Water Erosion Degrading The Land in Australia – Science Essay
This essay will explore the topic of water erosion. Water erosion means the removal of soil by water. In this essay, I want to investigate the answers to the
following questions. First, this essay will talk about what it is and why does it happen. Second, this essay will talk about what effect and where does it occur. Third, this essay will try to understand what has been done and is being done to control erosion.
Water erosion is the most common type of land degradation affecting Australia. It could be divided into 4 types. Sheet Erosion is the removal of a fairly uniform layer of soil from the land surface by raindrop splash or runoff. After the gully erosion land surface is runoff by water and it makes large cannels in the landscape. Tunnel erosion remove the sub-surface soil while the soil surface remains act, and landslip is the removal of the soil mass downhill under the force of gravity. This water erosion happens because of heavy rainfall.
The effect of the water erosion is usually damage to vegetation. Loss of top soil and fertility, reduced plant growth, loss of area for farming could be main problems of water erosion. Water erosion mostly happen in bald area. Plants prevent soils from being swept away because their roots hold the soil. The area which animals ate and trample the grasses. Once again, the bare soil is vulnerable to water or wind.
Water erosion can be minimized by using contour banks and vegetation cover. Gully erosion can be controlled by grassed waterway. A grassed waterway is a wide, shallow grassed channel that can carry a large volume of water quickly down a steep slope. Drop structures are constructed along waterways to drop water to lower elevations without causing erosion.
Water erosion has 4 main types and happens because water removes the soil. Its effect is the damage to the soil. The damage makes vegetation to fail. Water erosion usually occurs in bare soil. There are several tries to cure the erosion. I wanted to find it to, but I couldn’t.