other locations where it deposits itself – this process of erosion and transportation is known as sorting; well-sorted sediment has narrow range of grain sizes while poorly sorted has wider array.