Think of soil erosion as a big-time heist--a robbery.
Very simply, erosion is when wind or water carries away soil particles. Valuable soil is being moved off of fields where it belongs. The fields are being robbed!
To get an idea of what erosion is, picture kids building a sand castle in a sandbox. (Sand is a type of soil particle.) If it rains, their castle gets busted apart by falling raindrops. The sand particles are moved by the rainwater. This is erosion.
Soil erosion is a natural process. It can’t be completely stopped, but it can be slowed down by the way we treat the land.
Rainwater cuts into some of the most valuable soil in the world. This is soil erosion.
Photo: U of I College of ACES-ITCS
Soil erosion takes a big bite out of the land.
Photo: USDA NRCS
Over thousands of years, erosion can carve rock into the strangest shapes.
Photo: USDA NRCS