what are fatcors that course erosion

by Prof. Lavinia Kiehn PhD 7 min read

The factors that influence erosion are: 1. The amount and intensity of rainfall and wind velocity. 2. Topography with special reference to slope of land.

Factors that Influence or Cause Soil Erosion
  • RAINFALL: Consistent heavy rains usually causes erosion of soil at a faster rate. ...
  • TOPOGRAPHY: It refers to the extent to which a land slopes. ...
  • PRESENCE OF ORGANIC MATTER IN SOIL: ...
  • HUMAN ACTIVITIES: ...
  • OVERGRAZING: ...
  • DEFORESTATION:

Full Answer

What is the most forceful factor that causes erosion?

The amount and intensity of rainfall and wind velocity:Rainfall is the most forceful factor causing erosion through splash and excessive run off. Related Posts What is Drought Resistance?

What is the most common form of erosion?

Most erosion is performed by liquid water, wind, or ice (usually in the form of a glacier). If the wind is dusty, or water or glacial ice is muddy, erosion is taking place.

What are the human activities that cause erosion?

Human activity altering the vegetation of an area is perhaps the biggest human factor contributing to erosion. Trees and plants hold soil in place. When people cut down forests or plow up grasses for agriculture and development, the soil is more vulnerable to washing or blowing away.

What is physical erosion?

Physical erosion describes the process of rocks changing their physical properties without changing their basic chemical composition. Physical erosion often causes rocks to get smaller or smoother.

What are 5 causes of erosion?

The agents of soil erosion are the same as of other types of erosion: water, ice, wind, and gravity. Soil erosion is more likely where the ground has been disturbed by agriculture, grazing animals, logging, mining, construction, and recreational activities.

What are 4 main causes of erosion?

Four Causes of Soil ErosionWater. Water is the most common cause of soil erosion. ... Wind. Wind can also make soil erode by displacing it. ... Ice. We don't get much ice here in Lawrenceville, GA, but for those that do, the concept is the same as water. ... Gravity. Gravity is a primary culprit behind the three other causes.

What are the 3 factors that affect erosion?

The key climatic characteristics influencing erosion processes in a given territory include atmospheric precipitation, wind, air temperature, air humidity and solar radiation. The factors having a direct effect on soil erosion are atmospheric precipitation (water erosion) and wind (wind erosion).

What are the 6 causes of erosion?

Soil Erosion: 6 Main Causes of Soil ErosionSoil Texture: ADVERTISEMENTS: ... Ground Slope: ... Intensity and amount of rainfall: ... Mismanaged utilization of soil resources: ... Distribution of rainfall and landscape: ... Deforestation:

What are the 3 major causes of soil erosion?

1) Sheet erosion by water; 2) Wind erosion; 3) Rill erosion – happens with heavy rains and usually creates smalls rills over hillsides; 4) Gully erosion – when water runoff removes soil along drainage lines.

What are the 4 most common agents of erosion?

The process known as weathering breaks up rocks so that they can be carried away by the process known as erosion. Water, wind, ice, and waves are the agents of erosion that wear away at the surface of the Earth.

What are the 7 types of soil erosion?

Types of Soil ErosionRain Drop or Splash Erosion. ... Sheet Erosion. ... Rill Erosion. ... Gully Erosion. ... Stream Bank Erosion. ... Due to Soil Texture. ... Slope. ... Intensity or Amount of Rainfall.More items...

What are the 4 factors that affect the rate of soil erosion?

Factors that Influence or Cause Soil ErosionRAINFALL: Consistent heavy rains usually causes erosion of soil at a faster rate. ... TOPOGRAPHY: It refers to the extent to which a land slopes. ... PRESENCE OF ORGANIC MATTER IN SOIL: ... HUMAN ACTIVITIES: ... OVERGRAZING: ... DEFORESTATION:

What are the four factors that affect the rate of erosion?

Major factors that affect the amount of erosion are soil cloddiness, surface roughness, wind speed, soil moisture, field size, and vegetative cover.

What are the 5 causes of soil erosion and its effect to our environment?

