Soil erosion is a continuous process that occurs either slowly or at an alarming rate. Effects of soil erosion on the environment soil erosion is an ongoing process that affects each site in a slightly different way. However, under human impact, soil erosion is often drastically. Causes, processes and effects soil erosion is a growing problem and constitutes a threat to soil quality and to the ability of soils to.
Soil erosion and control measures on the loess plateau. Development of management strategies to control soil erosion in. Read this article to learn about the meaning, factors, effects, types, causes and prevention of soil erosion. Offsite environmental effects are increasing and becoming more unacceptable to those affected as well as the public at large. 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. There are several serious effects of soil erosion which are as follows. Many erosion control practices are available in local soil and water conservation district offices. Soil erosion is a grave environmental hazard that has both natural and human causes. After a couple rounds, i realized that students werent matching the correct causes to the corresponding effects. With the rapid growth of human population, we need all the food we can get.
Raindrops hit exposed soil with great energy and easily dislodge the soil particles from the surface. Erosion preceded by the destruction of the crumb structure due to the impact of falling raindrop on the surface of soil is termed as splash erosion. Factors and causes of soil erosion and the interaction between them. In agriculture, soil erosion refers to the wearing away of a fields topsoil by the natural physical. Let us have a detailed look at the causes, effects and prevention of soil erosion. Pdf soil is the most fundamental and basic natural resource for all life to survive. Erosion causes infertile soils that are subject to erosion. Value 1 this form of erosion is no longer visible after cultivation ploughing, hoeing etc. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice glaciers, snow, air wind, plants, animals, and humans. For maximum erosion control, the best cover would be a vigorous permanent sod figure 6.
Erosion causes filling of dams, reservoirs, waterways. It is a naturally occurring process soil always shifts from one location to another and, under normal conditions, this shifting takes place in a slow and gradual manner. Brandenborg as legal notice the contents of this report do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of. Effects of erosion control practices on nutrient loss george f. For this reason, some navigable waters become useless.
T value tolerable erosion equilibrium between soil gains and losses. Extensive erosion also minimizes the depth of soil available for water storage and rooting. So, rational use of water resources, erosion control and socialeconomic development for local farmers are most important things we must to do. Where millions of years ago there was a wide field, now there may be only a narrow one for the river has carried off much of its soil. According to the iowa state university extension, soil erosion results in a lessened soil water capacity, as well as loss of nutrients and carbon, which all have negative effects on crop productivity. After reading, partners switched papers and found a new partner. Evaluating the effects of changes in landscape structure. Deforestation causes a change in the rain cycle and this is a contributing factor to global warming and loss of ecosystems. Effects of soil erosion on soil properties as related to. It results in loss of the finest soil particles that contain most of the available nutrients and organic matter in the soil. Soil erosion is the displacement of the upper layer of soil, it is one form of soil degradation. The top soil is lost by erosion which is the most fertile section, having evolved over centuries of soil forming processes.
Causes of erosion erosion occurs when soil is left exposed to rain or wind energy. Soil erosion is the wearing away of the land surface by physical. These impacts include compaction, loss of soil structure, nutrient degradation, and soil salinity. Repeated erosion reduces the fertility of the soil by. Effects of erosion include siltation of rivers, crop failure at low lying areas due to flooding, pollution of waterbodies due to the various chemicals brought by the runoff from different areas. Soil erosion is the loss of soil from land due to the effects of wind and water currents. Water erosion water erosion causes two sets of problems. Agdex 572751 october 2012 replaces omafra factsheet, soil erosion causes and effects, order no. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading soil erosion. To combine the benefits of conservation tillage soil conservation with the. Causes of soil erosion soil erosion occurs when natural forces, such as wind and water, act on the soil.
Since, water is viewed as an indispensable natural resource for. Since rapid soil erosion results in a loss of topsoil, it can have a detrimental effect on plants. Too much of soil erosion causes serious loss of topsoil and also reduces crop production potential, lower surface water quality, and damaged. Summary causes of soil erosion deforestation ploughing monoculture removal of hedges overgrazing. While there are many different factors that can cause soil erosion, most can be broken down into two main categories. Erosion control measures and techniques have made a great progress on erosion control and promoted socialeconomic. Magnitude and the impacts of soil erosion on productivity depend on soil profile and horizonation, terrain, soil management. Soil erosion and water shortage are main problems on loess plateau. Break up of soil clodsaggregates and dispersion of soil particles by the kinetic. This factsheet looks at the causes and effects of water, wind and tillage erosion on agricultural land. Due to uprooting of trees the shortage of timber and fuel wood results. Erosion has longterm consequences for soil quality and shortterm consequences on individual crops.
