Sanskriti Kumari presented on the topic of soil erosion and its causes. She discussed the different types of soil erosion including water erosion, wind erosion, and mass movement. Water erosion can occur through splash erosion, sheet erosion, rill erosion, gully erosion, ravine erosion, and more. Wind erosion moves soil particles through surface creep, saltation, and suspension. Mass movement includes processes like creep, landslides, debris flows, and mudflows. The causes of soil erosion include soil erodibility, slope, climate, rainfall, deforestation, farming practices, and more. Long-term soil erosion degrades soil fertility and productivity by reducing topsoil thickness, rooting depth, and soil nutrient levels.

1. Training On soil fertility and its management
Presented By
Sanskriti Kumari
B.sc Ag 4th year
Institute of Agriculture
Sciences
Rajeev Gandhi South
Presented At
Krishi Vigyan Kendra
Institute of Agriculture
Sciences
Rajeev Gandhi South
Topic: Soil erosion and its Causes

2. SOIL EROSION:
INRTODUCTION
TYPES OF SOIL EROSION
Agents of Soil Erosion
WATER EROSION
DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL
EROSION CAUSED BY WATER
WIND EROSION
DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOIL
PARTICLES MOVEMENT BY
WIND
MASS MOVEMENT
DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL
EROSION BY MASS MOVEMENT
CAUSES OF SOIL EROSION
SOIL EROSION: DEGRADING
SOIL FERTILITY AND
PRODUCTIVITY
CONCLUSION

3. INTRODUCTION
 Soil erosion is the detachment and movement of soil material.
 It is the steady, degenerative process of the loss of topsoil.
 It is a natural process which has increasingly been exacerbated by human activities such as
agriculture and deforestation.
 Soil erosion is an important social and economic problem and an essential factor in assessing
ecosystem health and function.
 The National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning (NBSS & LUP) estimates that soil
erosion extends to about about 119.2 Mh area in India. The average annual rate of soil erosion in
the country is 16.35 t/h i.e. 5334 MT/year. (Source: https://www.indiawaterportal.org/faqs/soil-
erosion-threatens-agriculture-india)

4. Chart shows the changes in the processes leading to desertification/land degradation between 2003-2005 and
2011-2013. Chart from ISRO’s Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India.

5. TYPES OF SOIL EROSION
Natural or Geological or Normal Soil
Erosion:
When the top soils are gradually removed under normal
conditions of physical, biotic and hydrological equilibrium
it is called normal erosion. Sometimes, it is also called
geological erosion it take place steadily but long time slowly
which developed the present topographic feature like
valley, plains, stream, channel etc. It is very slow process in
which complete equilibrium is maintained between soil

6. TYPES OF SOIL EROSION
Accelerated Soil Erosion:
It occurs due to disturbance in natural
equilibrium by the activity of men and animal
through land mismanagement, destruction of
forests, over grazing etc. When the removal of
soil does not keep harmony with the soil
formation and it is much faster than the
latter, it is called accelerated soil erosion.

7. Agents of Soil Erosion
Water (flows)
Wind (blows)
Gravity (pulls)
Glaciers
(scrape)

9.  Running water is one of
the main agents, which
carries away soil
particles. Soil erosion by
water occurs when the
soil on the ground
displaces by means of
raindrops, floods, waves
or ice (snowmelt).
WATER EROSION

10.  Soil erosion caused by rainfall is
the application of energy from two
distinct sources namely (i) the
falling rain drops and (ii) the
surface flow.
 The chief role of the falling of
rain drop on ground is to detach soil
particle, whereas that of the surface
flow is to transport the soil.
WATER EROSION

11. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL EROSION CAUSED BY WATER

12. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL EROSION CAUSED BY WATER
Splash erosion
Remove of soil particles due to rain
drops is called splash erosion.
Sheet erosion
The detachment and transportation of soil
particles by flowing rainwater is called
sheet or wash off erosion. This is very slow
process and often remains unnoticed.

13. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL EROSION CAUSED BY WATER
Rill erosion
When runoff starts, channelization begins and erosion is no
longer uniform. Raindrop impact does not directly detach any
particles below flow line in rills but increases the detachment
and transportation capacity of the flow. Rills are small channels,
which can be removed by timely normal tillage operations.
Gully erosion
It is more prominent type of erosion in
which heavy rainfall, rapidly running
water and transporting water may result
in deeper cavities or grooves called gullies.
Gullies may be “V” shaped or “U” shaped.

14. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL EROSION CAUSED BY WATER
Ravine erosion
It is prolonged and advance stage
of gully erosion leads to ravines
found in deep alluvial soils. It is
nothing but deep and wide gullies.
Piping and sapping
erosion
Erosion of streambanks and
shorelines by exfiltrating seepage

15. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL EROSION CAUSED BY WATER
Bank erosion
Stream or river banks are eroded by
water either flowing over the sides of
a stream or scouring at the base.
Coastal erosion
Coastal erosion of soil occurs along sea shores.
It is caused by the wave action of the sea and
the inward movement of the sea into the land.

16. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL EROSION CAUSED BY WATER
Glacial scour
Erosion resulting from glacial action, whereby
the surface material is removed and the rock
fragments carried by the glacier abrade, scratch,
and polish the bedrock.
Ice/ glacial Plucking
It occurs when rocks and stones become frozen
to the base or sides of the glacier and are plucked
from the ground or rock face as the glacier
moves. This leaves behind a jagged landscape.

