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    Erosion

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    Erosion is the removal and transport of material by wind and water. It can help create soil through deposition but often removes topsoil too quickly. Erosion is caused by over-cultivation, overgrazing, and deforestation. There are four main types: splash, sheet, rill, and gully erosion, with rill erosion having the greatest potential to remove topsoil. Erosion has led to desertification and endangered food supplies. Solutions include crop rotation, contour farming, terracing, shelterbelts, intercropping, and reduced tillage.

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    Erosion

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    Erosion is the removal and transport of material by wind and water. It can help create soil through deposition but often removes topsoil too quickly. Erosion is caused by over-cultivation, overgrazing, and deforestation. There are four main types: splash, sheet, rill, and gully erosion, with rill erosion having the greatest potential to remove topsoil. Erosion has led to desertification and endangered food supplies. Solutions include crop rotation, contour farming, terracing, shelterbelts, intercropping, and reduced tillage.

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    Erosion is the removal and transport of material by wind and water. It can help create soil through deposition but often removes topsoil too quickly. Erosion is caused by over-cultivation, overgrazing, and deforestation. There are four main types: splash, sheet, rill, and gully erosion, with rill erosion having the greatest potential to remove topsoil. Erosion has led to desertification and endangered food supplies. Solutions include crop rotation, contour farming, terracing, shelterbelts, intercropping, and reduced tillage.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    60 views8 pages

    Erosion

    Uploaded by

    api-297800934
    Erosion is the removal and transport of material by wind and water. It can help create soil through deposition but often removes topsoil too quickly. Erosion is caused by over-cultivation, overgrazing, and deforestation. There are four main types: splash, sheet, rill, and gully erosion, with rill erosion having the greatest potential to remove topsoil. Erosion has led to desertification and endangered food supplies. Solutions include crop rotation, contour farming, terracing, shelterbelts, intercropping, and reduced tillage.

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    Erosion

    Brein Mosely

    What is Erosion?

    Definition: The removal of material from one place and its transport toward
    another by the action of wind and water.

    Deposition: The arrival of eroded material at its new location.

    PROS
    Helps to create soil by depositing
    eroded sediment in river, valleys,
    and deltas.

    CONS
    Erosion rate is too fast for soil
    formation. Removes a lot of the
    topsoil; the most valuable soil layer
    for living things

    Causes
    Over cultivating fields through poor
    planning/excessive tilling
    Overgrazing rangelands with excessive livestock
    Clearing forests

    Types of Erosion

    Splash Erosion: When raindrops hit


    bare soil, breaking up soil particles.
    This decreases the soils ability to
    take in water.
    Sheet Erosion: Water flows in thin
    sheets over broad surfaces, washing
    topsoil away in uniform layers

    Rill Erosion: Water runs along


    small furrows, deepening and
    widening them into channels
    called rills
    Gully Erosion: Cuts deeply into
    soil, leaving large gullies that
    expand as erosion expands.

    Greatest Potential to Remove Topsoil

    1. Rill

    2. Sheet

    3. Splash

    4. Gully

    1.

    2.

    3.

    4.

    Consequences

    47 billion acres suffer from erosion from 1957-1990

    Desertification: A loss of more than 10% of productivity due to erosion, soil


    compaction, forest removal, etc.

    Expands desert areas in once-fertile regions

    Arid and Semiarid lands are especially vulnerable due to low precipitation

    Declines of soil quality have endangered the food supply for 1 billion people

    Could displace 50 million people in 10 years

    Solutions

    Crop Rotation: Alternating the type of crop grown in a given field from one
    season/year to the next

    Contour Farming: Plowing furrows sideways across a hillside, perpendicular to its


    slope, to prevent formation of rills and gullies

    Terracing: Transforms slopes into series of steps like a staircase, allowing


    farmers to cultivate hilly land without losing huge amounts of soil

    Shelterbelts (Windbreaks): Rows of trees or other tall perennial plants, that are
    planted along the edges of fields to slow winds

    Intercropping: Planting different types of crops in alternating bands, provides


    more ground cover than does a single crop

    Reduced Tillage: Use a drill to cuts a furrow through the soil surface, and closes
    the furrow over the seed. Reduces wind erosion

    Solution Examples
    Crop Rotation,
    Contour
    Rotation,
    Terracing

    Intercropping,
    Shelterbelts,
    No-till Farming

    Works Cited

    Withgott, Jay, and Scott R. Brennan.Environment: The Science behind


    the Stories. San Francisco: Pearson, 2009. Print.

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