EROSION

Erosion is the geological process in which earthen materials are worn away and
transported by natural forces such as wind or water. A similar process, weathering,
breaks down or dissolves rock, but does not involve movement.
 
Erosion is the opposite of deposition, the geological process in which earthen materials
are deposited, or built up, on a landform.
 
Most erosion is performed by liquid water, wind, or ice (usually in the form of a glacier).
If wind is dusty, or water or glacial ice is muddy, erosion is taking place. The brown
color indicates that bits of rock and soil are suspended in the fluid (air or water) and
being transported from one place to another. This transported material is
called sediment.
Physical and Chemical Erosion
 
The process of erosion is often broken down into two forms: physical
erosionand chemical erosion. They often work together, as well as with other geological
processes such as weathering and sedimentation.
 
Physical erosion
Physical erosion describes the process of rocks changing their physical properties
without changing their basic chemical composition. Physical erosion often causes rocks
to get smaller or smoother. Rocks eroded through physical erosion often form clastic
sediments. Clastic sediments are composed of fragments of older rocks that have been
transported from their place of origin.
 
Landslides and other forms of mass wasting are associated with physical weathering.
These processes cause rocks to dislodge from hillsides and crumble as they tumble
down a slope. 
 
Plant growth can also contribute to physical erosion in a process called bioerosion.
Plants break up earthen materials as they take root, and can create cracks and crevices
in rocks they encounter.
 
Ice and liquid water can also contribute to physical erosion as their movement forces
rocks to crash together or crack apart. Some rocks shatter and crumble, while others
are worn away. River rocks are often much smoother than rocks found elsewhere, for
instance, because they have been eroded by constant contact with other river rocks.
 
Chemical erosion
Chemical erosion describes the process of rocks changing their chemical composition
as they erode. Chemical erosion almost always refers to rocks interacting and
undergoing a chemical reaction with water.
 
The most familiar form of chemical erosion is probably rust, the product of a process
called oxidation. During oxidation, rocks interact with oxygen in the presence of water.
The amount of water required for oxidation is minimal, often the amount of water
present in the atmosphere. Iron is the most familiar mineral to undergo oxidation and
rust.
 
Carbonation is another form of chemical erosion. During carbonation, rocks interact with
carbon dioxide in the presence of water. In rocks such as chalk, carbonation can create
a weak acid (carbonic acid) that erodes the surface of the rock. 
 
Hydration is a form of chemical erosion in which the chemical bonds of the mineral are
changed as it interacts with water. One instance of hydration occurs as the mineral
anhydrite reacts with groundwater. The water transforms anhydrite into gypsum, one of
the most common minerals on Earth.
 
Another familiar form of chemical erosion is hydrolysis. In the process of hydrolysis, a
new solution (a mixture of two or more substances) is formed as chemicals in rock
interact with water. In many rocks, for example, sodium minerals interact with water to
form a saltwater solution.
 

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. 
• Splash erosion describes the impact of a falling raindrop, which can scatter tiny soil
particles as far as .6 meters (2 feet). 
• Sheet erosion describes erosion caused by runoff. 
• Rill erosion describes erosion that takes place as runoff develops into discrete streams
(rills). 
• Finally, gully erosion is the stage in which soil particles are transported through
large channels. Gullies carry water for brief periods of time during rainfall or snowmelt,
but appear as small valleys or crevasses during dry seasons.
 
Valley erosion is the process in which rushing streams and rivers wear away
their banks, creating larger and larger valleys. The Fish River Canyon, in southern
Namibia, is the largest canyon in Africa and a product of valley erosion. Over millions of
years, the Fish River wore away at the hard gneiss bedrock, carving a canyon about
160 kilometers (99 miles) in length, 27 kilometers (17 miles) wide, and 550 meters
(1,084 feet) deep. 
 
The ocean is a huge force of erosion. Coastal erosion—the wearing away of rocks,
earth, or sand on the beach—can change the shape of entire coastlines. During the
process of coastal erosion, waves pound rocks into pebbles and pebbles into
sand. Waves and currents sometimes transport sand away from beaches, moving the
coastline farther inland. 
 
