The Northern Fertile Plain lies to the south of Himalayan
Region. It is also called the Gangetic Plain. It is a vast plain
and level land between the Himalayas in the North and Deccan
Plateau in the South. From Punjab in the West to Assam in the East,
this plain is about 2400 km. long and its width varies from 150 km.
in the East to about 300 km. in the West. It includes the States of
Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, some parts of
Assam and the Union Territory of Delhi.
The soil of this plain is built of the sediments brought down by
the rivers from Himalayas. Such plain is called an alluvial plain
and is very fertile. This plain is one of the largest and most
fertile plains of the World. It is the most thickly populated
plain. This is also the major crop growing area in India. This
plain is drained by Sutlej, Ganga, Brahmaputra and their
tributaries. The slope of this plain in the West is South-west and
in the East is South-east.
TYPES OF SOIL
Clay soilparticles are very small and compact. Gardens with
these types of soil particles dont work well because the air has a
hard time getting to the roots. The soil absorbs and holds water
and creates a drainage problem. This adversely affects healthy root
and plant growth.
Sandy soilparticles are large. The water and nutrients quickly
drain away from the plant root zone. Sandy soil is the opposite of
clay soil.
Silt soilis made up of fine particles. Like clay the soil holds
water but doesnt have good aeration around the roots.
Whats soil erosion?Erosion is the process of detachment and
transport of soil particles by erosive agents (Ellison,
1944)Erosion is a natural geologic process
WATER EROSIONWIND EROSIONTILLAGE TRANSLOCATION
SIGNIFICANT SOIL LOSS IN THE USAWATER3.5 X 109 T/yrWIND1.5 X 109
T/yr
WIND EROSION CAN BE SIGNIFICANTNear Mitchell, SD
Dust bowl 1931-1939 there was a drought called the dust bowl. It
caused huge dust storms to erupt that destructed billions of acres
of farm land.
stormsIn the first year of the drought there were 14 storms
reported and the second year there were 38 storms. It was getting
worse.
THE SOIL WATER EROSION PROCESS
DETACHMENT
Soil
Sediment LoadSediment Transport
Detachment
DEPOSITION
Soil
Sediment Load
Deposition
Sediment load is the amount of soil being transported.
Deposition occurs because of slope change, changes in vegetation
and roughness of the soil surface.
DEPOSITION
Soil
Sediment Load
Deposition
Deposition occurs because of slope change, changes in vegetation
and roughness of the soil surface.
