About Lesson
i) Damage to soil:
- There is loss of a siltly or sandy surface soil and the leaving of heavy clay layer exposed at the surface.
- Under such conditions, erosion severely damages the soil, because of the heavy clay layer may not contain enough aeration porosity to support a good crop.
ii) Soil loss:
- The soil lost through water erosion is usually the most fertile, containing the plant nutrients, humans, and any fertilizers that the farmer has applied.
- Millions of tons of fertile surface soil can be lost forever if it is washed into the sea.
- What is left is less productive and may become completely barren.
iii) Water erosion depletes water supplies:
- As the vicious circle of erosion proceeds, less water percolates into the soil to feed underground supplies.
- Spring marshes and streams dry up more quickly and this leads to further erosion.
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