Sheet Erosion

(also surface wash or rainwash erosion), the removal of particles from the upper soil layer or the removal of the products of rock erosion by rain or melting snows that run down a slope in a solid sheet or in small streams. As a result, soils are eroded predominantly in the upper and middle parts of the slope and the eroded material is deposited at the foot of the slope. Sheet erosion is closely dependent on the steepness and length of the slope, the intensity of the precipitation, the rate at which the snow melts, the type of vegetative cover, and the use the territory is put to.