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Jump to: navigation, search For morphological image processing operations, see Erosion (morphology). For use of in dermatopathology, see Erosion (dermatopathology).
A natural arch produced by the erosion of differentially weathered rock in Jebel Kharaz, Jordan
Erosion is the process by which soil and rock are removed from the Earth's surface by natural processes such as wind or water flow, and then transported and deposited in other locations.
While erosion is a natural process, human activities have dramatically increased (by 10-40 times) the rate at which erosion is occurring globally. Excessive erosion causes problems such as desertification, decreases in agricultural productivity due to land degradation, sedimentation of waterways, and ecological collapse due to loss of the nutrient rich upper soil layers. Water and wind erosion are now the two primary causes of land degradation; combined, they are responsible for 84% of degraded acreage, making excessive erosion one of the most significant global environmental problems we face today.[1][2]
Industrial agriculture, deforestation, roads, anthropogenic climate change and urban sprawl are amongst the most significant human activities in regards to their effect on stimulating erosion.[3] However, there are many available alternative land use practices that can curtail or limit erosion—such as terrace-building, no-till agriculture, and revegetation of denuded soils.
Frost weathering
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Frost action)
Aly by mechanical frost weathering or thermal stress
Frost weathering is a collective term for several mechanical weathering processes induced by stresses created by the freezing of water into ice. The term serves as an umbrella term for a variety of processes such as frost shattering, frost wedging and cryofracturing. The process may act on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from minutes to