Wind-blown sand may carve rocks into interesting shapes (Figure below). This form of erosion is called abrasion. It occurs any time rough sediments are blown or dragged over surfaces.

Wind breaks are often planted by farmers to reduce wind erosion. Wind abrasion. Abrasion is the process of erosion produced by the suspended particles that impact on solid objects. Windblown grains of sand, carried along at high speed, are a very effective tool that can sandblast away rocks by abrasion.

Larger particles, such as sand, move by saltation. The wind blows them in short hops. They stay close to the ground. Particles larger than sand move by creep.

Sand grains transported by strong winds can damage vegetation in their path by sandblasting. Air pollution caused by fine particles in suspension can affect people’s health and cause other problems. Overgrazing by livestock is a prime cause of wind erosion.

How to reduce wind erosion

1. Reduce the number of tillage passes and intensity.
2. Add a cover crop after a short-season crop.
3. Leave residue standing.
4. Plant vegetative buffer strips in erosive areas to trap sediment and slow wind speeds.

The four main types of river erosion are abrasion, attrition, hydraulic action and solution.

Water erosion. This includes the splashing of soil particles by raindrop impact; sheet erosion whereby a layer of topsoil is removed by flowing water; and gully erosion where a channel is formed. Gullies are often perceived as the most serious form of water erosion because they are obvious features in the landscape.

The effects of soil erosion go beyond the loss of fertile land. It has led to increased pollution and sedimentation in streams and rivers, clogging these waterways and causing declines in fish and other species. And degraded lands are also often less able to hold onto water, which can worsen flooding.

The rate and magnitude of soil erosion by water is controlled by the following factors:

• Rainfall and Runoff.
• Soil Erodibility.
• Slope Gradient and Length.
• Cropping and Vegetation.
• Tillage Practices.
• Sheet Erosion.
• Rill Erosion.
• Gully Erosion.

The various factors of soil erosion are:

• Wind. When strong winds blow, the topsoil along with the organic matter is carried away by the wind.
• Water. When it rains in the hilly areas, the soil gets washed away towards the plains.
• Overgrazing.
• Deforestation.
• Afforestation.
• Crop Rotation.
• Terrace Farming.
• Building Dams.

Crop Rotation: Rotating in high-residue crops — such as corn, hay, and small grain — can reduce erosion as the layer of residue protects topsoil from being carried away by wind and water. Conservation Tillage: Conventional tillage produces a smooth surface that leaves soil vulnerable to erosion.

Major factors that affect the amount of erosion are soil cloddiness, surface roughness, wind speed, soil moisture, field size, and vegetative cover.

Soil surface roughness, unsheltered distance, and wind velocity and turbulence are additional factors influencing wind erosion, and topography is an additional factor influencing water erosion. The following six pages will discuss each of the factors contributing to water and wind erosion.

To control wind erosion:

• maintain a vegetative cover, either growing plants or crop residues,
• reduce cultivated fallow,
• reduce or eliminate tillage,
• if you do till, choose a tillage implement that buries less residue and reduce tillage speed,
• plant and maintain field shelterbelts.
• avoid overgrazing.

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.

Not only does wind erosion damage the land by drying out soil and reducing the nutrients of the land, it can also cause air pollution. Enveloping crops, covering highways, and invading homes, the sand, dust, and dirt created from wind erosion can impact plant and human life in numerous ways.

Aerokinesis is the ability to control wind currents by utilizing psionics and the mind. With this power, practitioners can manipulate the air around them to change the flow of current and even form gusts of wind. Combined with Thermokinesis , aerokinetic maneuvers can create warm or cold gusts.

Omnikinesis is the ability to mentally control anything and everything that exists, organic or created, existing now or in the future, right down to the molecular level. This is quite possibly the most overwhelming and most powerful ability because it involves everything that tangibly exists without exception.

Wind erosion abrades surfaces and makes desert pavement, ventifacts, and desert varnish. Sand dunes are common wind deposits that come in different shapes, depending on winds and sand availability. Loess is a very fine grained, wind-borne deposit that can be important to soil formation.

Wind erosion assumes significant proportions only when the wind carries a load of sand grains which bombard the bare soil surface, and sheet erosion occurs when rain splashes on naked soil.

Gully erosion happens when runoff concentrates and flows strongly enough to detach and move soil particles. For example, a waterfall may form, with runoff picking up energy as it plunges over the gully head. Splashback at the base of the gully head erodes the subsoil and the gully eats its way up the slope.

The laterite soils are commonly found in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and the hilly areas of Odisha and Assam.

Gullies are permanent erosional forms that develop when water concentrates in narrow runoff paths and channels and cuts into the soil to depths that cannot be smoothed over by tillage any more.

Gully erosion causes severe damage to agricultural lands, including soil loss, increase in surface runoff, lower soil water-holding capacity, lower quality and quantity of water, lower groundwater table, and lower agricultural production.

Where Can a Gully Be Found? A gully can be found on hillsides or mountainsides where spring runoff may carve channels into the soil.