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.
Major causes of soil erosion are:
Agriculture: It is one of the major causes of soil erosion. Agriculture activities disturbs the ground. ii) Deforestation: Cutting of trees and clearing of forests results in soil erosion. Large number of trees are cut down for logging and construction.
Removal of the soil's upper fertile layer (topsoil) by strong wind and water flow is known as soil erosion. It takes away the soil's fertile layer and making the soil infertile and unsuitable for plant growth. Soil erosion is happening because the soil becomes loose due to the absence of plants.
Directly, the erosion‐induced reduction in crop yields is attributed to loss of rooting depth, degradation of soil structure, decrease in plant‐available water reserves, reduction in organic matter, and nutrient imbalance.
Water and wind erosion are two main agents that degrade soils. Runoff washes away the soil particles from sloping and bare lands while wind blows away loose and detached soil particles from flat and unprotected lands.
It is a process in which the top fertile layer of soil is lost. Due to soil erosion, the soil becomes less fertile. The top layer of soil is very light which is easily carried away by wind and water. The removal of topsoil by the natural forces is known as soil erosion.
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.
Erosion is the wearing away of the land by forces such as water, wind, and ice. Erosion has helped to form many interesting features of the Earth's surface including mountain peaks, valleys, and coastlines.
- surface erosion.
- fluvial erosion.
- mass-movement erosion.
- streambank erosion.
Erosion by Water Liquid water is the major agent of erosion on Earth. 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 soil erosion Class 9 short answer?
Soil erosion is defined as the wearing away of topsoil. Topsoil is the top layer of soil and is the most fertile because it contains the most organic, nutrient-rich materials. One of the main causes of soil erosion is water erosion, which is the loss of topsoil due to water.
Soil erosion occurs when soil is removed through the action of wind and water at a greater rate than it is formed.

(a) Water Erosion : Water is a powerful agent of soil erosion. Following are the major types of erosion caused by water. (i) Sheet Erosion : When the top layer of the soil is removed over a large area by the running water, it is called as sheet erosion. (ii) Rill Erosion : This is the second stage of sheet erosion.
The wearing away of the earth's surface is called erosion. Explanation: Erosion is the phenomenon of the removal of the top layer of the Earth's surface through the action of agents like air, running water and glaciers.
Soil can be categorised into sand, clay, silt, peat, chalk and loam types of soil based on the dominating size of the particles within a soil.
Sheet and rill erosion
Hill slopes are prone to sheet erosion and rill erosion. The amount of hill slope erosion largely depends on how the land is used. Sheet erosion occurs when a thin layer of topsoil is removed over a whole hillside paddock—and may not be readily noticed.
Soil erosion is a gradual process that occurs when the impact of water or wind detaches and removes soil particles, causing the soil to deteriorate. Soil deterioration and low water quality due to erosion and surface runoff have become severe problems worldwide.
Desertification. Loss of arable land. Air pollution.
- Loss of soil fertility and fall in agricultural productivity.
- It leads to silting and floods, change of the course of rivers, and reduction of capacity of the reservoirs.
- Ground water level is lowered and there is decrease in soil moisture.
The removal and transportation of top soil from its original position to another place with the help of certain agents such as strong winds and fast running waters, is called soil erosion. Causes of Soil Erosion: 1. Strong winds: The soil which is uncovered and loose, is eroded, when it is exposed to strong winds.
What is erosion Class 11?
Erosion is the process in which rock particles are carried away by wind and water.
Answer: The blowing away or washing away of land surface by wind or water is known as soil erosion.
- Conservation Tillage. Conservation tillage consists of a variety of practices used in agriculture to reduce wind and water erosion. ...
- Contour Farming. ...
- Strip Cropping. ...
- Windbreaks. ...
- Crop Rotation. ...
- Cover Crops. ...
- Buffer Strips. ...
- Grassed Waterways.
Causes – Over-grazing, Deforestation, Action of wind, water, glacier, etc. Topography viz. steep slopes & heavy rainfall; Faulty methods of agriculture, over – irrigation, shifting agriculture etc; Other anthropogenic factors viz. mining, industrial activities etc.
Basically, there are two main causes of soil erosion – wind and water. When the topmost layer of the soil is loose, it becomes vulnerable to the natural forces of wind and water to blow the soil particle away. This loss of topsoil particles is soil erosion, as it is an almost irreversible loss.