erode

Erode is the verb meaning to wear away rock, soil, or other material by natural forces such as water, wind, ice, or chemical action. The noun erosion refers to the process itself and to the material removed. Etymology: from Latin erodere, e- “out” + rodere “to gnaw.”

Erosion occurs through mechanical and chemical processes. Mechanical erosion includes abrasion, impact, plucking by ice, deflation by wind, and hydraulic action. Chemical erosion involves minerals dissolving or altering due to chemical reactions with water or acids.

The main agents are water erosion (rain splash, sheet flow, rill and gully formation), wind erosion (deflation and abrasion), glacial erosion (plucking and abrasion of bedrock), and coastal erosion (wave and tidal action). Rates depend on climate, geology, soil properties, slope length and steepness, vegetation, and land use. Human activities such as tillage, overgrazing, deforestation, and construction can accelerate erosion.

Impacts include soil loss and reduced fertility, sediment transport and deposition in streams, altered habitats, and damage to roads, infrastructures, and water quality.

Mitigation measures include maintaining vegetation cover, conservation tillage or no-till farming, contour farming and terracing, windbreaks and riparian buffers, mulching, and engineered structures like sediment basins or retaining walls.

Erosion is often assessed with models estimating soil loss per area per time. The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and its revised version (RUSLE) compute A = R × K × LS × C × P, combining rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, slope effects, cover management, and conservation practices.