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Internal erosion is the formation of voids within a soil caused by the removal of material by seepage. [1] It is the second most common cause of failure in levees and one of the leading causes of failures in earth dams, [2] responsible for about half of embankment dam failures.
Typically, porous soils are removed before compacted clay is applied to the bed and sides of a canal. [3] Another simple method of canal lining with soils entails applying a layer of compacted silt on top of the subgrade of the canal. [3] The use of soils as canal linings is efficient for controlling seepage, but not effective against weed ...
Seep is often used in environmental sciences to define an exfiltration zone (seepage zone) where contaminated water, e.g., from waste dumps, leaves a waste system area. Seeps are often important smaller wildlife water sources, and indicated by lower riparian vegetation.
Soil deposits are affected by the mechanism of transport and deposition to their location. Soils that are not transported are called residual soils—they exist at the same location as the rock from which they were generated. Decomposed granite is a common example of a residual soil. The common mechanisms of transport are the actions of gravity ...
Dispersion is a process that occurs in soils that are particularly vulnerable to erosion by water. In soil layers where clays are saturated with sodium ions ("sodic soils"), soil can break down very easily into fine particles and wash away. This can lead to a variety of soil and water quality problems, including:
Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activity, agricultural chemicals or improper disposal of waste .
[34] [35] There is growing evidence that tillage erosion is a major soil erosion process in agricultural lands, surpassing water and wind erosion in many fields all around the world, especially on sloping and hilly lands [36] [37] [38] A signature spatial pattern of soil erosion shown in many water erosion handbooks and pamphlets, the eroded ...
The loss of fertile farmland due to gully erosion is a severe environmental problem that lowers crop quality and may cause famine and food shortages. It also causes the soil to lose organic content, which has an impact on plant viability. As items washed from fields end up in rivers, streams, or vacant land, erosion also contaminates the ecosystem.