What is Soil Erosion? types, and prevention.

Gully erosion
Gully erosion

Soil eversion is the displacement of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. Soil erosion is a gradual process that occurs when the impact of water or wind detaches and removes soil particles. This causes soil to deteriorate. Soil deterioration and low water quality. This is due to erosion and surface runoff having become severe problems worldwide. Soil erosion is a serious problem for productive agricultural land and water quality concerns. The impact of soil erosion on water quality becomes significant, particularly as the soil surface runoff.

Types of soil erosion.

Water erosion. Queensland’s high-intensity summer rainfall represents a significant risk of erosion by water. Therefore, raindrops hit bare soil with enough force to break the soil aggregates. These fragments wash into soil pores and prevent water from infiltrating the soil. Water then accumulates on the surface and increases runoff which takes soil with it.

Sheet and rill erosion. Hill slopes are prone to set erosion and rill erosion. However, the amount of hillslope erosion largely depends on how the land is used.

Sheet erosion occurs when a thin layer of topsoil is removed over the hillside paddock.

Rill erosion occurs when runoff water forms small channels as it concentrates down a slope.

Scalding. Occurs when wind and water remove the topsoil and expose saline soil. Raindrop impact alone can result in large amounts of soil being moved. However, water or wind moving over the surface will remove more soil. This contributes to sheet, rill, and gully erosion.

Erosion similarly tends to remove the lighter smaller soil particles first, leaving fine and coarse sand behind.

Gully erosion. This happens when runoff concentrates and flows strongly enough to detach and move soil particles. Gullies may develop in water coarse where runoff concentrates. In addition, the cultivation of pastures advanced rill erosion can develop into gully erosion.

Tunnel erosion. This is the removal of subsoil. When water penetrates through a soil crack, the soil disperses and is carried away with the flow to leave a small tunnel. Initially, the surface soil remains relatively intact but, with every flow, the tunnel becomes larger. The soil may eventually collapse and form a gully.

Causes.

The agent of soil erosion is the same as agents of all types of erosion: Water, wind, ice, or gravity. Running water is the leading cause of soil erosion. This is because water is abundant and has a lot of power. However, the wind is also a leading cause of soil erosion. This is because wind can pick up soil and blow it far away.

Effects of soil erosion.

The effects of soil erosion go beyond the loss of fertile land. Therefore, it has led to increasing pollution and sedimentation in stress and river. This causes clogging these waterways and causing declines in fish and other species.

Other effects include:

Mudslides and structural problems.

Deforestation and flooding.

soil degradation.

Prevention.

Malting. This process entails covering the soil with organic materials. Malting could include a variety of biodegradable materials, such as mulch and straw. However, malting is held in place with biodegradable netting and spikes. This ensures it has plenty of time to break down and fertilize the soil.

Ground cover. Planting vegetation is a great way to prevent erosion for a couple of reasons. So, any type of ground covering helps to lessen the impact of wind and water.

Retaining walls. This method is particularly useful in any situation. This is where the ground isn’t level. Therefore, retaining walls will help to keep soil where it belongs. This is where it is at a high elevation than surrounding areas.

Terracing. This is a sloping piece of land that has had flat areas like steps built on it. In addition, stone walls are built at hedges of the terraces to support their weight. The main goal of terraces is to reduce slope gradient and length by interrupting the slop at periodic intervals.

error: Content is protected !!