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Water Erosion Processes

This document discusses various types of water erosion processes: - Sheet erosion and rill erosion occur on hill slopes when a thin layer of topsoil is removed or runoff water forms small channels on slopes. - Gully erosion develops when runoff concentrates enough to detach and move soil particles, forming visible gullies up to 2m deep. - Tunnel erosion occurs when water penetrates soil cracks and removes subsoil, eventually collapsing the surface soil and forming gullies. - Stream bank erosion is primarily caused by destruction of vegetation on river banks, allowing saturation and rapid drops in flow to accelerate soil removal.

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BIJIT KUMAR BANERJEE
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76 views11 pages

Water Erosion Processes

This document discusses various types of water erosion processes: - Sheet erosion and rill erosion occur on hill slopes when a thin layer of topsoil is removed or runoff water forms small channels on slopes. - Gully erosion develops when runoff concentrates enough to detach and move soil particles, forming visible gullies up to 2m deep. - Tunnel erosion occurs when water penetrates soil cracks and removes subsoil, eventually collapsing the surface soil and forming gullies. - Stream bank erosion is primarily caused by destruction of vegetation on river banks, allowing saturation and rapid drops in flow to accelerate soil removal.

Uploaded by

BIJIT KUMAR BANERJEE
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Water Erosion Processes

Splash/drop Erosion
Sheet Erosion
Rill Erosion
Gully Erosion
Tunnel erosion
Stream bank erosion
Water Erosion processes - Hillslope View

Hillel, 1998
Surface flow induced erosion
Requires overland flow (thin surface
films or concentrated) and often is
intensified by raindrop impact

The generation of surface flow


depends on:
o Rain intensity
o Water content of the soil
o Density of the soil
o Surface roughness of the soil
Overland flow

Sheetflow Rill Gully


Water Erosion Ephemeral/Gully
Erosion

Rill Erosion

Sheet
Erosion
Rill and Gully Formation

Brooks et al., Fig 8.1


Sheet and rill erosion
Hill slopes are prone to sheet erosion and rill erosion. The amount of hill slope
erosion largely depends on how the land is used.
Sheet erosion occurs when a thin layer of topsoil is removed over a whole hillside
paddock—and may not be readily noticed.
Rill erosion occurs when runoff water forms small channels as it concentrates
down a slope. These rills can be up to 0.3m deep.
Gully erosion
- When runoff concentrates and flows strongly enough to detach and move soil particles.
- In cultivation or pastures, advanced rill erosion can develop into gully erosion.
- This type of erosion is highly visible and affects soil productivity, restricts land use, and can
damage roads, fences and buildings.

Gully depth is often limited by the depth of the underlying rock which means gullies are
normally less than 2m deep. However, gullies may reach depths of 10–15m on
deep alluvial and colluvial soils.

Causes
• cultivation or grazing on soils susceptible to gully erosion
• increased runoff from land use changes such as tree clearing in a catchment or construction
of new residential areas
• runoff concentration caused by furrows, contour banks, waterways, dam bywashes, stock
pads, fences, tracks or roads
• improper design, construction or maintenance of waterways in cropping areas
• poor vegetation cover that may be caused by overgrazing, fires or salinity problems
• low flows or seepage flows over a long period
• ‘down cutting’ in a creek that causes gullies to advance up the drainage lines flowing into it
• diversion of a drainage line to an area of high erosion risk, such as a steep creek bank or
soil that is highly prone to erosion.
Gully erosion
Tunnel erosion
Tunnel erosion is the removal of subsoil.

When water penetrates through a soil crack where a root has decayed, the soil disperses and
is carried away with the flow to leave a small tunnel.

Initially, the surface soil remains relatively intact but, with every flow, the tunnel becomes
larger and the soil may eventually collapse and form a gully.

The whole process speeds up significantly if an outlet is provided (such as an existing gully
or cutting in a roadside) as this allows free flow of subsurface drainage water.
Soils vulnerable to tunnel erosion
have dispersible subsoils with naturally
high levels of sodium. Such soils are
referred to as being sodic and are
called Sodosols.

When clods of these soils are exposed to


water, they readily break down into
individual particles of sand, silt and clay
which are easily removed as water moves
through the subsoil.
Stream bank erosion
The major cause of stream bank erosion is the destruction of vegetation on river banks
(generally by clearing, overgrazing, cultivation, vehicle traffic up and down banks or fire)
and the removal of sand and gravel from the stream bed.

Stream bank erosion can also be accelerated by factors such as:


• stream bed lowering or infill
• inundation of bank soils followed by rapid drops in flow after flooding
• saturation of banks from off-stream sources
• redirection and acceleration of flow around infrastructure, obstructions, debris or
vegetation within
• soil characteristics such as poor drainage or seams of readily erodible material within the
bank profile
• wave action generated by wind or boat wash
• intense rainfall events (e.g. cyclones).

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