What is Soil Erosion?
Erosion can be defined as the removal of soil particles by the motion of wind or water. Soil erosion is considered to be one of the major concerns of agriculture throughout the world today. The misuse of land, mismanagement of farm land, felling of trees, overgrazing, poor soil and water management are all practices that contribute to soil erosion. Erosion can cause a decline in soil fertility, water supply, and crop yields. Thus it affects the productivity of the land and decreases the production of food, feed, fiber, and fuel ("Soil erosion- causes," 1987). Erosion can adversely cause the social-economic conditions of the state to be affected.
Causes of Erosion
Erosion causes floods, silting up of water reservoirs, disruption of communication systems, and disturbance of the social-economic setup of the farming community. Erosion can be categorized into two parts: normal, or geological erosion, and accelerated erosion. ("Soil erosion- causes," 1987). With normal erosion, the effects are not visible on the land surface and soil productivity is not adversely affected. The amount of soil lost through this kind of erosion is equal to the amount of soil formed. With accelerated erosion, however, the effects of erosion are visible on the ground surface and the rate of soil loss is greater than the rate of soil formation ("Soil erosion- causes," 1987).
Agencies of Erosion: Wind and Water
Erosion is mainly caused by two agencies: wind and water. These two processes are active around the world all the time. There are four stages of water erosion: (1) raindrop or splash erosion, (2) sheet erosion, (3) rill erosion, and (4) gully erosion ("Soil erosion...
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An increase in pebble roundness in the direction of long shore drift. The process of attrition will erode the pebbles. c) A decrease of pebble size in the direction of long shore drift, again attrition is involved. d) Undercutting (active erosion of the cliffs at one end of the bay).
Investigating the Geographical Processes that are Affecting the Physical and Built Coastal Environment There are three geographical processes that are affecting the physical and built coastal environment, they are; erosion, deposition, and transportation. Erosion is the group of natural processes, including weathering, dissolution, abrasion, corrosion, and transportation, by which material is worn away from the earth’s surface, this is mainly caused by wind, running water, and waves breaking on the coast. Deposition is the depositing something or the laying down of matter by a natural process. Transportation is when sand is moved along the coast by long shore drift. At North Cronulla beach erosion is evident.
3. 120 MY : Continued erosion of the land as it is slowly uplifted and
hard wearing such as the ones in Malham but this would cause a blot on
Coastal Erosion and Defence in White Cliffs Country Introduction The shoreline is a dynamic system where stability is maintained despite the continued movement of waves, tides, wind and sediment. The present configuration of the shoreline is now controlled by the various coastal defences', which mankind has put in place over the last 100 - 200 years. These have stopped or slowed the transport of sediments and reduced the ability of the shoreline to respond to Natural forcing factors. Who is responsible for the coastline?
Coastal erosion is a growing problem along the Gulf Coast. Louisiana is one of the coastal states most affected by coastal erosion. Ninety percent of wetland loss in the nation occurs in Louisiana, losing 25-35 square miles per year. At that rate, Louisiana will lose 640,000 more acres by 2050. Many factors contribute to this land loss, such as rising sea levels, subsidence, hurricane storm surge, cold fronts, and human interference. Cold fronts and hurricanes can both have detrimental consequences on the coast of Louisiana (Zhang 2004) (Restore or Retreat 2012). This research shows whether cold fronts or hurricanes have a larger effect on coastal erosion. The researcher will describe how historical and current satellite imagery help in determining the changes in the Louisiana coast. Based on previous research, the researcher believes that hurricanes have more of an effect on coastal erosion than cold fronts due to the high winds and storm surge.
Louisiana contains approximately 40% of the coastal wetlands of the lower forty-eight states. Louisiana has lost up to forty square miles of marsh per year for several decades (accounting for 80% of the nation’s annual coastal wetland loss) (lacoast.gov). From a hydrologic standpoint, the wetlands replenish aquifers, hold excess floodwaters from intense rainfalls, and provide storm surge protection.
affects the ecosystem. The land's incline prevents some areas to receive and maintain a water
The 205-thousand-square-mile Appalachian Mountain range, which spans from Eastern Canada to northern Alabama, boasts North America’s oldest mountains (formed approximately 400 million years ago), the highest peak of the eastern United States (Mount Mitchell), industrial production opportunities and leisurely recreation. The range includes the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Great Smoky mountains (NCSU, n.d.). A range of recreational activities such as fishing in freshwater streams, camping, biking the Blue Ridge Parkway, skiing and hiking are available in the region. One popular hiking location is the 2,184-mile Appalachian Natural Scenic Trail, which is the longest walking trail in the eastern United States (United States. National Park Service, 2014). Its rich natural capital offers a plethora of resources, allowing production to range from small-scale agricultural establishments to larger industrial outputs of metal and timber. Approximately 80 percent of land has been used for the coal and logging industry since the 90’s (Little, 1995). Though the commercial utilization of the mountains has boosted the economy of Appalachian towns and cities, it has also degraded the range aesthetically and commercially.
Dry lands is a previous stage into what can develop the atrocity of desertification. These plains of ground lack moisture. These areas lose it either to evaporation or by transpiration of plants. Generally the land that is considered dry lands is still used by primitive technologies within herding and farming. This weak land is put on even l...
Take, for example, that livestock agriculture and the plant-based agriculture specifically used for feeding that livestock utilizes 30 percent of land on Earth. With crops in high demand to feed the many animals that are slaughtered or otherwise used by humans, it's been found that the soil has lost a great deal of its nutritional value and has eroded to the point that, in the United States, nearly 33 percent of topsoil is diminished.
eroded as fast as 6 metres per year, but the average is 1.8 metres per
Living in Bangladesh, we have seen quite disastrous mudslides from the past few years. Mudslide is also called a landslide or a land slip. It is a downward mass movement of earth or rock on unstable slopes, including many forms resulting from differences in rock structure, coherence of material involved, degree of slope, amount of included water, extent of natural or artificial undercutting at the base of the slope, relative rate of movement, and relative quantity of material involved. There are numerous facts that can cause a mudslide and there are also numerous effects that it can cause us.
Agriculture also leads to soil erosion, both through rainfall and wind. This soil can damage the aquatic ecosystems it ends up in, an...
home farm. Reducing soil erosion is one of the most important practices on my home farm.