Erosion by Water. 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.

Rill erosion occurs when runoff water forms small channels as it concentrates down a slope. These rills can be up to 0.3m deep. If they become any deeper than 0.3m they are referred to as gully erosion.

which is the most damaging? rill erosion is the erosion by running water through small channels. gully erosion is the result of a channel becoming eroded, it becomes a huge wide channel.

The main forms of erosion are:

• surface erosion.
• fluvial erosion.
• mass-movement erosion.
• streambank erosion.

When the forest trees and other plants are cut down, then the top soil gets exposed and becomes loose because there are no roots to bind soil and no cover to soften the effect of falling rain. Blowing wind and flowing rainwater can then carry away this loose soil easily causing soil erosion.

Prevention of soil pollution can be done by (i) use of manures instead of synthetic fertilisers. (ii) use of natural pesticides. (iii) avoid dumping of polythene and plastics in soil. Prevention of soil erosion can be done by (i) afforestation that is large scale planting in place of cut down forests.

organisms depend on soil for their survival. Soil is essential for all living organisms whether they are aquatic or terrestrial. Soil plays important role in biogeochemical cycle which is a main source of recycling of nutrients from atmosphere to soil and then to water.

Ans: Organisms need water because it plays a vital role in the reaction taking place within organism’s cells and body. Water acts as a universal solvent, providing a medium for the chemical reactions to occur. Substances are alsotransported from one part of body to the other in the dissolved state.

Erosion involved three processes: detachment (from the ground), transportation (via water or wind), and deposition. The deposition is often in places we don’t want the soil such as streams, lakes, reservoirs, or deltas.

Plants also help absorb some of the water in the soil. These effects make it harder for water to wash the soil away. Plants also help reduce erosion in other ways, such as breaking the wind that might blow dry topsoil away.

Planting Vegetation as ground cover: Farmers plant trees and grass to cover and bind the soil. Plants prevent wind and water erosion by covering the soil and binding the soil with their roots. The best choice of plants to prevent soil erosion are herbs, wild flowers and small trees.

You can reduce soil erosion by:

• Maintaining a healthy, perennial plant cover.
• Mulching.
• Planting a cover crop – such as winter rye in vegetable gardens.
• Placing crushed stone, wood chips, and other similar materials in heavily used areas where vegetation is hard to establish and maintain.

Farmers enrich the soil by adding of biological manure, fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals to increase the yield exponentially. If these chemicals are used for longer time in high amounts than these may detoriate the quality of soil.

Land use. Grass is the best natural soil protector against soil erosion because of its relatively dense cover. Small grains, such as wheat, offer considerable obstruction to surface wash. Row crops such as maize and potatoes offer little cover during the early growth stages and thereby encourage erosion.

Healthy soil gives us clean air and water, bountiful crops and forests, productive grazing lands, diverse wildlife, and beautiful landscapes. Soil does all this by performing five essential functions: Regulating water – Soil helps control where rain, snowmelt, and irrigation water goes.

Soil provides many services and many products. The plants that are grown in soil can be used for food, clothing, recreation, aesthetics, building materials, medicines, and more. The minerals that make up soil particles can be used for dyes, make-ups, and medicines, or shaped into bricks, plates, and vases.

The plants that are grown in soil can be used for food, clothing, recreation, aesthetics, building materials, medicines etc. Soil has vital nutrients for plants. Clay soil is used in making ceramics, or pottery. Soil is commonly used in antibiotics.

Soil is the most important renewable natural resource. It is the medium of plant growth and supports different types of living organisms on the Earth. Soil helps in providing food to this Earth.

Its preservation is essential for food security and our sustainable future. Soil is a finite resource, meaning its loss and degradation is not recoverable within a human lifespan.

Loam

They have low infiltration rates when thoroughly wetted and consist chiefly of soils with a layer that impedes downward movement of water and soils with moderately fine to fine structure. Group D soils are clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay, silty clay or clay.

There are six main soil types:

• Clay.
• Sandy.
• Silty.
• Peaty.
• Chalky.
• Loamy.

Group D soils typically have greater than 40 percent clay, less than 50 percent sand, and have clayey textures. In some areas, they also have high shrink-swell potential.