Rill erosion

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Definition - What does Rill

Section Erosion mean?
Divider Rill erosion is a type of erosion that results in small, yet
well defined streams. It happens when water from
Option 2 rainfall does not soak into the soil, but runs across it
instead. The rills or small channels (often only 30cm
deep) are caused when water running across the
surface of the ground gathers in a natural depression
nm,vb in the soil, and erosion is concentrated as the water
flows through the depression.

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• Hill slopes are prone to sheet erosion and rill
erosion. The amount of hill slope erosion largely
depends on how the land is used.

• Rill erosion occurs when runoff water forms small About Us

channels as it concentrates down a slope. These
rills can be up to 0.3m deep. If they become any
deeper than 0.3m they are referred to as gully
erosion .

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Rills are created when water erodes the topsoil on
hillsides, and so are significantly affected by seasonal
weather patterns. They tend to appear more often in
rainier months. Rills begin to form when the runoff shear
stress, the ability of surface runoff to detach soil particles,
overcomes the soil's shear strength, the ability of soil to
resist force working parallel to the soil's surface. This
begins the erosion process as water breaks soil particles
free and carries them down the slope. These forces
explain why sandy, loamy soils are especially susceptible
to the formation of rills, whereas dense clays tend to resist
rill formation.

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• Rills cannot form on every surface, and their formation is intrinsically connected to the steepness of the hillside slope.
Gravity determines the force of the water, which provides the power required to start the erosional environment
necessary to create rills. Therefore, the formation of rills is primarily controlled by the slope of the hillside. Slope
controls the depth of the rills, while the length of the slope and the soil's permeability control the number of incisions in
an area. Each type of soil has a threshold value, a slope angle below which water velocity cannot produce sufficient
force to dislodge enough soil particles for rills to form . For instance, on many non-cohesive slopes, this threshold value
hovers around an angle of 2 degrees with a shear velocity  between 3 and 3.5 cm/s.
•
After rills begin forming, they are subjected to variety of other erosional forces which may increase their size and output
volume. Up to 37% of erosion in a rill-ridden area may derive from mass movement, or collapse, of rill sidewalls. As
water flows through a rill, it will undercut into the walls, triggering collapse. Also, as water seeps into the soil of the
walls, they weaken, amplifying the chance of wall collapse. The erosion created by these forces increases the size of the
rill while also swelling its output volume.

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Although rills are small, they transport significant amounts
of soil each year. Some estimates claim rill flow has a
carrying capacity of nearly ten times that of non-rill, or
interrill, areas. In a moderate rainfall, rill flow can carry
rock fragments up to 9 cm in diameter downslope. In
1987, scientist J. Poesen conducted an experiment on the
Huldenberg field in Belgium which revealed that during a
moderate rainfall, rill erosion removed as much as 200 kg
(in submerged weight) of rock.[8]

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Unfortunately, the considerable effect rills have on
landscapes often negatively impact human activity. Rills
have been observed washing away archaeological
sites. They are also very common in agricultural areas
because sustained agriculture depletes the soil of much of
its organic content, increasing the erodibility of the soil.
Agricultural machines, such as tractors, compact the soil
to the point where water flows over the surface rather than
seeping into the soil. Tractor wheel impressions often
channel water, providing a perfect environment for the
generation of rills. If left alone, these rills may erode
considerable amounts of arable soil.
Under proper field management rills are small and are
easily repaired by contour tilling the soil. This will prevent,
for a time at least, the rills from growing and eroding the
landscape more rapidly with time.

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