Coastal erosion can have a huge impact on human settlement as well as
coastal ecosystems. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, for example, was nearly destroyed
by coastal erosion. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built on the Outer Banks, a
series of barrier islands off the coast of the U.S. state of North Carolina, in 1870. At the
time, the lighthouse was nearly 457 meters (1,500 feet) from the ocean. Over time, the
ocean eroded most of the beach near the lighthouse. By 1970, the pounding surf was
just 37 meters (120 feet) away and endangered the structure. Many people thought the
lighthouse would collapse during a strong storm. Instead, it was moved 880 meters
(2,900 feet) inland. 
 
The battering force of ocean waves also erodes seaside cliffs. The action of erosion can
create an array of coastal landscape features. For example, erosion can bore holes that
form caves. When water breaks through the back of the cave, it can create an arch. The
continual pounding of waves can cause the top of the arch to fall, leaving nothing but
rock columns called sea stacks. The seven remaining sea stacks of Twelve Apostles
Marine National Park, in Victoria, Australia, are among the most dramatic and well-
known of these features of coastal erosion.

Erosion by Wind
 
Wind is a powerful agent of erosion. Aeolian (wind-driven) processes constantly
transport dust, sand, and ash from one place to another. Wind can sometimes blow
sand into towering dunes. Some sand dunes in the Badain Jaran section of the Gobi
Desert in China, for example, reach more than 400 meters (1,300 feet) high. 
 
In dry areas, windblown sand can blast against rock with tremendous force, slowly
wearing away the soft rock. It polishes rocks and cliffs until they are smooth—giving the
stone a so-called “desert varnish.” Wind is responsible for the eroded features that give
Arches National Park, in the U.S. state of Utah, its name. 
 
Wind can also erode material until little remains at all. Ventifacts are rocks that have
been sculpted by wind erosion. The enormous chalk formations in the White Desert of
Egypt are ventifacts carved by thousands of years of wind roaring through the flat
landscape.
 
Some of the most destructive examples of wind erosion are the dust storms that
characterized the “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s in North America. Made brittle by years
of drought and agricultural mismanagement, millions of tons of valuable topsoil were
eroded away by strong winds in what came to be known as “black blizzards.” These
dust storms devastated local economies, forcing thousands of people who depended
on agriculture for their livelihoods to migrate.

Erosion by Ice
 
Ice, usually in the form of glaciers, can erode the earth and create dramatic landforms.
In frigid areas and on some mountaintops, glaciers move slowly downhill and across the
land. As they move, they transport everything in their path, from tiny grains of sand to
huge boulders. 
 
Rocks carried by glaciers scrape against the ground below, eroding both the ground
and the rocks. In this way, glaciers grind up rocks and scrape away the soil. Moving
glaciers gouge out basins and form steep-sided mountain valleys. Eroded sediment
called moraine is often visible on and around glaciers.
 
Several times in Earth’s history, vast glaciers covered parts of the Northern
Hemisphere. These glacial periods are known as ice ages. Ice Age glaciers carved
much of the modern northern North American and European landscape. 
 
Ice Age glaciers scoured the ground to form what are now the Finger Lakes in the U.S.
state of New York, for example. They carved fjords, deep inlets along the coast
of Scandinavia. The snout of a glacier eroded Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts, and
formed the recognizable fishhook shape of Cape Cod itself.
 
Today, in places such as Greenland and Antarctica, glaciers continue to erode the
earth. Ice sheets there can be more than a mile thick, making it difficult for scientists to
measure the speed and patterns of erosion. However, ice sheets do erode remarkably
quickly—as much as half a centimeter (.2 inch) every year. 
 
Other Forces of Erosion
 
Thermal erosion describes the erosion of permafrost along a river or coastline.
Warm temperatures can cause ice-rich permafrost to break off coastlines in huge
chunks, often carrying valuable topsoil and vegetationwith them. These eroded “floating
islands” can disintegrate into the ocean, or even crash into another piece of land—
helping spread new life to different landscapes.
 
Mass wasting describes the downward movement of rocks, soil, and vegetation. Mass
wasting incidents include landslides, rockslides, and avalanches. Mass wasting can
erode and transport millions of tons of earth, reshaping hills and mountains and, often,
devastating communities in its path.

Factors Impacting Erosion

 
Some of the natural factors impacting erosion in a landscape include climate,
topography, vegetation, and tectonic activity.
 
