What is soil erosion?

How does it effect the environment?

What causes soil erosion?

Process of soil erosion

Preventing soil erosion

Where does it occur

Why should we be concerned? The Costa Rican steam valley is eroding because of deforestation With fewer trees, there are fewer roots to hold soil Also few decaying plants to replenish nutrients Eventually the area will look like a desert Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Wind rain and extreme temperature cycles continually erode away the land So much so that the residents of the area started planting trees, grass or use netting in effort to steam the erosion

Water erosion Occurs from the chemical in the water, and the force of the flow of water in the river These chemicals can break down rock such as limestone and rock Water erosion starts with splash erosion

Sheet erosion Soil particles detach by raindrop impact If flows down slope as a sheet rather than in definite channels or rills A layer of fine particles are removed from the entire surface of an area This result in a major loss of rich topsoil This usually occurs on recently plowed fields

Gully Erosion The removal of soil along drainage lines by surface water runoff It is easier and more cost efficient to repair the gully immediately When the gully becomes larger it becomes more costly This erosion occurs when water is channeled across unprotected land and washes away the soil along the drainage lines

Other Types of Erosion Wind Erosion –Even though it doesn’t seem like big problem it does effect the areas of the world that are covered by a desert Glacier Erosion – ice erosion comes from glacier erosion –A combination of the water, ice and picked up sediment create a powerful eroding machine

Types of Erosion Cont. Sea Erosion –Chemicals and other salts erode weak rock along the coast such as limestone and chalk –The longshore drift then carries the eroded material up the shore Soil Erosion –Flooding and wind can carry the topsoil away from farmlands, which makes the soil then unfertile