Name: Melinda Saint-Lot

Teacher: Miss Keesha St-John

Subject: Agricultural Science
Class: Grade 9B
School: Queen’s College
 What is Soil Destruction?
Soil destruction is the loss of soil quality due to incorrect use or management, most
commonly for agricultural, industrial, or urban reasons. It is a significant
environmental issue. Soils are a critical natural resource that support all forms of
life on the planet.

What is Soil Erosion?

Soil Erosion is a type of soil degradation. It is the slow wearing away of the topsoil
by physical forces such as wind and water. The soil particles loosen or are washed
away in valleys, oceans, rivers, streams, or faraway areas as a result of this process.
Human activities such as agriculture and deforestation have exacerbated the
problem. Soil erosion is a continuous process that can occur at a slow or rapid
pace. It leads to a steady loss of topsoil, environmental deterioration, and soil
collapse.

What is Soil Conservation?

Soil conservation refers to a set of techniques that are intended to keep the soil
from deteriorating. Soil conservation is treating the soil as a living ecosystem. This
entails continually restoring organic stuff to the soil.

Types of Soil Erosion

o Man-made Erosion
o Wind Erosion
o Sheet Erosion
o Rill Erosion
o Gully Erosion

 Man-made Erosion
While erosion is generally a natural process, human actions can accelerate
the process, and some human activities can actually degrade the soil.
Intensive agriculture, deforestation, roadways, acid rain, anthropogenic
climate change, and urban sprawl are among the most prominent human
activities that contribute to erosion.
 Photo showing the process of man-
made erosion
 Wind Erosion
Wind erosion is a natural phenomenon in which wind power transports soil
from one site to another. It has the potential to create considerable economic
and environmental harm.
Winds can sweep away considerable amounts of top soil when the land is
bare and the particles have become loose. Winds can erode rocks by acting
as a sandblast, blowing sand and dust against them.

Photo showing the effect of Wind Erosion over a period of

time

 Sheet Erosion
From high to low ground, surface dirt is gradually and consistently removed.
Particularly on farmed ground that has been stripped of vegetation, the soil
becomes thinner and less nutritious. Sheet erosion is widespread in newly
plowed fields or other places with poorly compacted soil particles and little
vegetation.

Causes of Sheet Erosion

  Deforestation has resulted in a significant loss of soil owing to
sheet erosion. Cutting down trees loosens the soil and causes
waterlogging since trees have a high water holding capacity. As
a result, rainwater can simply wash away the soil layers.
 Erosion is more likely in soils that are uneven or loose. We
must ensure that the cultivated fields are not very loose, as this
might lead to rill and gully erosion. Sheet and gully erosion
inflict massive damage, resulting in sidewall collapse and
agricultural loss.
 Every year, the annual flood has been one of the leading causes
of soil erosion. Sheet erosion is more likely in locations that
receive considerable rainfall and are located in flood-prone
zones.
 Sheet erosion is influenced by the thickness of raindrops as well
as wind force. Because of the pressure exerted on the ground by
falling raindrops, the thin layers of soil are easily washed away
by the rain.
 If the topsoil is lost, their may be little to no nutrients and if
there is little to no nutrients in the soil, it has a high chance of
becoming infertile and therefore making the land bare and not
very useful

Photo showing the after effect of

sheet erosion

 Rill Erosion
On a hillside or a slope, rill erosion is most visible. Water runoff can't help
but flow downwards once it gathers on the surface of soil on a slope. Rill
erosion occurs when runoff water focuses down the slope and forms narrow
channels. Rills arise when the runoff shear stress, which is the ability of
surface runoff to separate soil particles, exceeds the soil's shear strength,
which is the soil's ability to withstand force acting parallel to the soil's
surface.
Causes of Rill Erosion
 Rills (on Earth) erode when the water is carrying less silt than it can carry
and the surface underneath is loose enough to be scoured out.
 If the topsoil is lost, the soil may have little to no nutrients, and if the soil
has little to no nutrients, it is likely to become infertile, leaving the area
naked and unusable.


