~ Soil Erosion Basics ~
~ Causes and Dynamics ~
~ Global Topsoil Loss ~
~ Erosion Data by Countries ~
~ Urbanization-Caused Topsoil Loss ~
~ Green Revolution, Fertilizers, Pesticides ~
~ Food Supply From Soils ~
~ Soil Conservation Laws and Politics ~
~ Soil Loss History and Economics ~

The Alltel Phone Company has been partially bought out by the Windstream phone company. 
So the URL of this website has been changed to http://home.windstream.net/bsundquist1

(1) ~ TOPSOIL LOSS OVERVIEW ~ [A]~Soil Politics, [B]~Soil Inventory, [C]~Soil Carrying-Capacity, [D]~Potential Cropland, [E]~Potential for Cropland Productivity Improvements, [F]~Topsoil Loss/ Cropland Degradation, [G]~Urbanization-Related Soil Loss, [H]~Erosion Costs, [I]~Grazing Land Erosion, [J]~Positive Feedbacks, [K]~Progress in Soil Conservation, [L]~Some Soil-Related Trends, [M]~Some Good News, ~
(2) ~ PARAMETERS USEFUL FOR PERSPECTIVE AND CALCULATION ~
(2-A) ~ Sizes of Small Things ~
(2-B) ~ Areas and Volumes of Large Things ~
(2-B-a) Partitioning The Planet's Surface Area ~
(2-B-b) Water Impoundments ~
(2-B-c) Areas and Volumes of Fresh Water Bodies ~
(2-C) ~ Precipitation and Runoff ~
(2-D) ~ Land-Use Data and Estimates of Potential Cropland ~
(2-D-a) Original Vegetation Distribution (Global and Continents) ~
(2-D-b) Forested Land ~
(2-D-c) Crop Lands (active and fallowed) ~ [Dc1]~Inventory, [Dc2]~Growth Rate, [Dc3]~Grain-land, [Dc4]~Fallowed Cropland,~
(2-D-d) Grazing Lands ~
(2-D-e) Biologically Unproductive Lands (Global) ~
(2-D-f) Land-Use Distribution (Global) ~
(2-D-g) Definition of Cropland, Grassland, Forest ~
(2-D-h) Land-Use Data (Tables) (by nation and Region) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (2d below)
(2-D-i) Potential Croplands ~ [Di1]~Global, [Di2]~Regional Data, ~
(2-E) ~ National Land-Use Information ~
(2-E-a) Asia ~ [Ea1]~General, [Ea2]~Central Asia, [Ea3]~Asian Sub-Continent, [Ea4]~Far East, [Ea5]~Southeast Asia, [Ea6]~Middle East, ~
(2-E-b) Africa ~ [Eb1]~General, [Eb2]~North Africa, [Eb3]~Eastern Africa, [Eb4]~Central Africa, [Eb5]~West Africa, [Eb6]~Southern Africa, ~
(2-E-c) North America ~ [Ec1]~Canada, [Ec2]~US Land Basics, [Ec3]~US Fallow Land, [Ec4]~US Floodplains, [Ec5]~US Cropland Inventory, [Ec6]~US Land-Use Inventory, [Ec7]~Changes in US Cropland Area, [Ec8]~Potential for Conversion to Cropland, [Ec9]~Conversion of US grasslands to cropland, [Ec10]~US Croplands Maps, Tables and Charts, [Ec11]~Removals from the US Cropland Inventory, [Ec12]~US Forest Land Inventory Changes ~
(2-E-d) South America and Central America ~ [Ed1]~Amazon Basin, [Ed2]~Brazil, [Ed3]~Andean Mountain Region, [Ed4]~Central America, [Ed5]~Southeast South America, ~
(2-E-e) Europe and Australia ~ [Ee1]~Australia, [Ee2]~Europe, ~
(2-F) ~ Climatic Data ~

