The Flinders GREEN SHEET
The Flinders Ranges Council “Green Sheet” aims to raise community awareness about the environment by providing useful information
and tips to residents and businesses in the Council region. The Flinders Ranges Council ‘’Green sheet’’ was produced by the Year 7/8
students of Quorn Area School. The Flinders Ranges Council wishes to acknowledge the excellent work of these students who helped to
formulate this “Green sheet”.
This months topic: Erosion
September 2014
What is Erosion?
Did you know…..
Erosion is the wearing away of soil and rocks. It means
that the topsoil is removed from the land. Topsoil is the
part that of the ground that has the most nutrients and is
the most fertile part of the land for growing plants.
Topsoil takes a long time to develop, therefore is a
valuable resource.
There are several types of soil erosion.
Sheet, Rill and Gully Erosion
Sheet and Rill erosion occurs on sloping land with little
ground cover. Water runs down the hill, and without
plants to hold the soil in place the flowing water washes
the soil away.
Sheet erosion is when the water removes even layers of
soil.
Rill erosion is when the water makes channels up to 30
cm deep.
Wind is the most devastating agent of
soil erosion.
Soil erosion causes the removal of
nutrients from the soil.
The absents of nutrients in the soil
results in no plant growth at the sites of
the soil erosion.
How to avoid soil erosion:
Rotating your crop formation or using
forage as a cover are one of the few
methods farmers use to avoid soil
erosion.
New minerals may be formed by
erosion such as carbon from coal, and
calcium carbonate from sea shells.
Gully erosion is when a deep channel is made that washes
away soil when it rains. Each time it rains, the channels
get deeper as more soil is removed.
Wind Erosion Murchison lookout WA
The Powell Gardens in Quorn are managed by a small group of dedicated volunteers with a wide and
varied range of skills and knowledge on local native plants. If you are interested in more information
on growing natives at home, head down to a Powell Gardens working bee to learn about planting in
local conditions. These are held on the second Sunday & fourth Thursday of every month at 9am.
Reduce...
Reuse...
Recycle...
What causes valleys to form?
Why do streams and lakes get muddy after
a rain storm?
Why are rocks at the bottom of the river
usually round?
The answer to all of these questions is:
EROSION
Erosion is the process by which the surface
of the Earth gets worn down.
Erosion can be caused by natural elements
such as wind, water and glacial ice. All
these forms of erosion result in changes to
the Earths surface. Anyone who has seen a
picture of the Grand Canyon knows that
nothing beats the slow steady movement of
water when it comes to changing the Earth.
The key to erosion is something called
fluid flow.
Water, ice and even air are fluids because
they tend to flow from one place to
another. It is this flow that wears away on
a surface causing natural erosion.
12 Apostels Victoria 2002
Before erosion.
Q & A …..
How can humans and animals
contribute to erosion?
When vegetation is removed either by
construction, road building, agriculture, wild
fires and over-grazing, etc, we increase the
rate of erosion.
When we divert surface water or
concentrate its flow, we can increase
erosion.
When we increase slope angles
(again usually during some form of
construction)
we can increase the potential for erosion.
Topics coming up in future
issues:

Biodiversity and Invasive
species.
12 Apostels Victoria 2012 after the
collapse
After Erosion.
This months Green Sheet Challenge……..
Make a model demonstrating before and after effects of erosion.
See if others can spot what has been changed ie, washed away and what
type of erosion it is.
Please let us know how you went with this months challenge!
Would you like to see a particular topic covered next month, or do you have some suggested green living tips?
Please send your ideas to [email protected] or ‘Greening the Flinders’, PO Box 43, QUORN 5433