Soil compaction, low organic matter, loss of soil structure, poor internal drainage, salinisation and soil acidity problems are other serious soil degradation conditions that can accelerate the soil erosion process.

What are the causes and effects of erosion?

Soil erosion is a type of soil degradation that naturally occurs on all land. There are many causes of soil erosion, most of them being the same as other forms of erosion: namely water, ice, wind, and gravity. The effects of soil erosion can include the loss of fertile land to floods or water pollution, among others.

What are the 5 agents of soil erosion?

Soil erosion is the denudation of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, and animals (including humans).

What is soil erosion?

Soil Erosion: The word ‘erosion’ literally means to wearing away. In soil erosion, fertile soil surfaces are detached and removed from their original places and are deposited at some other places. According to Fox (1950), “the term soil erosion covers a wide range of physical and chemical actions, such as removal of soluble matters, ...

What are the factors that cause soil erosion?

A. Climatic Agencies Causing Erosion of Soil: These are water and wind. 1. Water: Water is an important factor in soil erosion. Snow and melting ice also remove the top soil to considerable extents. Soil is directly affected by heavy rainfall, rapidly running water and by wave action. ADVERTISEMENTS:

What is it called when the top soils are gradually removed under normal conditions of physical, biotic and hydrological equilibrium

When the top soils are gradually removed under normal conditions of physical, biotic and hydrological equilibrium it is called normal erosion. Sometimes, it is also called geologic erosion. It is very slow process in which complete equilibrium is maintained between soil removing and soil forming processes. The normal erosion tends to produce wavy or undulating land surface with alternating ridges and depressions. This is accomplished chiefly by means of slow migration of soil particles from soil surface in successive rains. In arid region, wind during the long dry season is an important factor for normal erosion .

What is the process of removing soil particles called?

Removal of soil by wind is called wind erosion. Stormy winds carry the soil particles to distant places and sometimes form sand-dunes. Wind currents usually remove the top soil which is fertile and frill of humus and minerals. Wind causes the following three types of soil movements, viz., (i) Saltation;

What is the term for the removal of soil that does not keep harmony with the soil formation?

In arid region, wind during the long dry season is an important factor for normal erosion. 2. Accelerated Soil Erosion: When the removal of soil does not keep harmony with the soil formation and it is much faster than the latter, it is called accelerated soil erosion. ADVERTISEMENTS:

What happens to the soil on the banks of swollen rivers?

As a result of this, quite often large masses of soils become detached and washed away from the banks and are deposited at places in course of streams.

Where are shifting cultivations usually noted?

Shifting cultivations. Shifting cultivations are usually noted in the mountains which are geographically young and degraded into soil easily and the whole of the land is covered with a thick mantle of tropical forest vegetation.

What are the four types of erosion?

Rain, rivers, floods, lakes, and the ocean carry away bits of soil and sand and slowly wash away the sediment. Rainfall produces four types of soil erosion: splash erosion, sheet erosion, rill erosion, and gully erosion.

What is the force of ocean erosion?

The ocean is a huge force of erosion. Coastal erosion —the wearing away of rocks, earth, or sand on the beach—can change the shape of entire coastlines. During the process of coastal erosion, waves pound rocks into pebbles and pebbles into sand.

What is the process of changing the physical properties of rocks?

Physical erosion describes the process of rocks changing their physical properties without changing their basic chemical composition. Physical erosion often causes rocks to get smaller or smoother. Rocks erode d through physical erosion often form clastic sediments. Clastic sediment s are composed of fragments of older rocks that have been transported from their place of origin.

What is the brown color of a rock?

If the wind is dust y, or water or glacial ice is muddy, erosion is taking place. The brown color indicates that bits of rock and soil are suspended in the fluid (air or water) and being transported from one place to another. This transported material is called sediment.

What is the term for the process in which earthen materials are worn away and transported by natural forces such as wind or

Encyclopedic Entry. Vocabulary. Erosion is the geological process in which earthen materials are worn away and transported by natural forces such as wind or water. A similar process, weathering, breaks down or dissolve s rock, but does not involve movement.

How fast do ice sheets erode?

However, ice sheets do erode remarkably quickly—as much as half a centimeter (.2 inch) every year.

