Bare eroded soil with small gullies on a hillslope near Charters Towers, Queensland.

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Preparing the 3D view

Preparing lighting and the first complete frame…

Model scale

Two 20 × 10 m plots. surface lowering ×30. enlarged process tracers.

Model minute 24.0 · bare export 404 kg / mean loss 1.83 mm · comparison export 404 kg / mean loss 1.83 mm.

How to read these results

Invented 6000 kg active layer per plot: remaining + in transport + exported stays constant. Rain detachment and runoff-transport example; blue routes indicate concentrated flow, not calculated rill depths. Vegetation changes a disclosed coefficient; neither soil loss nor protection is a site prediction.

Soil erosion

Compare soil loss under different vegetation cover and explain how runoff carries sediment away from a slope.

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Why it happens

Raindrops and flowing water can detach and carry soil. Ground cover reduces exposure and can slow transport, while deposited sediment remains within the catchment until it moves again.

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Hillslope gully and sheet erosion near Charters Towers, Queensland, documented by CSIRO. Loss of cover exposes soil to runoff.

Try a comparison

Play or scrub; compare cover and then change the transport mechanism.

Reading the result

The selected sediment budget is a classroom comparison; local erosion rates require evidence about rainfall, soil and land management.

A common misunderstanding

Vegetation prevents all soil erosion.

Plant cover can intercept raindrops, protect the soil and slow surface flow, reducing erosion. Its effectiveness depends on cover density, roots, soil condition, slope and the event itself. Even a vegetated slope can lose sediment during intense runoff or other disturbances.

Cases

Exam language

Rain splash

The detachment and movement of soil particles by raindrop impact. It can begin erosion before continuous runoff develops. Vegetation, litter and surface roughness reduce the direct impact on exposed mineral soil.

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USDA NRCS archive photograph of raindrop impact. Splash detaches and redistributes soil particles before surface runoff carries them farther.

Rill

A small channel cut into soil by concentrated surface runoff. Rills can often be removed by ordinary cultivation, unlike larger gullies. They show that water has begun collecting into preferred routes rather than flowing as a broad sheet.

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Hillslope gully and sheet erosion near Charters Towers, Queensland, documented by CSIRO. Loss of cover exposes soil to runoff.

Gully

A channel cut into soil or unconsolidated material by concentrated runoff, larger and more persistent than a rill. In agricultural settings, a gully is generally too large to be removed by ordinary tillage and can expand through further erosion.

Deflation

The removal of loose surface particles by wind. Fine material may be carried away in suspension, leaving a coarser lag behind. Deflation removes sediment; abrasion is the wearing of surfaces by particles that the wind carries.

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Sossusvlei dunes, Namib Desert. Wind transports loose sand by surface creep and saltation; the dunes record accumulated transport rather than individual grain paths.

A horizon

The mineral soil layer near the surface, where organic matter mixes with sand, silt and clay. Its darker colour often reflects humus, but colour alone does not establish fertility or the depth of the layer.

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Calciustoll near Ponce, Puerto Rico: a Mollisol with a roughly 30 cm mollic surface over a calcic horizon. Its parent material includes colluvium and weathered limestone.

Cover

Vegetation or plant residue that protects soil from direct raindrop impact and slows surface flow. Roots can also help hold particles together. The protective effect depends on the type, density and continuity of the cover.

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Forest canopy at Bodiman, Cameroon. Leaves intercept rain and absorb light for photosynthesis; the photograph shows the living store, not the invisible molecular reactions.

Saltation

Transport in short hops or bounces, especially of sand grains moved by wind or flowing water.

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