Photo showing effect of

rill erosion

 Gully Erosion
The erosion of soil along drainage lines caused by surface water runoff is
known as gully erosion. Concentrated flows, such as field runoff and small
rills combining to form larger flows, or runoff coming onto the field from a
concentrated source, generate gullies. Unless actions are done to stabilize the
disturbance, gullies will continue to creep forward by headward erosion or
slumping of the side walls.
Causes of Gully Erosion
 Three Major Soil Conservation Methods are:
 Crop Rotation
 Contour Ploughing
 Mangroves
 Crop Rotation
Crop rotation is the process of planting multiple crops on the same piece of
land in order to maintain soil health, optimize nutrients, and resist insect and
weed pressure. A simple rotation may consist of two or three crops, whereas
more complex rotations may include a dozen or more.
When a farmer plants the same crop in the same spot year after year, as is
customary in conventional farming, she takes the same nutrients from the
soil. Pests and illnesses are happy to make themselves at home because their
chosen food source is always available. To maintain yields high while
keeping bugs and disease at bay in monocultures like this, higher doses of
chemical fertilizers and pesticides are required. Crop rotation aids in the
restoration of nutrients to the soil without the use of synthetic fertilizers. In
addition, the approach helps to break pest and disease cycles, enhance soil
health by increasing biomass from various crops' root systems, and increase
farm biodiversity. Variety is essential for life in the soil, and beneficial
insects and pollinators are drawn to it above ground as well.
  Contour Ploughing
Contour ploughing is ploughing along the contours of the field to prevent
soil erosion. Plowing and/or planting across a slope following its elevation
contour lines is known as contour ploughing. During times of heavy
precipitation, these contour lines create a water break, reducing the
formation of rills and gullies by giving the water more time to settle into the
soil. In contour plowing, the ruts created by the plow run perpendicular to
the slopes rather than parallel to them, resulting in flat furrows that curve
around the land. Tillage erosion is also prevented using this strategy. Tillage
erosion is the movement and erosion of soil caused by tilling a particular
plot of land. Contour bunding, where stones are laid around the contours of
slopes, is a comparable procedure. Contour ploughing aids in soil erosion
control.
Soil conservation methods like these can dramatically reduce negative
effects like reduced crop output, deteriorated water quality, lower effective
reservoir water levels, flooding, and habitat damage. Contour farming is a
type of sustainable agriculture that is active.
  Mangroves
Shorelines are protected by mangroves from storm and hurricane winds,
waves, and floods. With their tangled root systems, mangroves also help to
prevent erosion by stabilizing sediments. They keep the water clean and
clear by filtering contaminants and trapping sediments that come from the
land. Waves and currents generate change along every coastline, sometimes
bringing sediments to the shore, but more often causing erosion and land
loss. Mangroves prevent erosion and improve sedimentation in areas where
they grow. The mangrove vegetation minimizes wave energy and slows
water flow over the soil surface, limiting the water's ability to dislodge
sediments and transport them out of the mangrove area. Simultaneously,
slower water flows may allow existing suspended materials to settle.
Sediment deposition increases as sediment settles out of the ocean.

Organic matter produced by mangroves, including living roots, dead leaves,

and woody components, is abundant in typical mangrove soils. The soil is
protected by the extensive network of fine roots to protect soil particles from
erosive pressures and to capture and bind them together. Because mangrove
soils are frequently wet, they have a low oxygen content. Much of this
organic waste accumulates under anaerobic conditions, yielding a layer of
peat that builds up in thickness.

When mangroves are gone, sediment flow patterns can shift dramatically —
where mud and soil were formerly stable or even slowly growing up, they
may begin to disintegrate, causing land to slip into the sea. Furthermore, as
oxygen becomes available in the soil, draining and conversion of mangrove
regions to other usage causes fast breakdown of organic materials, which
causes subsidence. This is seen in a number of coastal locations where
mangroves have been converted to aquaculture or farmland, such
as Guyana's. These shores, which were formerly steady or even advancing,
are now retreating at a rate of several meters each year.