ANTHROPIC EROSION: CHARACTERISTICS, CAUSES, EFFECTS - ENVIRONMENT - 2024

The anthropic erosion is the erosion caused by the activities of humans. In general terms, soil erosion is a natural process that is linked to the evolutionary dynamics of the planet.

Erosion constitutes a link in the cycle of transformations of the earth's crust. What are now valleys may have been elevations in the past. This natural erosion is caused by rains, floods, winds, snowfalls, changes in temperature and the action of earth's gravity.

At times, this process can be exacerbated in intensity and frequency by human activity. In that case, we speak of anthropic erosion. This generates artificial soils or technogenic formations.

Unlike natural or native soils, soils affected by human erosion are influenced, modified, or created by human activity. These soils are found throughout the world in urban landscapes and in others also influenced by man.

In the case of arable land, some soils that are already in the process of natural erosion experience an acceleration by the action of man. They are the most serious cases.

The removal of soil particles and their transport to other areas destroys the topsoil. This does not allow to take solutions that can save even the currently developing crops.

Main characteristics of anthropic erosion

Among the characteristics of anthropic erosion we can mention:

It's old

Since ancient times, the main impacts of human culture on the landscape have generally been associated with the growth of agriculture and the development of cities.

Therefore, the nature and global extent of anthropically eroded soils is linked to the sociological and geographical aspects of civilization.

It is unavoidable

Anthropic erosion is part of human development. The first civilizations grew from small settlements founded in places that offered favorable environmental conditions. These include soil fertility, water availability, among others.

In these cases, the impact was not appreciable at first. However, as the peoples learned to modify these conditions, the damage caused increased.

At present, a civilized human settlement is not conceived without a certain degree of erosion induced by the coexistence of the group.

It cannot be eradicated, only controlled

Being an inherent fact of human activity, it could only disappear if the human activity that generates it disappears. All the peoples of the world contribute to a lesser or greater degree to anthropic erosion, from agriculture, livestock, construction, mining and other activities.

This is the reason why an environmental impact study should be done before carrying out any housing, industrial or agricultural development project.

It has increased over the years.

The growth rate of anthropogenic erosion has increased even faster since the end of World War II. This has been the consequence of globalized economies and explosive population growth, industrialization and urbanization.

Causes

Construction and industrial activity

Among the causes of the occurrence of anthropic erosion are residential and commercial developments. In its execution, the ground is often leveled. This involves the removal of large amounts of the topsoil.

On the other hand, industrial activities involve the construction and installation of underground storage tanks, external tanks, canals and sanitary landfills. Similarly, the accumulation of waste materials from industrial activity often results in soil contamination.

Agricultural activity

Likewise, another cause is agricultural activities. These involve the cutting and burning of large areas. In the end, among others, this results in the affectation of the natural channels of rivers and water sources.

Agricultural areas can also be eroded by poor crop planning by overusing a single crop. This can lead to a depletion of the topsoil.

Overgrazing

Related to the above is overgrazing. This is understood as the abuse done to the land during the rearing of a particular animal species without allowing recovery periods.

This activity causes the removal of the vegetal layer, exposing its lower layers. Later, these are more easily affected by the action of wind and water.

Transport

In addition, transportation-related projects should be added to the causes; the construction of streets, parking structures, highways, railways and airports require sealing the surface of the land with cement and other materials. This interrupts the groundwater replenishment process by absorbing rainwater.

Mining

Similarly, both surface and underground mining should be included. These involve modification of the geographical landscape, subsidence of portions of land, and disappearance of elevated areas of land.

Effects edit

Decrease in soil fertility

As the surface vegetation layer is affected, environmental agents progressively remove the outermost layers of the soil. This destroys the nutrients that are needed for successful crops.

Breaking the ecological balance

In eroded soils, some elements of the ecological chain die or migrate. Large animals, insects and varieties of plants that depend on each other for their survival are affected by the disappearance or decrease of the presence of one or more of the links in the chain.

Impact of rainy periods

As a consequence of the breakdown of the ecological balance, the hydrological cycle that guarantees the rains is affected. This is partly because the amount of water that evaporates decreases, then rises and forms clouds.

Ultimately, these clouds take longer to reach the critical volume necessary for the rain to start. This results in a delay in the annual frequency.

Increase in ambient temperature

By decreasing the amount of water that evaporates in a region, the amount of heat that the water removes during its evaporation also decreases. With this, the possibility of the earth to radiate the heat that it absorbs by the action of the solar rays disappears.

Increased sedimentation of rivers and water sources

Sediments from the surface layers of the soil are mobilized by the action of wind and water. In the end, they are deposited in bodies of water.

This artificial sedimentation reduces the depth of the channels. Rivers can then change their courses and even flood other flat areas outside their normal course.

Articles of interest

Types of erosion.

Pluvial erosion.

Glacial erosion.

References

1. Giandon, P. (2015). Soil erosion. In RH Armon and O. Hänninen (editors), Environmental Indicators, pp. 307-318. New York: Springer.
2. Ramírez Torres, HI et al. (2015). General Geography: An Interactive Approach for High School Graduates. Mexico DF: Grupo Editorial Patria.
3. Howard, J. (2017). Anthropogenic Soils. Cham: Springer.
4. Salvarrey, AVB; Kotzian, CB; Spies, MR and Braun, B. (2014). The Influence of Natural and Anthropic Environmental Variables on the Structure and Spatial Distribution Along Longitudinal Gradient of Macroinvertebrate Communities in Southern Brazilian Streams. Journal of Insect Science, No. 14, 13.
5. Nuñez Solís J. (2001). Management and soil conservation. San José: EUNED.