Soil Erosion Prevention

Joy Valeria Rahardja 11E

Subject: Environmental Systems and Societies
Teacher: Ratna Kusumadewi

Introduction
Soil erosion is the process in which soil particles are loosened, carried or washed away due to
the activities of agents like water, ice, snow, air, plants, animals, and humans (BYJU’S). The effects of
soil erosion should not be underestimated; the impacts that it is said to cause include ecological
degradation, desertification, destruction of infrastructure, and many more. As the result of this, many
prevention methods are usually carried out to prevent soil erosion. Some of those preventions include
vegetation, mulch matting, proper drainage system, and many more. Vegetation has been said to be one
of these effective methods of prevention; therefore, through this experiment, the impact of vegetation
to prevent soil erosion will be investigated. Protecting the soil surface with some form of cover is also
one of the main principles to control soil erosion (Queensland Government 1).

The experiment also aims to compare the rate in which soil erosion happens in a soil system
that is plain or barren, covered with other matter (in this experiment rice husk will be used), and also
has plants planted on it. Hypothetically, the soil sample with a cover and with vegetation will reduce
the amount of soil particles washed away when water flows through it. The experiment will be done
using a small adequate amount of soil instead that will be put into an opened plastic bottle horizontally
which could be a representation of the soil system.

Methodology
Dependent Variable:
The resulting soil being washed away along with 300 ml of water poured through each soil sample.

Independent Variables:
(How the soil is covered)
(A) Without any cover - plain
(B) Using rice husk
(C) Using plants (vegetation)
Controlled Variables:
Table 1.1 Controlled Variables
No. Variable
1 Amount of water
2 Type of soil
3 Angle of slope
4 Time
5 Size and shape of
container
Materials and Equipment
Table 1.2 List of Materials
No Materials
1 Soil
2 Water
3 Rice husk
4 Plants
Table 1.2 List of Equipment
No Equipments
1 Jar
2 Plastic Bottles
3 Digital Scale
4 Ruler
5 Filter Paper
6 Funnel
7 Plastic Cups
8 Scissors
9 Marker
How it may affect result
The amount of water that flows through the soil will
carry the soil particles along with it. The more water
that flows through it, the more soil particles will be
collected in the plastic cup later on.
Each soil type particle has different size and mass.
This cause one soil type to be able to be carried away
more easily than the other. Therefore, the composition
of each sand, silt, and clay for each soil sample in the
bottles should be the same.
The angle of slope affects the speed in which the
water flows. The higher the speed, the more soil
particles will get washed away. This is why it is
important to keep the angle of slope for the three soil
system samples equal when water flows through it.
The time determines how much contaminated water
has been collected after being poured.
The size and shape of the container affect the
directions and how the water flow through the soil.
Type Quantity
Sandy Clay -
Tap water 1litre
Regular rice husks 200 gr
Dracaena reflexa 2
Type/Size Uncertainty Quantity
Glass jar - 1
1500 ml - 3
200 g /0.01 g ±0.01 gr 1
15 cm ±0.1 cm 1
- - 3
Plastic - 1
Medium-sized - 6
Metal-bladed - 1
- - 1
Procedure:

1. Test your soil using jar method

a. Take a clean jar and fill it about 1/3 of the way up with the soil you are experimenting
with.
b. Fill the remainder of the jar with clean water, but leave some space at the top.
c. Using use a stirring stick to stir up the mixture really thoroughly or you can shake it
until the soil turns into a uniform slurry.
d. Leave the jar overnight so the contents settle out and the water can start to clear.
e. Place a mark the outside of the jar, showing the sand, silt and clay
f. Using a ruler, measure and record the height of each layer, and the total height of all
three layers.
Figure 1.1 – Jar Method

g. With the help of soil texture triangle determine the type of soil.
Figure 1.2 – Soil Texture Triangle

2. Prepare three of the bottles by cutting a rectangular opening roughly 7cm x 15 cm along the
side of the bottle. Use a permanent market to draw the rectangle before you cut.

3. Fill the first bottle with plain garden soil and the other 2. Press down firmly to make it nice
and compact.

Figure 1.3 – Filling the bottles with soil

4. Leave the first bottle as it is. Now, cover the top of the soil in the second bottle with your
mulch (bark chips, dead leaves and sticks etc). Plant the seedlings in the 3rd bottle. Make sure
you plant them tightly together and press down firmly to compact the soil.
Figure 1.4 – Soil System in Bottles (Sample A, B, C)

5. Place the bottles in a slope position that makes an acute angle of 25 degrees to the flat surface
below.
6. Take 3 plastic cup or bucket to collect the water (see the picture below)
Figure 1.5 – Water collecting process

7. Slowly pour equal amounts of water into each of the bottles. Pour the water in at the end
furthest from the neck of the bottle to simulate rain moving through soil. Observe the color of
the water collecting in the bowls.
8. Filter the collected water using funnel and filter paper
9. Let the filter paper dry
10. Separate the resulting soil from the filter paper until the filter paper is as clean as possible and
keep the soil in a separate small container.
11. Weigh the amount of resulting soil (the soil that is washed away along with the water that
flows through the soil system sample).
12. Compare the amount of resulting soil.
Data
Table 2.1 Soil Composition