(3) ~ SOIL EROSION BASICS ~
(3-A) ~ Soil Formation ~
(3-B) ~ Soil Conservation Technologies ~
(3-C) ~ Land Classifications ~ [C1]~Net Primary Production (NPP), [C2]~Soil Carbon Pool, [C3]~Croplands by Erosion Potential, Class ~
(3-D) ~ Soil Data ~
(3-D-a) Soil Basics ~ [Da1]~Soil Organic Matter, [Da2]~Soil Compaction, [Da3]~Water-Holding Capacity, [Da4]~Mycorrhizae,
(3-D-b) Temperate Soils ~ [Db1]~Australia, [Db2]~North America, [Db3]~China, ~
(3-D-c) Tropical Soils ~ [Dc1]~General, [Dc2]~Lateritic Soils, [Dc3]~African Soils, [Dc4]~Vertisol Soils, ~
(3-E) ~ Desertification and Land Degradation Generally ~
(3-F) ~ Antiquities ~
(3-F-a) Climatic Changes ~
(3-F-b) In the Beginning~
(3-F-c) Salinization as a soil destroyer ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (3f) below
(3-F-d) Selected Civilizations ~ [Fd1]~Mesopotamia (Iraq), [Fd2]~Jordan, [Fd3]~Israel, [Fd4]~Europe, [Fd5]~China, [Fd6]~India, [Fd7]~Sri Lanka, [Fd8]~Greece, [Fd9]~Turkey, [Fd10]~North Africa, [Fd11]~US, [Fd12]~Mayans, [Fd13]~Oceania,
(3-F-e) Some Lifetimes of Civilizations ~
(3-G) ~ Effects of Soil Erosion and Monoculture on Cropland Yield ~
(3-G-a) Erosion~Effects on Crop Yield ~ [Ga1]~Validity of experimental procedures, [Ga2]~Studies of Productivity Loss vs. erosion in the US, [Ga3]~Studies of Productivity Loss vs. erosion outside the US, ~
(3-G-b) Monoculture~Effects on Crop Yield ~
(3-G-c) Organic Matter~Effects on Crop Yield ~
(3-H) ~ Causes and Dynamics of Soil Erosion ~
(3-H-a) Anthropogenic Effects on Soil Erosion in General ~
(3-H-b) Soil Erosion on non-crop lands (Also see (4-H)) ~
(3-H-c) Slope Dependence of Erosion ~
(3-H-d) Crop Dependence of Erosion ~
(3-H-e) Soil-Cover Dependence of Erosion ~
(3-H-f) Positive Feedbacks (Instabilities) ~
(3-H-g) Wind Erosion (See (4-D) also) ~
(3-H-h) Gully Erosion and Landslides ~
(3-H-i) Mulching- and Organic Matter Influence on Erosion ~
(3-I) ~ Off-Farm Impacts of Soil Erosion ~
(3-J) ~ Reduced Tillage Cropland Management ~
(3-J-a) Extent of Reduced Tillage ~
(3-J-b) Effects of Reduced Tillage ~ [Jb1]~Erosion, [Jb2]~Herbicides, Pesticides,
(3-J-c) Reduced Tillage Technology and Economics ~
(3-K) ~ Aluminum Toxicity and Other Fertility Constraints ~
(3-L) ~ Cropping Intensity/ Multiple Cropping ~