How does plant growth contribute to physical erosion?

Plant growth can also contribute to physical erosion in a process called bioerosion. Plants break up earthen materials as they take root, and can create cracks and crevice s in rocks they encounter. Ice and liquid water can also contribute to physical erosion as their movement forces rocks to crash together or crack apart. ...

What is Erosion?

Erosion is a process where material from a surface is distributed to a new location. While this may seem like an abstract or uncommon situation, erosion is always occurring around the world. There are countless examples of erosion and the ways in which it leads to serious problems for habitats, infrastructure and production.

What Causes Erosion?

Remember, our erosion definition states that erosion occurs when a surface breaks down and its materials are displaced elsewhere. Typically, this occurs when a fluid (such as water or air) flows against a surface over time. However, there are other factors, such as high temperatures or falling material, that can cause erosion.

Wind Erosion Experiment

In this experiment, the student is tasked with creating a model or system to observe the effect of wind erosion. This will show students how sediments settle down and deposit.

What is wind erosion?

Wind Erosion is the natural process of transportation and deposition of soil by the wind. It is a common phenomenon occurring mostly in dry, sandy soils or anywhere the soil is loose, dry, and finely granulated. Wind erosion damages land and natural vegetation by removing soil from one place and depositing it in another.

What are the factors that contribute to wind erosion?

The factors that contribute to wind erosion include soil moisture and wind speed. That way the water molecules bind themselves together, and how they hold together in the soil is a very strong bond. This cohesiveness will be evident all the way up the column of soil if they are a good percentage of soil moisture.

How far can dust travel from an erosion site?

However, not all dust ejected from the surface is carried in the air indefinitely. Larger dust particles (0.05 to 0.1 mm) may be dropped within a couple of kilometers of the erosion site. Particles of the order of 0.01 mm may travel hundreds of kilometers and 0.001 mm sized particles may travel thousands of kilometers.

How does wind erosion affect vegetation?

Wind erosion damages land and natural vegetation by removing soil from one place and depositing it in another. The main mechanism of wind erosion is wind propelling sand and dirt causing erosion. Over time all the impacts of the loose sand on the rocks starts to make the rocks chip away and erode. Wind erosion is obviously more common in windy ...

What is the threshold velocity of soil?

This is called the threshold velocity. Once the velocity is reached, the quantity of soil moved is dependent upon the particle size, the adhesion of the soil particles, and the wind velocity itself. Land clearing, over-grazing by livestock, and cropping are activities that leave the soil exposed to the wind. Drought causes greater wind erosion ...

What are the three types of wind erosion?

What are the types of wind erosion? There are three types of wind erosion, namely. Surface creep. Saltation. Suspension. Surface creep in a wind erosion event, involves rolling across the surface of large particles ranging from 0.5 mm to 2 mm in diameter. This causes them to collide with, and dislodge, other particles.

How does wind erosion occur?

Wind erosion can be caused by activities that reduce ground cover below 50% and remove trees and scrub that act as windbreaks. Soil movement is initiated because of wind forces exerted against the surface of the ground.

What causes coastal erosion?

Coastal erosion is caused by a number of factors, including natural processes such as the wind, rain and waves, as well as human activities, such as the damming of rivers. Additionally, when barrier islands are destroyed, the coastline becomes more susceptible to the destructive forces of storms and hurricanes.

What happens if sediment is not added to a beach or coastline as quickly as it is removed?

If sediment is not added to a beach or coastline as quickly as it is removed, the coastline shrinks. Eventually such areas disappear entirely. Human development also causes coastal erosion, as structures such as bridges and levees change the flow characteristics near the coast.

How does the ocean pick up sediment?

The water in the rivers picks up sediment as it flows downstream and eventually deposits it in the ocean. The ocean’s waves and currents then pick up some of this sediment and cover the shore with it. However, the waves also pull some sediment from the beaches, so the process is ongoing.

How do barrier islands help the coastline?

Barrier islands help to absorb some of these destructive forces and protect the coastline. Coastlines are produced by a combination of the underlying bedrock and the sediments that overlay them. In places like beaches, the sand is brought to the area by the local rivers.

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