Erosion is the wearing away of the land surface by rain or irrigation water, wind, ice or other natural or anthropogenic agents that abrade, detach and remove soil from one point on the earth’s surface and deposit it elsewhere. (Glossary of Soil Science Terms. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. 1997)
Soil erosion is a global problem. Erosion of soil can contribute to instability in a region because of inability to produce adequate food and fiber. In the U.S., the cost of water and wind erosion each year is estimated in billions of dollars. This high cost is attributed to erosion removing the upper soil layer from lands and subsequently reducing their productivity and polluting water and air.
There are four primary types of errosion:
SHEET EROSION: Removal of thin layer of soil from a large area.
RILL EROSION: A Series of small channel on a slope carved by running water.
GULLY EROSION: Large, wide channel carved by running water. As a rule of thumb, a gully is large enough that it cannot be smoothed out with conventional tillage equipment.
SPLASH EROSION: Direct movement of soil by splashing. Soil particles can be thrown as far as 3 feet by raindrop splash.
There is an excellent example of one of these types of erosion at the listed coordinates. Offtrail hiking, unauthorized horseback riding, and ATV's contribute to the erosion problems in the area as you'll soon see. Needless to say, do your part not to add to the concern.
In order to get proper credit for this Earthcache, please post a photo of yourself at the erosional feature. Please also submit answers via e-mail for the following questions:
1. What type of erosion feature is here?
2. What is the approximate width and depth of the feature?
3. What is the most likely cause of the feature based on nearby evidence?