(4) ~ GLOBAL SOIL EROSION ~
(4-A) ~ Specific Cropland Soil Erosion Data ~ [A1]~General, [A2]~Table of Specific Erosion Data by Continent, [A3]~Table of Specific Erosion Data for Various Land-Uses, [A4]~Canada, [A5]~China, [A6]~US, ~
(4-B) ~ Gross Soil-Loss and Soil-Organic-Matter Loss Data ~ [B1]~Gross Erosion Data, [B2]~Africa, [B3]~Anthropogenic Effects, [B4]~Canada, [B5]~US, [B6]~Far East,
(4-C) ~ Shifting Agriculture ~ [C1]~Table of Cycle Times, [C2]~Carrying Capacity under Shifting Cultivation, [C3]~Tropical Cropland Lifetimes, ~
(4-D) ~ Wind Erosion Data ~ [D1]~Africa, [D2]~Oceania, [D3]~Asian Sub-Continent, [D4]~Central Asia, [D5]~US, [D6]~Far East, [D7]~Mid-East, [D8]~Generally,
(4-E) ~ Cropland Loss to Urbanization, Chemical Contamination and Erosion ~
(4-F) ~ Cropland Loss to Salination and Water-Logging ~ [F1]~Global, [F2]~North America, [F3]~Latin America, [F4]~Middle East, ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~( (4g) below)
(4-G) ~ Sediment Delivery ~
(4-G-a) Sediment Chemistry ~
(4-G-b) The Upper End of Sediment Delivery ~ [Gb1]~The Fraction of Total Erosion that doesn't make it into a Waterway, [Gb2]~Dependence of Sediment Delivery Ratio on Sediment Load, [Gb3]~Extremes in the Time-Variation of Sediment Delivery, [Gb4]~Dependence of Sediment Delivery on Drainage Basin Size, [Gb5]~Dependence of Sediment Load on Runoff, [Gb6]~Asian Sub-Continent, [Gb7]~Far East, [Gb8]~US,
(4-G-c) Sediment Trapping in Reservoirs ~ [Gc1]~General, [Gc2]~Rates (%/ year) of Depletion of Reservoir Capacity due to Siltation (table), [Gc3]~Capacities of Major Reservoirs (table), [Gc4]~Reservoir areas of hydroelectric dams (table), [Gc5]~North Africa, [Gc6]~Southeast Asia, [Gc7]~Canada, [Gc8]~China, [Gc9]~Latin America, [Gc10]~Asian Sub-Continent, [Gc11]~US, [Gc12]~Sub-Saharan Africa,
(4-G-d) Bed Load Contributions to Sediment Delivery ~
(4-G-e) Sediment Transport to Oceans ~ [Ge1]~General, [Ge2]~Suspended Sediment Yields of Selected Rivers (table), [Ge3]~Data for Major Rivers of the World(table), [Ge4]~Major Sediment-Yielding Rivers of the World (table), [Ge5]~Average Sediment Discharge to Oceans (table), [Ge6]~Suspended Sediment Discharge from Continents (table), [Ge7]~Sediment Yields of Rivers to Oceans (table), [Ge8]~Estimates of Suspended Sediment Reaching the Oceans (table), [Ge9]~Yellow River, [Ge10]~Peruvian Rivers, [Ge11]~Great Lakes, [Ge12]~Southeastern US, [Ge13]~Sediment Deposited at River Mouths,
(4-G-f) Dissolved-Solids Transport to Oceans ~
(4-H) ~ Grazing Land Erosion ~
(4-I) ~ Deforestation-caused Erosion ~ [I1]~General, [I2]~Europe, [I3]~US, [I4]~Southeast Asia, [I5]~Africa, [I6]~Asian Sub-Continent, [I7]~USSR, ~

(5) ~ EROSION AND ORGANIC MATTER LOSS BY COUNTRY ~
(5-A) ~ Asia ~ [A1]~Central Asia, [A2]~Far East, [A3]~Asian Sub-Continent, [A4]~Southeast Asia, [A5]~Middle East,
(5-B) ~ Africa ~ [B1]~Africa Overall, [B2]~North Africa, [B3]~Eastern Africa, [B4]~Western Africa, [B5]~Southern Africa, [B6]~Sahel ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ((5c) below)
(5-C) ~ North America ~
(5-C-a) Gully Erosion ~
(5-C-b) Wind Erosion ~
(5-C-c) Land Removed from Agriculture ~
(5-C-d) Total Soil Erosion in the US ~ [Cd1]~US Erosion Rates, [Cd2]~Regional US Erosion Rates, [Cd3]~Erosion on newer Croplands, [Cd4]~Long-term Effects, [Cd5]~Sediment Delivery, [Cd6]~Erosion Spectrum, 1982 NRI, [Cd7]~Soil Conservation,
(5-C-e) Sheet- and Rill Erosion ~ US ~
(5-C-f) Data on Canada and Specific US States and Regions ~ [Cf1]~General, [Cf2]~Southeastern US, [Cf3]~Far West, [Cf4]~Canada, [Cf5]~Rocky Mountains, [Cf6]~Great Plains, [Cf7]~Iceland, [Cf8]~Midwest. [Cf9]~Northeastern US, ~
(5-D) ~ South and Central America ~ [D1]~Southeastern South America, [D2]~Brazil, [D3]~Northwestern South America, [D4]~Central America, [D5]~Andean Mountain Region, ~
(5-E) ~ Europe and Australia ~ [E1]~Eastern Europe, [E2]~Southern Europe, [E3]~Northern Europe, [E4]~Europe in General, [E5]~European USSR, [E6]~Australia, ~

