A. Answer the following questions briefly in one or two sentences.
1. What makes water one of the most powerful and wonderful things
on earth?
258HBU
2. How does water help in the formation of fertile lands?
3. How does soil erosion happen and what are its main causes?
4. What are some measures that are used to prevent soil erosion?
5. How, according to Sir C. V. Raman, can rainwater as well as the water of rivers be
prevented from going to waste?
English
122
Answers
The agents of soil erosion are the same as the agents of all types of erosion: water, wind, ice, or gravity. Running water is the leading cause of soil erosion, because water is abundant and has a lot of power. Wind is also a leading cause of soil erosion because wind can pick up soil and blow it far away.
Activities that remove vegetation, disturb the ground, or allow the ground to dry are activities that increase erosion. What are some human activities that increase the likelihood that soil will be eroded?
Farming
Agriculture is probably the most significant activity that accelerates soil erosion because of the amount of land that is farmed and how much farming practices disturb the ground (Figure 1). Farmers remove native vegetation and then plow the land to plant new seeds. Because most crops grow only in spring and summer, the land lies fallow during the winter. Of course, winter is also the stormy season in many locations, so wind and rain are available to wash soil away. Tractor tires make deep grooves, which are natural pathways for water. Fine soil is blown away by wind.
The soil that is most likely to erode is the nutrient-rich topsoil, which degrades the farmland.