Soil Type Height (cm) Height of each soil Percentage (%)

type / total height
Sand 1.1 0.393 39.3%
Silt 0.8 0.286 28.6%
Clay 0.9 0.321 32.1%
Total 2.8 - -

Using the jar method and the soil texture triangle, it can be deduced that the soil type is clay loam.
Table 2.2 Resulting Soil

Soil System Amount of soil washed away

Sample A 1.39
Sample B 0.03
Sample C 0.30

Graph 1 – Resulting Soil Weight

Resulting Soil Weight

(Soil Particles Carried Away Along with Water)
1,6 1,39
1,4
Mass (in grams)

1,2
1
0,8
0,6
0,4 0,3
0,2 0,03
0

Soil System

The result shows that the amount of soil washed away from Sample A is the highest (1.39 g).
Sample A consist of the soil with no cover at all, or in other words, bare soil. This indicates that as a
representation of barren or plain soil, this type of soil system is more prone to soil erosion that could be
caused by rainfalls or other factors involving the movement of water. The least amount of resulting soil
is achieved from Sample B with the amount of 0.03 g soil being washed away. Sample B is covered
with a decent amount of rice husk. This shows that using matters like leaf litter, rice husk, or even bark
chips to cover the surface of the soil can keep the topsoil from being washed away by water. Sample C,
which is the soil with vegetation, also reduce the amount of soil washed along which is shown by the
resulting soil of 0.3 grams which is a pretty significant difference compared to Sample C. This means
that vegetation can become a good soil erosion prevention method because it helps to hold the soil.
Table 2.3 Observation of Water Collected

(The water is observed after it is poured through the samples and left for 2 hours)

Soil System Water colour Water Clarity

Sample A Brown Cloudy
Sample B Clear Clear
Sample C Slightly brown Slightly cloudy

Cloudy water indicates that the water has been contaminated by the soil particles. As seen in
the table above, the resulting soil from Sample B is clear, which means that it only contains a bit of soil
particles mixed in it. This matches the quantitative data in Table 2.2 which shows that Sample B has
the least resulting collected soil. Sample C produces slightly brown and cloudy water, which means that
not much soil has been washed away as well. Sample A produces water that looks the most
contaminated with a brown colour and cloudy water. This shows how no soil erosion prevention method
took place in the soil system.

Conclusion

Through this investigation, the soil sample that succeed in reducing the amount of soil washed
away along with the water is the one with rice husk cover. The vegetation has also been effective in
reducing the amount of resulting soil. However, the soil with no cover nor vegetation causes lots of soil
particles to be washed away. The rice husk cover helped to keep the topsoil from moving, and the
vegetation holds the soil together. This means that covering soil surface as well as vegetation can be
two effective methods in preventing soil erosion.

Limitations

The investigation has several limitations which may affect the result of this investigation. In
this experiment, the soil was removed and separated from the filter papers for the weighing, which may
cause a little bit difference in the mass of the resulting soil compared to how it is supposed to weigh
because some leftover soil must have sticked to the filter paper. In this case, the inaccuracy has been
tried to be minimized as the resulting soil has been cleaned out of the filter paper. Overall, the significant
difference in number of the mass of the three samples’ resulting soil means that the experiment has been
somewhat successful in comparing the prevention effectivity.
 Another limitation would be the rate or speed of water that is being poured through the soil. As
no machine or tools are available to pour the water at a consistent speed, the changing rate of the pouring
might have affected how much soil particles have been pushed into the plastic cups.

Improvements

For further investigation, firstly, it is suggested that for the weighing of the resulting soil, it is
better to measure the weight of the filter paper and measure the weight of each filter paper along with
the soil residue that are contained in it. Then, a subtraction can be made to obtain the amount of resulting
soil collected. This will be more accurate compared to the method used in this investigation. Second, it
will be good to use tools like a laboratory tap or a tube to pour the water so that the flow of the water
would be at constant rate for the three independent variables. Additionally, for the overall experiment,
it will be better to do more trials for each sample to obtain higher accuracy.
 References

Andrew "Drew" Jeffers. “Soil Texture Analysis ‘the Jar Test.’” Home & Garden Information

Center | Clemson University, South Carolina, 2018, hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/soil-

texture-analysis-the-jar-test/.

“Experimental Design.” The Effect of Vegetation on Erosion, 30 May 2016,

theeffectofvegetationonerosion.wordpress.com/experimental-design/. Accessed 17

Mar. 2022.

Queensland Government. “Preventing and Managing Erosion | Environment, Land and

Water | Queensland Government.” Qld.gov.au, 2013,

www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/management/soil/erosion/management. Accessed

16 Mar. 2022.

Rutherford, Jill. IB Environmental Systems and Societies. 2015. Oxford University Press.

Accessed 16 Mar. 2022.

“What Is Soil Erosion? - Definition, Causes, Effects, Prevention.” BYJUS,

byjus.com/biology/soil-erosion/.
 Appendix

Picture 1 – Collecting Water Picture 2 – Water Observation Picture 3 – Resulting Soil

Picture 4 – Sample A Picture 5 – Sample B Picture 6 - Sample C

Resulting Soil Weight Resulting Soil Weight Resulting Soil Weight

Picture 7 – Filtering Picture 8 – Filtered Resulting Soil