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Erosion By: Rand Mrema
Erosion • Erosion changes, creates and destroys form of things on the Earth’s surface, through the power of wind, water and huge rivers of ice also known as glaciers. Sometimes the process of erosion can be slow; it can take up to hundreds of thousands even millions of years. Sometimes the changes are sudden. Erosion has a positive side to it. The positive side is; it helps give us soil, which forms a beach. Erosion also has a negative side. People have speeded up erosion in most places. Farming can be a major cause of soil erosion especially over-grazing. Each year the planet losses billions of acres of rich topsoil because of over-grazing and poor farming. Cutting down trees is also another cause of erosion. The roots of the trees hold the soil in place, so it won’t be that easily eroded.
Causes of Erosion • Wind, water and human activities are the main cause of erosion. The amount of soil they carry is causes by two things, which are; speed and the amount of plants in that area. The speed is one of the causes because the faster the wind and/or water moves, the more soil it can erode. The amount of plants is another causes because plants, help protect the soil and without them, the greater the damage. • Human activities are the main cause of soil erosion because the humans have reduced the number of trees and that has speeded up the soil erosion process over the last decade. Human activities such as the cutting down of trees and over-grazing has caused erosion.
Gradient of Slope • Gradient of slope is an important part when it comes to soil erosion. The steeper the gradient is, the higher the rate of erosion. This part plays an important role in water erosion, glacial erosion and gravitational erosion.
Soil Properties • The resistance of a piece of land to soil erosion depends on the physical and chemical properties of the soil. Different types of soil have different physical and chemical properties. The quality and the structure play an important part in knowing if whether the soil is at risk or not.
Climate • One of the main soil erosion causes. Climate decides the precipitation levels and the wind speed. More precipitation means more surface flow, and more surface flow means more area is likely to be eroded by running water. Similar to the wind, the stronger and faster the wind is, erosion will also be high and eroded materials will be carried further.
Where Soil Erosion Occurs • Europe • North America • South America • Africa • Asia • Australia/New Zealand Basically, soil erosion occurs everywhere on Earth.
Ways of Preventing Erosion • Prevent soil erosion by planting vegetation, trees, ground cover, shrubs and any other plants. The roots from these plants will help hold the soil in place. Soil will not be easily blown away by wind, or washed away by the rain. • Create windbreaks, which are Hedges or fences of trees designed to reduce erosion, especially wind erosion. Plant them on different plots of lands.
Ways of Preventing Erosion Part 2 • Grow crops on farm lands. When land is not being used, use cover crops because they help prevent soil erosion by wind or rain. Beans are often used as cover crops. • Apply mulch, which is; a protective covering of rotting vegetable matter spread to prevent soil erosion. The topsoil is will not be likely washed or blown away, when it’s covered by mulch.
Types of Erosions • Soil Erosion • Water Erosion • Wind Erosion • Gravitational Erosion
Soil Erosion is a Problem • Soil erosion is global issue because it happens everywhere in the world everyday, every month, every year and every decade because no one really cares about the soil and most farmers that are farming in the undeveloped or developing countries don’t know the ways of preventing erosion or the right way to farm, so they can avoid erosion. Also farmers who farm in undeveloped countries don’t have the right materials, technology or machinery to help them farm properly and to be able to avoid erosion. Governments from all over the world should invest money to the undeveloped or developing countries, to help them prevent erosion and to educate them about erosion and the good ways to farm. This will help us (Humans) to reach a step closer to making soil erosion or erosion overall a yesterday problem.
How Soil Erosion Occurs • Soil erosion occurs in many different ways. It can occur by wind, water and glacier. Soil erosion can occur by wind because wind is one of the many ways that create erosion. Wind causes erosion by picking up the soil on the surface and transports it to another place. Wind erosion is mostly found in the deserts. The more speed and power the wind has the more soil it collects and the further it carries it. Water can cause erosion by transporting the materials it erodes is taken to another location and deposited there and that is how a beach is formed. Glacier can cause erosion by transporting the ice it takes to another location or the ice will melt and form into a river that will go to different locations and keep eroding more ice on the way, to form into something else.
Impacts of Erosion • Economic: Soil erosion causes the farmer or the countries trade a big loss each year due to destruction of the crops. Governments and farmers are forced to invest money to help prevent erosion and to have enough amount of crops they need. • Quality of product: Soil erosion reduces the quality of the product due to the quality of the soil available in that area and the product might not reach the slandered required because of the damage soil erosion has done to the soil and to the crops. • Time it takes to grow: The time it takes for plants to grow depends on the quality of the soil. If the soil isn’t that good, then the crops will take time to grow and they crops won’t be at a high quality then it use to be and that won’t be too good. • Amount of soil and Quality of Soil: Every time an area gets eroded, the amount of soil, in that place will be reduced and the quality won’t be that good and therefore you will have to pay money to import rich soil from another area to be able to grow crops that are high quality in that area.
Bibliography • (Last Update: 2008) What is Erosion [Online] • http://soilerosion.net/doc/what_is_erosion.html [accessed February 12, 2010] • EHow (Last Update: 2008) How to Prevent Soil Erosion [Online] • http://www.ehow.com/how_2078923_prevent-soil-erosion.html [accessed February 10, 2010] Dave Favis-Mortlock • Ontario (Last Update: 2008) How to Prevent Soil Erosion [Online] • http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/facts/87-040.htm [accessed February 10, 2010] • Stille, Darlene (2004) Exploring Science: Erosion. [Offline]U.S, Compass Point Books Inc [accessed February 12, 2010]
