Soil Erosion

Soil Erosion


Soil is considered one of the reusable materials for the survival to life on earth. Soil is the topmost layer of the earth, formed due to mechanical disintegration & chemical decomposition of rock materials. 

It is estimated that formation of one centimetre of soil requires several years. Large amounts of top soil are carried away due to precipitation, wind, flowing rivers, glaciers etc.; this is known as soil erosion.
Effects of Soil Erosion: 
Equilibrium occurs in nature between the climate (chiefly rainfall and temperature) of a place and the vegetation cover which protects the layer of soil. Grass, shrubs and trees retard the transportation of soil. Some amount of erosion takes place even under this natural cover, but it is very slow and is compensated by the formation of fresh soil by ordinary processes of natural weathering. 
This type of erosion is therefore of little consequence because there is balance between the disintegration of rocks and the subsequent formation of soil. Rate of change is upsetting when balance is destroyed and accelerated erosion takes place. 

Man is mainly responsible for setting in motion these changes through deforestation, cultivation and steep slopes, unrestricted grazing, indiscriminate drainage operations and denuding forests.

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