17.  Wind erosion takes place normally in arid and semi arid
areas devoid of vegetation, where the wind velocity is high.
 The soil particles on the land surface are lifted and blown off
as dust storms.
 Lifting and abrasive action of wind results in detachment of
tiny soil particles from the granules or clods.
 The impact of these rapidly moving particles dislodge other
particles from clods and aggregates.
 These dislodged particles are ready for movement.
WIND EROSION

18. WIND EROSION

20. Surface Creep: Rolling and
sliding of soil particles (0.5-2.0 mm in
diameter) along the ground.
Saltation: Movement of soil particles
(0.1-0.5 mm in diameter) by short series of
bounces along the ground surface.
Suspension: Refers to the movement
of particles smaller than 0.1mm diameter-
that are lifted far above the surface.
THREE WAYS SOIL PARTICLES ARE MOVED BY WIND

21.  Mass wasting is an important part of the
erosional process, and is often the first stage
in the breakdown and transport of weathered
materials in mountainous areas.
 It moves material from higher elevations to
lower elevations by eroding agents such as
streams, gravity and glaciers.
 It always occurs continuously on all slopes;
sometimes processes act very slowly; others
occur very suddenly, with disastrous results.
MASS WASTING

24. Creep
It is the imperceptibly
slow, downslope
movement of soil and
earth materials. Rates of
movement are often a few
cm/year, but the
inevitability of this can
severely impact shallowly-
placed structures.
DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL EROSION CAUSED BY MASS MOVEMENT
Landslides or slip
erosion
This type of soil erosion is caused
by heavy rainfall and it occurs in
sloppy lands, such as mountains
and hilly areas with slope is >20%.
In this type of erosion when the
running water percolates through
the crevices of rocks great masses
of soils and loose rocks lying on

25. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL EROSION CAUSED BY MASS MOVEMENT
Debris slide/debris flow
Debris flow is a type of landslide made up of a
mixture of water-saturated rock debris and soil a
consistency similar to wet cement. . Debris flows
move rapidly downslope under the influence of
gravity. To be considered a debris flow, the moving
material must be loose and capable of “flow”, and
more than half of the solids in the mass must be
larger than sand grains, including gravel-, pebble-,
cobble- and boulder-sized material.

26. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL EROSION CAUSED BY MASS MOVEMENT
Mud slide or mud flow
It is a mass of water and fine-
grained earth materials that flows
down a stream, ravine, canyon,
arroyo, or gulch. To be considered a
mud flow, more than half of the
particles must be sand sized or
smaller that can flow very rapidly. A
mud flow is the sandy, more water-
saturated analog of a debris flow.
Avalanche
An avalanche occurs when a mass of rock or ice falls or slides
suddenly under the force of gravity.

27. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL EROSION CAUSED BY MASS MOVEMENT
Slump
It is a form of mass wasting that occurs when a coherent mass of loosely
consolidated materials or a rock layer moves a short distance down a slope

28. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOIL EROSION CAUSED BY MASS MOVEMENT
Solifluction
It is flowage of water-saturated soil down a steep
slope. Because permafrost is impermeable to
water, soil overlying it may become oversaturated
and slide downslope under the pull of gravity.

29. CAUSES OF SOIL EROSION
 Soil erodibility
 Undulating topography
 The slope of the Land
 Arid and semi arid climate
 Rain and Rainwater Runoff
 Overgrazing rangelands
 Over-harvesting vegetation
 Deforestation and urbanization
 Economic and developmental activities
 Unsheltered Distance and Lack of Vegetation
 Farming practices
 Continuous cropping
 Monoculture systems
 Shifting cultivations.
 Abandoning farmland
 Off-highway vehicle use
 Energy exploration
 Floods
 Drought
 Wildland fire

30. Abandon farmland
Energy exploration (a), domestic livestock trampling (b), and off-highway vehicles (c). Over-harvesting vegetation
CAUSES OF SOIL EROSION
Rainwater Runoff Overgrazing rangelands Farming practices

31.  Long-term effects of soil erosion on productivity can be
observe by changes in the soil profile properties such as
topsoil thickness, rooting depth, which relates to plant-
available water capacity, depth to maximum clay content
in the soil profile.
 Soil fertility is vital to a productive soil. Losing topsoil to
erosion contributes to a loss of inherent soil fertility levels
of N, P, K, and thus to a decline in potential crop yield.
 The addition of manure and fertilizer can help offset some
loss of inherent fertility of eroded soil. But the productivity
can be restored if favourable subsoil material is present.
SOIL EROSION: DEGRADING SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTIVITY

32.  Productivity lost by excessive soil erosion cannot be
restored with additional inputs when soils have
subsoil material with unfavourable physical and
chemical properties for plant root growth.
 In soils that have fragile subsoils, limited rooting
depth, coarse sand and gravel, or high densities, there
is little or no ability to recover yield losses with
increased inputs. The loss of yield is devastating.
 In summary, promoting soil erosion means
promoting inherent soil fertility and productivity and
making land barren in long run.
SOIL EROSION: DEGRADING SOIL FERTILITY AND PRODUCTIVITY

33. CONCLUSION
 Today soil erosion is considered as one of the most serious natural resource depletions in the
world. Soil erosion, or the gradual reduction of topsoil in a geographic area, can have great effects
on inhabitants of an affected area.
 It can permanently affect the land, which can be devastating for farmers. Habitable lands and
arable lands slowly, over time, become transformed into barren, dry and cracked beds incapable
of sustaining water or wildlife.
 And a loss of biodiversity, the disturbance of ecosystem processes and degradation are not just a
natural loss —these translate into very real economic losses.

34. “Essentially, all life depends upon the
soil … There can be no life without soil
and no soil without life; they have
evolved together.”
~ Charles Kellogg

35. Thank
You