(6) ~ URBANIZATION-CAUSED TOPSOIL (CROPLAND) LOSS ~
(6-A) ~ Asia, Africa, Australia ~ [A1]~General, [A2]~Africa, [A3]~Far East, [A4]~Asian Sub-Continent, [A5]~Southeast Asia, [A6]~Middle East, ~
(6-B) ~ North America ~
(6-B-a) US Land Use Changes ~
(6-B-b) US Land Use Inventories ~
(6-B-c) Specific States and Regions of the US ~ [Bc1]~Far West, [Bc2]~Southeast, [Bc3]~Front Range, [Bc4]~Midwest, [Bc5]~Northeast, [Bc6]~Great Plains, ~
(6-B-d) Canada,
(6-C) ~ South- and Central America and Europe ~
(6-D) ~ Global ~
(6-E) ~ Analysis: Rates of Urbanization of the World's Croplands, Forest Lands and Grazing Lands

(7) ~ GREEN REVOLUTION, FERTILIZER, AND PESTICIDES ~
(7-A) ~ Green Revolution ~ [A1]~General, [A2]~Genetic Resources, [A3]~Corn Belt (US), [A4]~Asian Sub-Continent, [A5]~South America, [A6]~Southeast Asia, ~
(7-B) ~ Fertilizer ~
(7-B-a) Historical and Basics ~
(7-B-b) Marginal Productivity of Chemical Fertilizer ~
(7-B-c) Fertilizer Consumption ~ [Bc1]~Global, [Bc2]~Africa, [Bc3]~Asia (East), [Bc4]~China, [Bc5]~Europe, [Bc6]~Asian Sub-Continent, [Bc7]~US, [Bc8]~USSR (former), [Bc9]~South America, ~
(7-B-d) Environmental Effects and Energy Requirements of Chemical Fertilizers ~ [Bd1]~Water Quality, [Bd2]~Soils, [Bd3]~Energy Requirements, [Bd4]~Excess Consumption, [Bd5]~Health Effects, [Bd6]~Dead Zones, ~
(7-B-d) Environmental Effects and Energy Requirements of Chemical Fertilizer ~
(7-B-e) Phosphates and Potash Reserves ~
(7-B-f) Gross Effects of Fertilizer on Food Production ~
(7-C) ~ Pesticides ~ [C1]~General, [C2]~Pesticide Resistance, [C3]~Pesticide Usage, [C4]~Subsidies, [C5]~Integrated Pest Management, [C6]~Health Effects, ~

(9) ~ FOOD SUPPLY FROM SOILS ~
(9-A) ~ Grain and Soybean Data ~
(9-A-a) Global ~ [Aa1]~Grain Consumption Issues, [Aa2]~Land Devoted to Grain, [Aa3]~Grain Production Data, [Aa4]~Grain Production per capita, [Aa5]~Grain Production per Unit Area, [Aa6]~Soybean Data, [Aa7]~Food Stocks, [Aa8]~Grain-to-Energy Conversion,
(9-A-b) Specific Nations and Regions ~ [Ab1]~Africa, [Ab2]~Canada, [Ab3]~Far East, [Ab4]~Europe, [Ab5]~Central America, [Ab6]~Asian Sub-Continent, [Ab7]~Southeast Asia, [Ab8]~USSR (former), [Ab9]~US, [Ab10]~South America, ~
(9-B) ~ Hunger Statistics, Food Consumption and Rural Landlessness ~
(9-B-a) Global ~ [Ba1]~Numbers of Hungry People, [Ba2]~General, [Ba3]~Food Aid (International),
(9-B-b) Specific Nations and Regions ~ [Bb1]~Africa, [Bb2]~Asian Sub-Continent, [Bb3]~Far East, [Bb4]~Europe, [Bb5]~Central Asia, [Bb6]~Southeast Asia, [Bb7]~Middle East, [Bb8]~Latin America, [Bb9]~US,
(9-C) ~ Miscellaneous Food Supply Issues (Demand Growth) (Production Data) (Supply Issues) (Toxic Contaminants) ~
(9-C-a) Global ~
(9-C-b) Specific Nations and Regions ~ [Cb1]~Africa, [Cb2]~China, [Cb3]~Asian Sub-Continent, [Cb4]~Southeast Asia, [Cb5]~Middle East, [Cb6]~Central America, [Cb7]~Soviet Union, [Cb8]~US, ~

