Water wears a path as it travels down a slope Water erosion Water wears a path as it travels down a slope

Kind of water erosion

Rill erosion Have you ever seen a scar or small channel on the side of a slope that was left behind by running water? That is evidence of rill erosion An erosion process in which many small channels a few centimetres deep are formed; it occurs mainly on recently cultivated soils. See also rill.

Rill erosion is the most common form of erosion. Its effects can be easily removed by tillage, it is the most often overlooked. It occurs when soil is removed by water from little streamlets that run through land with poor surface draining. Rills can often be found in between crop rows.

Rill Erosion picture

Gully picture

Gully erosion It is a rill erosion channel becomes broader and deeper Gullies are larger than rills and cannot be fixed by tillage. Gully erosion is an advanced stage of rill erosion, just as rills are often the result of sheet erosion

Question-1 What is Tillage? Tillage practices are used for wind erosion control by producing a rough, cloddy surface that maintains surface residue and conserves soil moisture. When used along with crop residues, also known as stubble mulch tillage, reduced tillage, or conservation tillage, it reduces wind velocity and traps eroding soil. Tillage is also very effective in controlling rill and sheet erosion. The rough surface along with crop residues prevents rain water from carrying of soil particles and other organic matter.

Stream Erosion Some times water continues to flow along a depression it has created. It becomes a stream like the one shown

Picture – Steam erosion It constantly picks up sediments from the bottom and sides of its channel. Water picks  up and carries some of the lightweight sediments, while large, heavy particles just roll along the bottom of the stream channel. All of these difference-sized materials scrape against the bottom and sides of the cannel, where they continue to knock loose more sediments. Because of this a stream continually cuts a deeper and wider channel   

Stream picture

Sheet Erosion Sheet erosion is defined as the uniform removal of soil in thin layers from sloping land. This, of course, is nearly impossible; in reality the loose soil merely runs off with the rain. It is happens when rainwater flows into lower elevations, carrying sediments with it The water loses some of its energy of motion and it drains into the soil or slowly evaporates

Sheet Erosion picture

Deposition Think about... As water moves throughout a river system, What do you suppose happens as it loses some of its energy of motion?   The water can no longer carry some of its sediments, and they are deposited.

Deposition Some stream sediments aren’t carried very far at all before they are deposited. -Many sediments are deposited within the stream channel it self -Other stream sediments travel great distances before hey are deposited 

Type of Deposition There is two types of Deposition Delta: A triangular deposit of sediment that forms when a stream or a river slows as it empties into an ocean, gulf, or lake. Alluvial fan: A triangular deposit of sediment that forms when water rushing down a slope loses its energy and abruptly slows at the bottom, depositing its sediment load.