How does erosion work?

Question

So everything I find just mentions erosion taking place over a long period of time, but just what is happening? Does a microscopic layer get drug away all the time, or is it nothing until all of a sudden some gets carried away?

Asking because I didn’t know if erosion was taking place at an immeasurable pace with my drinking glass.

Edit: I should add that I understand from a high level how erosion, or weathering, occurs. But I don’t know how it’s happening at a micro level. Is it always the top layer of atoms being stripped? I’m assuming bond strength plays a factor, but does the weathering material break the bond down over time, or just if bond strength is < some measure then it strips away?

In: 1

Answer 1

So when we use the word erosion casually, we are referring to the action of terrain being broken down and moved about by natural processes. Geologists actually describe these two processes as different things called “erosion” and “weathering.” Weathering is the process of breaking small pieces off of the landscape, while erosion is the action that moves those small pieces around. Wind and water are both excellent at picking up small particles and depositing them elsewhere. Weathering can take different forms: physical, chemical, and biological. Physical weathering comes from movement, so something like the waves on the ocean smoothing rocks with the sand is physical weather. Chemical weathering comes from chemical interactions (obviously) like acid rain, or a mineral that can dissolve in water. The final one, biological, is things like insects digging out soil, or organism that excrete or break down minerals in their environment.

Your glass of water is likely not doing much of anything, as the glass has no reaction to water. But scoop up some ocean water in a glass and swirl it around, and you may cloud the glass with the sand scraping its surface. That would be weathering. The sea-glass you might find in the ocean has been sand blasted for years to wear down its sharp edges, and would probably take centuries to be worn away entirely.