Soil erosion

thumb|Bundles of rice straw thumb|Pile of stacked small rectangular straw bales sheltered under a clear tarpaulin thumb|Straw lines and a Combine Harvester|combine harvester Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield by weight of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a number of different uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and basket making.

thumb|right|An actively eroding rill on an intensively-farmed field in eastern [[Germany. This phenomenon is aggravated by poor agricultural practices because when ploughing, the furrows were traced in the direction of the slope rather than that of the terrain contour lines.]] Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distinct from weathering which involves no movement. Removal of rock or soil as clastic

flow of excess rainwater not infiltrating in the ground over its surface

thumb|A gully in Avaré, Brazil

processes due to wind activity

thumb|Garland-like solifluction formed in the Swiss National Park thumb|Possible solifluction lobes in Acidalia Planitia on Mars as seen by [[HiRISE]] thumb|Solifluction sheets near Eagle Summit (Alaska)|Eagle Summit, [[Alaska]] Solifluction is a collective name for gradual processes in which a mass moves down a slope ("mass wasting") related to freeze-thaw activity. This is the standard modern meaning of solifluction, which differs from the original meaning given to it by Johan Gunnar Andersson in 1906.

washing or blowing away of the top layer of soil

slow, downward progression of rock and soil down a low grade slope

thumb|right|A downslope view of part of the erosion|eroding rill network from [[County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. See below for a close-up view of a single rill]] In hillslope geomorphology, a rill is a shallow channel (no more than a few inches/centimeters deep) cut into soil by the erosive action of flowing surface water. Similar but smaller incised channels are known as microrills; larger incised channels are known as gullies.

theory and measures to control erosion

forestation project in China

geomorphological process that involves the lateral migration of an alluvial river channel across its floodplain