Climate is perhaps the most influential force impacting the effect of erosion on a
landscape. Climate includes precipitation and wind. Climate also includes seasonal
variability, which influences the likelihood of weathered sediments being transported
during a weather event such as a snowmelt, breeze, or hurricane.
 
Topography, the shape of surface features of an area, can contribute to how erosion
impacts that area. The earthen flood plains of river valleys are much more prone to
erosion than rocky flood channels, which may take centuries to erode. Soft rock like
chalk will erode more quickly than hard rocks like granite.
 
Vegetation can slow the impact of erosion. Plant roots adhere to soil and rock particles,
preventing their transport during rainfall or wind events. Trees, shrubs, and other plants
can even limit the impact of mass wasting events such as landslides and other natural
hazards such as hurricanes. Deserts, which generally lack thick vegetation, are often
the most eroded landscapes on the planet.
 
Finally, tectonic activity shapes the landscape itself, and thus influences the way
erosion impacts an area. Tectonic uplift, for example, causes one part of the landscape
to rise higher than others. In a span of about 5 million years, tectonic uplift caused the
Colorado River to cut deeper and deeper into the Colorado Plateau, land in what is now
the U.S. state of Arizona. It eventually formed the Grand Canyon, which is more than
1,600 meters (1 mile) deep and as much as 29 kilometers (18 miles) wide in some
places.
 

Erosion and People

 
Deposition, Soils, and Sediments
Eroded sediments have profoundly influenced the development of civilizations around
the world. 
 
Agricultural development is often reliant on the nutrient-rich soils created by
the accumulation of eroded earth. When the velocity of wind or water slows, eroded
sediment is deposited in a new location. The sediment builds up in a process
called sedimentation, and creates fertile land. 
 
River deltas are made almost entirely of sediment that has eroded from the banks and
bed of a river. The rich delta soils of the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers in northern
California, for example, have created one of the most agriculturally productive areas in
the world.
 
Loess is an agriculturally rich sediment made almost entirely of wind-blown, eroded
sediment. The Yellow River in central China gets its name from the yellow loess blown
into and suspended in its water. The fertile lands around the Yellow River have been
among China’s most productive for thousands of years.
 
Erosion Control
Erosion is a natural process, but human activity can make it happen more quickly. 
 
Human activity altering the vegetation of an area is perhaps the biggest human factor
contributing to erosion. Trees and plants hold soil in place. When people cut down
forests or plow up grasses for agriculture and development, the soil is more vulnerable
to washing or blowing away. Landslides become more common. Water rushes over
exposed soil rather than soaking into it, causing flooding. 
 
Global warming, the current period of climate change, is speeding erosion. The change
in climate has been linked to more frequent and severe storms. Storm surges following
hurricanes and typhoons can erode kilometers of coastline and coastal habitat. These
coastal areas are home to residences, businesses, and economically important
industries, such as fisheries.
 
The rise in temperature is also quickly melting glaciers. The slower, more massive form
of glacial erosion is being supplanted by the cumulative impact of rill, gully, and valley
erosion. In areas downstream from glacial snouts, rapidly melting glaciers are
contributing to sea level rise. The rising sea erodes beaches more quickly. 
 
Erosion control is the process of reducing erosion by wind and water. Farmers
and engineers must regularly practice erosion control. 
 
Sometimes, engineers simply install structures to physically prevent soil from being
transported. Gabions are huge wire frames that hold boulders in place, for instance.
Gabions are often placed near cliffs. These cliffs, often near the coast, have homes,
businesses, and highways near them. When erosion by water or wind threatens to
tumble the boulders toward buildings and cars, gabions protect landowners and drivers
by holding the rocks in place.
 
Erosion control also includes physically changing the landscape. Communities often
invest in windbreaks and riparian buffers to protect valuable agricultural land.
Windbreaks, also called hedgerows or shelterbelts, are lines of trees and shrubs
planted to protect cropland from wind erosion. Riparian buffers describe plants such as
trees, shrubs, grasses, and sedges that line the banks of a river. Riparian buffers help
contain the river in times of increased stream flow and flooding. 
 
Living shorelines are another form of erosion control in wetland areas. Living shorelines
are constructed by placing native plants, stone, sand, and even living organisms such
as oysters along wetland coasts. These plants help anchor the soil to the area,
preventing erosion. By securing the land, living shorelines establish a natural habitat.
They protect coastlines from powerful storm surges as well as erosion.