Lab Report On Water Erosion

The results shows us that the hypothesis between the river Loughton brook and the erosion shows that it gets wider and deeper due to many reasons such as vertical erosion, lateral erosion, hydraulic action and abrasion of rocks.

The vegetation surface type affects runoff since it is in contact with the soil. Once the soil absorbs all the water it can hold, the rest undergoes runoff. Through force of gravity, it moves downslope to other areas, carrying soil particles and sediments along. However, more vegetation cover results in less runoff while less cover results in more soil erosion.

There are coarsening-upward sequences preserved, with flooding surfaces represented by low-relief erosional contact of trough-cross-stratification (runnel) upon low-angle planar bedding (swash zone).

Any rainfall increases fluvial erosion. When rain does fall, this creates ephemeral streams causing water erosion due to fast forces of water. Flash floods are possible as well creating even more erosion.

If you have ever lived in proximity to coastal areas you may have seen coastline erosion first hand. The beaches you frequent during the summer may seem to be getting smaller and smaller every year. Why does your favorite beach seem to be disappearing? Coastal erosion is to blame. The waves, wind, tides and currents all play a part in the mechanism that is coastal erosion. When water and wind batter the shoreline sediments are carried out to sea and deposited on the sea floor or at other points along the coastline. This is called an erosional coastline. This erosion may be very apparent or seem to have happened overnight when it happens due to a large storm or extremely high tide.

Environments where sediments are elated and deposited quickly are high energy environments like ocean shores, or rushing rivers. Eco systems where small particles of sediments are often deposited in low energy areas. This is found in regions where there are deep lakes or swamps. Landforms shaped by erosion are tall, jagged structures with grazes in layers of rock and landforms produced by deposition are flat and low lying. Landforms created by deposition are alluvial fans, sandbars, moraines, eskers, and deserts. While landforms created by erosion are mountains, valleys, hoodoos, sea arches, sea caves, plains, sea cliff and

Erosion is mainly caused by two main natural forces: water and wind. In Southwest Louisiana, erosion by water is one of the main issues we have as a coastal state. There are different factors that must be considered when looking at water erosion

Soil Erosion - When the top layer of soil is worn down due to too much water, ice, or wind.

Soil erosion threatens soil fertility due to nutrient and organic matter loss, while also decreasing water quality through increased turbidity (umich.edu). During the last dust bowl in the 1930's more than 30 million hectares were severely damaged in parts of Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado (umich.edu). The Dust Bowl was primarily caused by the two factors of: 1) loss of long rooted grasses due to the plowing of the prairies and 2) a period of relative drought (umich.edu).

The tiny pieces of rocks broken off by weathering are called sediment or alluvium. Erosion is the process of transportation of this sediment which on sea cliffs sediments becomes part of the seafloor and is washed away with the waves. The larger rocks that are broken off by sediment as shown in this picture are called scree or talus; scree builds up at the bottom of cliffs as the rocks tumble down, these piles are called scree slopes or talus piles.

This total erosion is a result of a number of factors caused by both natural and human activity.1

Around the world our water supply is depleting. Our water is becoming contaminated making it harmful for both mammals and aquatic life. Today over one billion people go without adequate water supply and every fifteen seconds a child dies of waterborne illness. Sources of water that once supplied water to millions can no longer meet the supply and demand of the water need. Scientist predict that the amount of useful water will keep depleting greatly in the years to come. In the next couple of pages it will talk about both the geological and human reasons as to why are water supply is depleting.

Running water moves sediment in the processes of erosion and deposition, causing different types of landforms. As you can tell in the picture above, Michigan’s topography plays a huge role on where the faster and slower flowing rivers are located and the transportation of the materials in the water depends on the speed of the rivers. Erosion is the breaking down of those materials by the agent, water. The water can erode the channel laterally and vertically, in the end, making the channel wider and deeper. There are different types of erosion: hydraulic action, corrasion, corrosion, cavitation, and attrition. Hydraulic action (above on the right) takes place at rapids and waterfalls because the force of the water removes rock particles from the bed and banks of the river. A great example of this in Michigan is Canyon Falls on the Sturgeon River. At the waterfall, the water is rushing at a high velocity, especially in the spring, causing rock particles to move downstream, creating a wider and deeper river. Eventually the rivers velocity begins to decrease and particles start to deposit. This could also occur because lack of precipitation or an increase in evaporation. The deposition of materials at different locations of the river that they began changes the shape of the river, and effects Michigan as a whole in the end. The particles can travel all the way to the mouth of the river, in this case, Lake Superior, causing

If water is muddy, it is a sign of erosion. It means bits of rock or soil are in the water and are being transported. This material that is being transported is sediment. If wind or water slows down, or if glaciers or ice is melted, the sediment will be dropped off at a new location. As more and more sediment gets deposited, it starts to

The seepage of ground water and the overland flow of surface water runoff also contribute to the erosion of shorelines (http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/MMGI/Chapter6/ch6-4.html). The role of ground water is most important wherever permeable subsurface layers of sand are exposed in high bluffs along coastal bays. In these areas, the seepage of ground water into the waterway can cause erosion at the point of exit. The surface flow of upland runoff can also dislodge sediments through the creation of rills and gullies on the shoreline banks and bluffs (http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/MMGI/Chapter6/ch6-4.html).