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Evolution
May 25, 2023
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5
The Midwestern United States has lost 57.6 billion tons of topsoil due to farming practices over the past 160 years, and the rate of erosion, even following the U.S. Department of Agriculture's guidelines, is still 25 times ...
Agriculture
May 25, 2023
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Mountain biking is one of the most popular leisure activities today. Sport ecologists at the University of Bayreuth have now compiled and evaluated a wide range of previously published findings on the ecological consequences ...
Ecology
May 23, 2023
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Perennial grasses are economically and biologically important in the Southwest U.S. region, but the abundance of these plants can change dramatically over time. There is concern that declines in grasses are becoming more ...
Plants & Animals
May 22, 2023
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2
Economic expansion leaves indelible marks on coral chemistry, according to a new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. By analyzing barium levels in coral cores, scientists can access decades-old ...
Earth Sciences
May 11, 2023
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10
The 200 million Europeans who live in coastal zones are already feeling the impact of global warming through extreme variations in sea level and flooding.
Earth Sciences
May 3, 2023
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With a view toward predicting the consequences of human-made climate change for Mediterranean ecosystems, Earth scientists from Heidelberg University have studied natural climate and vegetation fluctuations of the past 500,000 ...
Earth Sciences
May 2, 2023
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29
War-ravaged Libya is better known for its oil wealth than its forests, but environmentalists hope to save its remaining green spaces from logging, development and the impacts of climate change.
Environment
Apr 28, 2023
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8
New research by Virginia Tech scientists shows that sections of the Chesapeake Bay are sinking at rates of nearly a quarter an inch—or 7 millimeters—a year. Further, up-to-date knowledge of where the ground in the Chesapeake ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 27, 2023
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156
In parts of California's iconic mountainous coasts, breathtaking beauty is punctuated by brusque signs warning spectators to stay back from unstable cliffs. The dangers of coastal erosion are an all-too-familiar reality for ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 17, 2023
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For morphological image processing operations, see Erosion (morphology) For use of in dermatopathology, see Erosion (dermatopathology)
Erosion is the removal of solids (sediment, soil, rock and other particles) in the natural environment. It usually occurs due to transport by wind, water, or ice; by down-slope creep of soil and other material under the force of gravity; or by living organisms, such as burrowing animals, in the case of bioerosion.
Erosion is distinguished from weathering, which is the process of chemical or physical breakdown of the minerals in the rocks, although the two processes may occur concurrently.
Erosion is a noticeable intrinsic natural process but in many places it is increased by human land use. Poor land use practices include deforestation, overgrazing, unmanaged construction activity and road-building. Land that is used for the production of agricultural crops generally experiences a significant greater rate of erosion than that of land under natural vegetation. This is particularly true if tillage is used, which reduces vegetation cover on the surface of the soil and disturbs both soil structure and plant roots that would otherwise hold the soil in place. However, improved land use practices can limit erosion, using techniques such as terrace-building, conservation tillage practices, and tree planting.
A certain amount of erosion is natural and, in fact, healthy for the ecosystem. For example, gravels continuously move downstream in watercourses. Excessive erosion, however, does cause problems, such as receiving water sedimentation, ecosystem damage and outright loss of soil.
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