Question

Sheet erosion is due to-
a. Fast running rivers
b. Wind
c. Heavy rains
d. Occasional rains

Answer 1

Hint: The natural phenomenon occurs due to the obvious action of surface processes such as water flow or wind that extracts or transfers soil, rock, or dissolved material reasonably uniformly from a large area (one place on the crust of the Earth and then transports it to another place).

Complete answer:
> Option A is incorrect. Erosion is caused more rapidly by faster flowing water. More slowly, slower flowing water erodes stuff. The sediment being carried will settle out if water is moving slowly enough. This settling of sediment out, or falling off, is deposition.

> Option B is incorrect. Wind erosion is a natural phenomenon that, by wind power, transfers soil from one place to another. Wind erosion is caused by a light wind that rolls through a heavy wind that raises a large amount of soil particles into the air to generate dust storms along the earth.

> Option C is correct. Sheet erosion means that very thin layers or sheets of soil are lost. It is caused by raindrop effect detachment of soil particles and its slope displacement by water running overland mostly as sheet (instead of in definite channels or rills).

> Option D is incorrect. It can have detrimental effects on plants as soil erosion occurs rapidly and destroys the topsoil. In the erosion process, occasional rain plays no major role. This choice is therefore incorrect.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: Since they are obvious characteristics of the landscape, gullies are also seen as the most severe type of water erosion. Sheet erosion by water, however, destroys much greater volumes of soil. It is by far the most prevalent method of land depletion worldwide in both the amount of soil lost and the development consequences.