Soil and Water Conservation

Types of Erosion
Dr. Muhammad Ajmal
(Agri. Engg. Dept. UET Peshawar)

Types of Erosion
According to nature the two major types of soil erosion are geological
and man made or accelerated erosion

Geologic/Natural or Normal Erosion

This type of erosion is a slow process of removal of soil and is
compensated by the formation of soil under the natural weathering
process
Its a beneficial process as new land came in existence
under natural undisturbed condition an equilibrium is established
between the climate of an area and the vegetative cover that protect it
maintained the soil in a favorable balance, suitable for the growth of
crops
This kind of erosion is also known as permitted erosion

Types of Erosion
Accelerated Man Made Erosion
This type of erosion is mainly due to management errors, like
growing of crops without adopting conservation practices,
deforestation, roads construction, residential colonies etc.
Such type of erosion is also called as abnormal erosion
In this type of erosion the removal of top soil is much higher than the
formation of new soil and is of great concern to soil conservation
The deterioration is sometimes so rapid that it disturbs the
equilibrium of soil-plant-environment

Types of Erosion
According to nature the two major types of soil erosion are geological
and man made or accelerated erosion
1.
2.

Geologic Erosion
Accelerated Erosion
a) Water Erosion
i. Raindrop Erosion
ii. Rill Erosion
iii. Gully Erosion
iv. Bank Erosion
v. Sheet Erosion
vi. Landslide Erosion
b) Wind Erosion

Erosion Stages
Soil erosion consists of two main stages
Detachment of soil particles, and
Transportation
Main sources of the above two stages
Wind
Water, and
Gravity
Wind erosion occurs in arid and semiarid zone where rainfall is
minimum and the day temperature is high
Water erosion occurs in areas where rainfall is high, and
Gravity erosion near rivers, roads etc.
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Erosion Process
Factors for Soil Erosion Activation
Important factors which activate the soil erosion process comprise of:
Climatic Factors
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

Rainfall
Rainfall Intensity
Runoff
Temperature
Wind

Characteristics of Soil
a) Texture
b) Structure & Cohesion
c) Particle Size
d) Organic Content

Vegetation Cover
Geologic Characteristics (topography, slope etc.)

In addition to these factors the socio-economic condition and the

level of technical knowledge have considerable effect on the rate of
exploitation of land surface
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All the above factors have a combined effect on soil erosion

Types of Water Erosion

Types of Water Erosion

Raindrop or Splash Erosion

Sheet Erosion

Inter Rill Erosion

Rill Erosion

Gully Erosion

Stream Channel/Bank Erosion

Landslide Erosion

Types of Water Erosion

Raindrop or Splash Erosion
It is the soil detachment and transport of soil particles from the
impact of water drops directly on soil particles or on water surface
On water surfaces the impact of raindrops may not splash soil but its
increase the turbulence providing a greater sediment carrying
capacity

Types of Water Erosion

Factors affecting the direction and distance of the soil splash
are

Land slope
Wind
Soil type
Vegetative cover etc.
On slope land the splash moves further down the hill
Wind velocity up or down the slope have an important effect on soil
movement by splash
Surface roughness and impediments to splash tend to counteract the
effect of slope and winds
Loose soil can easily be detached and to be eroded with rainwater
If raindrops fall on crops residues or on growing plants the energy is
absorbed and thus soil splash is reduced
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Types of Water Erosion

The impact velocity of falling raindrops striking the soil surface
varies from 4 m/s for 1 mm diameter drop to 9 m/s for a 5 mm
diameter drops
Splashed drops may move more than 0.6 mm height and more than
1.5 m laterally on level surface
The amount of soil splashed into air are 50 to 90 times greater than
the runoff losses
On bare soil it is estimated that as much as 200 Mg/ha is splashed
into he air by heavy rains

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Types of Water Erosion

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Types of Water Erosion

Energy of raindrop or splash to detach soil
The relationship among the erosion, rainfall momentum and energy
is determined by
Raindrop mass size distribution
Shape
Velocity, and
Direction
The relationship between rainfall intensity and energy is given by
many researchers. One of them is Wischmeier and Smith (1958)
equation as
E = 0.0119 + 0.0873log10I
A similar kind of equation was given by Hogh-Schmidt (1988) is
E = 0.0895 + 0.0844log10I
where E = kinetic energy (MJ/ha.mm)
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I = rainfall intensity (mm/hr)

Types of Water Erosion

Raindrops release energy when they strike the soil surface
The energy performs three functions
It breaks the aggregates and clods into smaller aggregates and
individual particles
Causes detachment of particles
Moves small soil grains to new locations
This action reduces the infiltration rate of the soil, causing more
water to runoff, the soil surface and erode more soil on steep slopes.
From different studies the range of energy by raindrops/splash
recorded were 0.29 MJ/ha.mm
Much higher values of 0.34 to 0.38 MJ/ha.mm have been obtained in
some parts of the world
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Types of Water Erosion

Some Facts
During raindrops the formation of a surface crust usually few mm
thick, result clogging of the pores by surface compaction and by the
infilling of surface pore spaces with fine particles detached from soil
aggregates by the rain drops
The response of a soil to a given rainfall depends upon its
moisture content, structural state and intensity of rain
If the soil is dry and the rainfall intensity is high, the soil
aggregates breakdown quickly by slaking.
If infiltration capacity is reduces rapidly then on smooth surfaces
runoff can be generated after a few mm of rain
On rough surfaces if depression storage is greater then runoff takes
longer time
If the aggregates are moist or rainfall intensity is low, then
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detachment of particles and infiltration is low

Types of Water Erosion

Sheet Erosion
The uniform removal of soil in thin layers from sloping land is the
over land or sheet erosion

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Types of Water Erosion

Sheet Erosion
The uniform removal of soil in thin layers from sloping land is the
over land or sheet erosion
Rain drops provide mostly of the detaching energy and water
movement (runoff) provide most of the transporting capacity
Sheet erosion removes the lighter individual soil particles, organic
matter and soluble nutrients from field and is thus a serious damage
to the maintenance of soil fertility and productivity
Sheet erosion occurs uniformly over the land it after goes unnoticed
until most of the productive top soil have been removed
The eroding and transporting power of sheet erosion is a
function of the rainfall intensity, infiltration rate and filed slope
for a give size, shape and density of soil particles or aggregates
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Types of Water Erosion

Rill Erosion
Rills are channels small enough to be removed by normal tillage
operations
Most rill erosion occurs on recently cultivated soils when runoff
water concentrate in streamlets channels as it passes downhill

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Types of Water Erosion

Rill Erosion

This water has greater scouring action than sheet erosion

It removes soil from edges and beds of streamlets
Rill frequently occurs between rows and along tillage marks
Since rill can be easily removed by tillage operation, this type of
erosion may go unnoticed or often over looked until serious damage
to productivity has resulted

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Types of Water Erosion

The governing equation for inter-rill erosion is

Dc = Kr ( c) (1-Qs/Tc) (Schwab et al. 4th Edtion)

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Types of Water Erosion

Inter-rill Erosion
Splash and sheet erosion are sometimes combined and called interrill erosion
This type of erosion is a function of soil properties, rainfall intensity,
infiltration rate and filed slope

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Types of Water Erosion

Inter-rill Erosion
The governing equation for inter-rill erosion is
Di = Ki i2 Sf
Where;
Di = inter-rill erosion rate (kg/m2-sec)
Ki = inter-rill erodability of soil (kg-sec/m4)
i = rainfall intensity (mm/s)
Sf = slope factor [=1.05 to 0.85exp(-4sin)]
= slope in degrees

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Questions?

Urban Stormwater Hydrology

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