erosion

the wearing away of rocks and other deposits on the earth's surface by the action of water, ice, wind, etc.

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Erosion

The wearing away of the land surface by rain or irrigation water, wind, ice, or other natural or anthropogenic agents that abrade, detach, and remove geologic parent material or soil from one point on the Earth’s surface and deposit it elsewhere, including such processes as gravitational creep and so-called tillage erosion.

erosion

[ə′rō·zhən]

(geology)

The loosening and transportation of rock debris at the earth's surface.

The wearing away of the land, chiefly by rain and running water.

(medicine)

Surgical removal of tissues by scraping.

Excision of a joint.

erosion

1. The deterioration brought about by the abrasive action of fluids or solids in motion.

2. The gradual deterioration of a paint film due to degradation of the binder, which results in chalking, or to mechanical abrasion, such as foot traffic.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Erosion

the destruction of rocks and soils by running water.

Erosion is manifested in various forms: the direct mechanical effect of water flow, which causes solid particles to be suspended and be carried away or transported along the bottom by the stream of water; the dissolution of rocks by water (corrosion); the abrasion and wearing away of the bottom of a stream by water-transported particles (corrasion); and the excitation of electrical charges of opposite sign in the water-solid system, which promotes the suspension of fine particles. The erosive capacity of a stream increases with increasing current velocity; it is also dependent on the nature of the underlying surface (bed).

Erosion is one of the principal factors responsible for the formation of the earth’s relief. A distinction is made between surface erosion (slope wash), which tends to even out irregularities in the relief; and stream erosion (the formation of ditches, gullies, and valleys), which leads to dissection of the earth’s surface. Stream erosion is subdivided into downcutting erosion, including retrograde, or backward, erosion, which spreads from the lower part of the runoff to the upper part and leads to the formation of a longitudinal profile of equilibrium; and lateral erosion, which causes the valley floor to broaden through the meandering or shifting of the channel owing to the deflecting effect of the earth’s rotation. Geologic (natural) erosion occurs everywhere there is running water. Accelerated erosion is caused by careless human economic activity.

In the foreign literature, the term ’erosion” includes the direct destructive action of the sea, wind, glaciers, and other factors. This is the origin of such terms as “wind erosion,” “glacial erosion,” and “marine erosion.” The term “soil erosion” is also included in this group.

REFERENCES

Makkaveev, N.I. Rush reki i eroziia v ee basseine. Moscow, 1955.
Voprosy erozii istoka. (Sbornik.) Moscow, 1962.
Zvonkov, V. V. Vodnaia i vetrovaia eroziia Zemli. Moscow, 1962.
Mirtskhulava, Ts. E. Inzhenernye melody rascheta i prognoza vodnoi erozii. Moscow, 1970.

Erosion

in medicine, a superficial injury to the epithelium of the skin or mucous membrane. Among the causes of erosion are mechanical injuries (abrasions of the skin), dystrophic and inflammatory processes in the mucous membrane (for example, gastric erosion), and the irritating effect of pathological secretions (as in cervical erosion). Erosion of the mucous membrane of the stomach is clinically significant; it is characteristic of the condition known as erosive gastritis, which is often marked by multiple erosions and complicated gastric bleeding. Unlike ulcers, erosions heal without scarring.