Soil erosion is a major land degradation problem in south africa sa that has economic, social and environmental implications due to both onsite and offsite effects. Workshop on common criteria for risk area identification. Water and wind are the two main mechanisms by which soil is eroded and transported. Dregne soil erosion is the main reason why desertification is irreversible. Soil erosion during construction is often a serious problem. It is the fairly uniform removal of soil in thin layers from the land surface, often scarcely perceptible, especially when caused by wind. Processes, prediction, measurement, and control kindle edition by toy, terrence j. Soil erosion is the wearing away of the land surface by physical forces such as rainfall, flowing water, wind, ice, temperature change, gravity or other natural or anthropogenic agents that abrade, detach and remove soil or geological material from one point on the earths surface to be deposited elsewhere. Students met with a partner and read a sentence about soil erosion.
Soil erosion is a natural process which has increasingly been. Flowing water, rainwater, and the wind are the prime agents which cause a significant amount of soil loss each year. Switching papers allowed students to practice different sentence frames. As indicated by the classification in table 121, the texture of these soils is similar to fayette soils, but these soils differ by having a fragipan. Sheet erosion sheet erosion is the removal of soil in thin layers by raindrop impact and shallow surface flow. Elements of soil erosion soil erosion by water is the detachment of soil particles by the direct action of raindrops and runoff water, and the transport of these particles by splash and very shallow flowing. Bullock, in encyclopedia of soils in the environment, 2005. Water and wind erosion are the two primary causes of land degradation. Soil erosion is a process that involves the wearing away of the topsoil. Soil erosion can be a slow process that continues relatively unnoticed or can occur at an alarming rate, causing serious loss of topsoil.
Soil erosion is the movement and transport of soil by various agents, particularly water, wind, and mass movement. Soil erosion is a naturally occurring process that affects all landforms. It results in a continuous loss of topsoil, ecological degradation, soil collapse, etc. However, the effects of erosion on construction sites continue to menace society both from onsite and offsite damages. Other soil conservation practicessuch as contour banks, filter strips and controlled trafficare important, but secondary to the maintenance of cover. Repeated erosion reduces water infiltration into the soil, which may result to withering of crops. The impact of raindrops will break up the soil and water buildup will create runoff, taking sediment with it. Landscape structure, or the spatial organization of different land units, has an impact on erosion and sedimentation on agricultural land. In agriculture, soil erosion refers to the wearing away of a fields topsoil by the natural physical forces of water and. Its effects can be seen directly in the location where erosion takes place, known as onsite effects, and at the site where the eroded soil deposits offsite. Vegeta tion can regenerate from a degraded state as long as the seed stock remains viable and there is soil for seeds to germinate and grow in. Half of the topsoil on the planet has been lost in the last 150 years.
Although soil erosion is a natural occurrence on all land, there are certain factors that call accelerate erosion making it more noticeable and problematic. Effects of erosion control practices on nutrient loss. This is a cheap and easy method especially suited to ledc 10. Stone lines magic stones these are put in place following contour lines meaning run off is reduced and soil can be collected and redistributed. In the dry regions, the obvious solution is to combine soil conservation with water conservation. Due to formation of gullies and ravines, valuable agricultural lands are lost. In addition to erosion, soil quality is affected by other aspects of agriculture. Rainfall energy is the prime cause of erosion from tilled or bare. Soil loss is so gradual that the erosion usually goes unnoticed, but the cumulative. Offsite effects include sedimentation of waterways and eutrophication of.
An onsite loss of agricultural potential an offsite effect of downstream movement of sediment, causing flooding and the silting up of reservoirs. Man can also cause soil erosion by such practices as tilling a farmers field or the. Causes of soil erosion water and wind erosion causes. One of the effects of erosion is the changing of the landscape. The key to controlling soil erosion by water is maintenance of a protective cover e. The topsoil is lost by erosion which is the most fertile section, having evolved over centuries of soilforming processes. Much of the carving up of the landscape is done by water particularly rivers. Practices such as terracing and minimum tillage provide such a. It hurts the land and people where it takes place, so also the land and people where it gets deposited. Soil erosion is one of the most significant issues the living beings are encountering now and probably. In this study, the diverse factors that cause soil erosion are evaluated.
According to fao food and agriculture organisation, it is 57 million hectars per year. Is it possible to estimate the amount of global loss of fertile land annually due to erosion. Recommendations based on the research affirm the necessity to undertake largescale natural. These conditions combine to increase runoff and influence lo cal erosion. However, current erosion models emphasize the temporal, and less the spatial, variability of relevant parameters so that the effects of changes in landscape structure have hitherto not been studied in detail. Sheet erosion soil erosion is characterised by the downslope removal of. What are the causes, consequences, and solutions of soil.
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