Soil erosion is the detachment and transportation of soil due to action of wind, water-in-motion, or by the beating action of the

raindrops.

Erosion may be broadly classified into Two groups: 1. Geological erosion 2. Accelerated erosion

Geological erosion It represents erosion where land is in natural, undisturbed environmental condition under the cover of vegetation Geological erosion takes place as a result of action of water, wind, gravity and glaciers. The soil loss in this erosion is compensated by soil forming process by natural weathering. Accelerated erosion When vegetation is removed and the land is put under cultivation, the soil gets disturbed i.e. the natural equilibrium between soil binding is removed. It is also termed as man-made erosion. Soil erosion is a result of Erosivity, Erodability, Detachability and Transportability. Erosivity It is the practical ability of rainfall to cause erosion. Physical characters of reference are intensity, amount distribution of rainfall and size of rain drop. Detachability It refers to the case where the soil particles are loosened by the action of wind or water. Transportability Refers to where the detachable soil particles are transported.

Extension of erosion in India

It is estimated that out of total geographical area of 328 m ha, about 175 m ha are affected seriously by water and wind erosion.

Out of 175 m ha 150 m ha are affected due to cultivation and 25 m ha due to erosion in waste lands.

About 6,000 m tones of soil are eroded every year from about 80 m ha of cultivated lands, loosing about 84 m tones of nutrients.

FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR EROSION Excessive deforestation Improper agricultural practices Over grazing

Unsustainable cultivation of croplands Overgrazing Excessive deforestation Valuable forest trees are destroyed and due to this erosion is stimulated Causes of Soil Erosion

Improper agricultural practices in field Erosion is more if slope is more. If cultivation is done along the slope erosion will occur Cultivation should be done along contours (or) across the slope due to which water flow is intercepted and erosion is stopped. Over grazing: Grass forms a cover and helps in preventing erosion. In barren soils splash of rainfall occurs and soil is displaced. Due to overgrazing, fields are subjected to serve erosion. Within broad categories a wide variety of individual causes are: Conversion of unsuitable and low potential land to agriculture Failure to undertake soil conservation measures in areas at risk of degradation Removal of all crop residues resulting in soil mining.

On the highlands, the combined effects of Steep topography High intensity of rain, storms Degraded vegetation Extensive cultivation overgrazing leads to severe soil erosion

Human induced soil degradation during road construction

Evil effects of erosion Loss of productive or fertile soil Deposition of sand on productive land Silting of lakes and reservoirs and irrigation and drainage channels.

Lowering of ground water table. Fragmentation of land

Splash / rain drop erosion It results from soil splash caused by the impact of falling raindrops. If raindrops strikes on the land covered with thick blanket of vegetation the drop breaks into a spray of clear water, slowly finds its way into soil pores. If the rain drops strikes bare soil considerable splashing occurs. These splashes remove fine materials from the soil and leaves the land infertile by leaving behind sand and gravel particles.

Sheet erosion

It is the removal of fairly uniform layer of soil form land surface by the action of rainfall and runoff water. Rill erosion In this stage small finger like rills are formed under land scope. These rills are smoothened by working of small implements. Year after year the rills will increase not only in number but also in shape and size. These get wider and deeper. Rill erosion is more serious in soils having shallow topsoil. It may be regarded as transition stage sheet and Gully erosion. Gully erosion It is an advance stage of rill erosion where unaltered rills gets deepened and widened every year and begin to attain the form of gullies. Gullies unless stopped or controlled in the rill stage will get depended and widened. Cattle paths, tracks, furrows of other small depression along the slope favour concentration of runoff. Every time the rainwater surges down these gullies, they get depended and widened. PRINCIPLES OF GULLY EROSION The rate of gully erosion mainly depends on the runoff characteristics of the watershed, namely watershed area, soil characteristics. Highly derived gully is called as ravines. The main processes involved in the development of gully are: ) Water erosion ii) Channel erosion iii) Alternate freezing iv) Sliding Water erosion causing gullies

Water falling over the edge of the gully or bank of a ditch forms deep and rapidly extending gully. The falling water undermines the edge of the bank which caves in. The soil detached is transported by large volume of flowing water. Channel erosion Channel erosion is the scouring of soil by continuous run-off as it flows over unprotected depressions. It may also be caused by a raindrop splash on unprotected soil in the gullies. Channel erosion or waterfall erosion are commonly found in same gullies. The extension of gully head is by waterfall erosion and the sourcing of the bottom is by channel erosion. Alternate freezing Due to snow effect of alternate freezing the gullies are formed. Sliding The saturated side slopes of the gullies fall as a mass thus widening the gullies. Four stages of gully development Formation stage: It is forming of channels by downward sourcing of the soils. 2. Development stage : It is a stage where the upstream movement in the gully head and enlarged of gully in depth and width takes place. 3. Healing stage: It is the stage where the vegetation begin to grow in the gullies. 4. Stabilization stage: Here the gully bed, reaches a stable condition. The gully walls reach a stable slope and vegetative cover spreads over the gully surface. Types of Gullies