erodes

Erodes is the third-person singular present tense of the verb erode. In geological and environmental contexts, to erode is to wear away or remove soil, rock, or other materials by natural forces over time. Erosion differs from weathering; weathering refers to the breakdown of materials in place, while erosion involves the transport of the resulting particles by wind, water, ice, or gravity.

Natural agents of erosion include running water in rivers and streams, waves along coastlines, wind in arid regions, ice in glaciers, and gravity causing landslides. The mechanisms include hydraulic action, abrasion, solution, and freeze-thaw in water-based systems; wind-blown particles abrade surfaces; glacial plucking and abrasion.

Erosion rates vary with slope steepness, water or wind velocity, sediment load, rain intensity, soil or rock properties such as cohesion and permeability, vegetation cover, and land use. Erosion is often modeled with empirical tools such as the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and its revisions, which estimate long-term average soil losses under given conditions. Measurements can also come from field surveys, remote sensing, and sediment yield records.

Impacts of erosion include soil loss and reduced agricultural productivity, sedimentation and turbidity in rivers and reservoirs, habitat degradation, and increased flood risk. Management and mitigation strategies aim to reduce erosion and its effects. These include maintaining or increasing vegetation cover, contour farming and terracing on slopes, windbreaks, reduced tillage, riparian buffers, and, where appropriate, engineered structures to stabilize banks and channels.