Erosion and weathering are the processes in which the rocks are broken down into fine particles. Erosion is the process in which rock particles are carried away by wind and water. Weathering, on the other hand, degrades the rocks without displacing them.

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.

The agents of soil erosion are the same as the agents of all types of erosion: water, wind, ice, or gravity. Running water is the leading cause of soil erosion, because water is abundant and has a lot of power. Wind is also a leading cause of soil erosion because wind can pick up soil and blow it far away.

Sheet erosion is the uniform removal of soil in thin layers, and it occurs when soil particles are carried evenly over the soil surface by rainwater that does not infiltrate into the ground. From: Horse Pasture Management, 2019.

“Soil erosion is the natural process in which the topsoil of a field is carried away by physical sources such as wind and water.”

Erosion happens when rocks and sediments are picked up and moved to another place by ice, water, wind or gravity. Mechanical weathering physically breaks up rock. One example is called frost action or frost shattering. Water gets into cracks and joints in bedrock.

Impacts of erosion

• reduced ability of the soil to store water and nutrients.
• exposure of subsoil, which often has poor physical and chemical properties.
• higher rates of runoff, shedding water and nutrients otherwise used for crop growth.
• loss of newly planted crops.
• deposits of silt in low-lying areas.

In his studies, Wheeting found natural amounts of soil erosion helped feed water sources with essential nutrients, helping the local aquatic ecosystem. The erosion also helped cleanse the soil of any useless materials, such as rotting tree matter or nutrient-less dirt from the area.