(10) ~ LAWS, POLITICS, HISTORY AND ECONOMIC ISSUES ~
(10-A) ~ Laws ~ Federal ~ [A1]~US Laws Passed Prior to 1985, [A2]~US Laws After 1984 (CRP), [A3]~Laws Outside the US, ~
(10-B) ~ Laws ~ State and Local ~
(10-C) ~ Politics ~ [C1]~Miscellaneous, [C2]~Protecting Farmland from Urbanization, [C3]~Politicization of the S.C.S., [C4]~Feudalism, ~
(10-D) ~ History ~ [D1]~US, [D2]~Europe, [D3]~Other Regions, [D4]~Transition to Agriculture, ~
(10-E) ~ Economics ~
(10-E-a) Water-Related Erosion Costs ~
(10-E-b) Erosion Costs ~ [Eb1]~Global, [Eb2]~US Government Expenditures on Erosion Protection, [Eb3]~Erosion-Prevention Costs, [Eb4]~Off-Site Erosion Costs (USA), [Eb5]~On-Site US Erosion-Related Losses, [Eb6]~Australia, [Eb7]~Canada, [Eb8]~New Mexico, [Eb9]~Java, ~
(10-E-c) Energy Costs ~
(10-E-d) Imports/Exports ~ [Ed1]~Global Data, [Ed2]~US Data, [Ed3]~Africa (sub-Saharan), [Ed4]~North Africa, [Ed5]~Asia, [Ed6]~Canada, [Ed7]~Far East, [Ed8]~Southeast Asia, [Ed9]~Latin America, [Ed10]~Middle East, [Ed11]~Asian Sub-Continent, [Ed12]~Europe ~
(10-E-e) Organic Farming ~
(10-E-f) Discounting Future Harvests ~
(10-E-g) Conservation Capital ~
(10-E-h) Subsidies ~
(10-E-i) Food Prices ~ [Ei1]~Comments, [Ei2]~Global, [Ei3]~US, [Ei4]~Middle East, [Ei5]~Central Asia. ~
(10-E-j) Farm Economics ~
(10-E-k) Agriculture Economics
(10-E-l) Conversion of Labor-Intensive Agriculture to Capital-Intensive Agriculture in Developing Nations ~

(11) ~ APPENDICES ~
(11-A) ~ Conversion Factors ~ Precise ~ [A1]~Lengths, [A2]~Areas, [A3]~Volumes, [A4]~Weights, ~
(11-B) ~ Conversion Factors ~ Imprecise ~
(11-C) ~ Densities ~
(11-D) ~ Definitions of Terminology ~
(11-E) ~ Organizations and Information Sources on Soil Loss Issues ~
(11-F) ~ Databases ~

(12) ~ REFERENCES (through 1986) ~ [A]~Before 1980, [B]~1980 -1982, [C]~1983 -1985, [D]~1986,
(13) ~ REFERENCES (1987 - current) ~ [D]~1987-1988, [E]~1989-1991, [F]~1992-1994, [G]~1995-1997, [H]~1998-2000, [I]~2001-2003, [J]~2004-2006, [K]~2007-2009, [L]~2010-2012,

Go to Home Page of this entire web site
Go to Top of this Table of Contents
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - se0