Consider the following statements:

1.  The most fertile lands in the Chambal basin are called ravines.

2.  Western and central Himalayas have well developed terrace farming.

3.  When the running water cuts through the clayey soils and makes deep channels is called gullies.

4.  Ploughing along the contour lines can accelerate the flow of water down the slopes resulting into soil erosion.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Correct option is C

  Statement 1 is incorrect and Statement 3 is correct: The denudation of the soil cover and subsequent washing down is described as soil erosion. Human activities like deforestation, over-grazing, construction and mining etc., while natural forces like wind, glacier and water lead to soil erosion. The running water cuts through the clayey soils and makes deep channels as gullies. The land becomes unfit for cultivation and is known as bad land. In the Chambal basin such lands are called ravines. Sometimes water flows as a sheet over large areas down a slope. In such cases the top soil is washed away. This is known as sheet erosion.

●       Statement is 2 is correct but Statement 4 is incorrect: Ploughing along the contour lines can decelerate the flow of water down the slopes. This is called contour ploughing. Steps can be cut out on the slopes making terraces. Terrace cultivation restricts erosion. Western and central Himalayas have well developed terrace farming. Large fields can be divided into strips. Strips of grass are left to grow between the crops. This breaks up the force of the wind. This method is known as strip cropping. Planting lines of trees to create shelter also works in a similar way. Rows of such trees are called shelter belts. These shelter belts have contributed significantly to the stabilisation of sand dunes and in stabilising the desert in western India.