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Chapter 3 Agents of Erosion MSBSHSE Book Class 11 PDF (2026-27)
3. Agents Of Erosion
Can You Tell?
The names of many places may have some relation with the landforms located there. The names of few of them are given below as example. You are expected to find out the particular landforms to which they are associated. Find about them and try to locate them on a map using an atlas. Make a list of similar examples from India. Discuss your findings in the class.
| Name Of The Place | Landform Associated With The Name | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Revdanda | Sand bar | Raigad, Maharashtra |
| Ganpati Pule | Beach | Ratnagiri, Maharashtra |
| Pravara Sangam | Confluence of rivers | Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra |
Geographical Explanation
You have seen how landforms may be used to name places or villages. Landforms have been formed due to certain processes. Agents work upon them. Landforms develop over a long period. You have already learnt about the agents of erosion: running water (river), sea waves, wind, underground water and glaciers. They are the medium. These agents detach or separate, pick up, move, and eventually lay down broken rock particles. These agents of erosion cause various processes when they pick up, move and deposit these rock particles. These processes lead to erosional and depositional landforms. Some processes are common across all agents but some are specific to a particular agent. Try to understand these processes with the help of the table given below. The adjacent diagrams will help you to visualize how the process operates.
| Sr. No. | Processes Of Erosion | Agent |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Plucking is the process by which moving ice exerts pressure on majority portion of rocks on bed or along the bank. This causes uprooting of rock portion which is getting exposed to the flow. This uprooting of particles is called plucking. The eroded bedrock will have a rugged surface. | Glacier |
| 2. | Abrasion involves the scratching and polishing of the surface or bedrock by the particles which are moving onto it. Just as sandpaper is used for smoothening, the rock particles involved in abrasion rub against and wear away the surface. The eroded bedrock or surface will have a smooth side. Abrasion increases as velocity increases. | Wind, glacier, sea waves |
Teacher's Note
Erosion means wearing away of rocks and soil. You can see this when rain washes away the soil from a slope near your school or home.
Exam Trick
Remember: Plucking = pulling out pieces like pulling out hair from your head. Abrasion = rubbing like sandpaper rubbing wood smooth.
Points To Remember
Agents of erosion are running water, sea waves, wind, groundwater and glaciers.
Erosion has three steps: breaking rock, moving it, and dropping it down.
Some erosion processes work for all agents, some work for only one agent.
Landforms are created by erosion and deposition working together over long time.
Different agents create different types of landforms.
| Sr. No. | Processes Of Erosion | Agent |
|---|---|---|
| 3. | Attrition is when rocks and pebbles bump into each other and break up into smaller fragments. During transit, materials reduce in size. Rock particles become more rounded. | Wind, Waves, river |
| 4. | Solution - Solution is when certain types of rocks get eroded as a result of acids in the sea or river water. When minerals in rocks like chalk and limestone are dissolved in water, they are carried in the water. The load is not visible. In particular, limestone, dolomite and sandstone coasts are very susceptible to this type of erosion. | Underground water, river, sea waves |
| 5. | Deflation – The particles which are loosened on the surface are blown away by the wind. This action is more intense where vegetation is absent. After removal, the portion from where sand is blown off appears as a depression. These are called deflation hollows. | Wind |
| 6. | Drilling - Bedload moves along the running water. As and when this flow encounters an obstacle due to relief on the bed or joints in the bed, the flow tends to develop a circular pattern. This circular system becomes stable, though the water continues to flow in downstream direction. This leads to development of a whirl. The trapped sediments also follow the similar circular motion. The continuous action of these trapped sediments and the whirl deepens the bed of the river at a given point. Eventually, it develops into a larger depression assuming a shape of a pot. | River |
The difference between abrasion and attrition is that abrasion affects the surface along which the material moves and attrition relates to the material that moves.
Teacher's Note
Attrition is like when two stones in a river keep hitting each other and become round. Abrasion is like when those stones rub against the river bed and make it smooth.
Exam Trick
Remember: Attrition = stones hitting stones. Abrasion = stones rubbing the ground. Think of your shoes hitting each other (attrition) and your shoes rubbing on the ground (abrasion).
Points To Remember
Solution means rocks dissolving in water like sugar in tea.
Deflation means wind blowing away sand and leaving holes.
Drilling means water spinning around and making holes in the riverbed.
Rocks become smooth and round through attrition.
Abrasion makes surfaces smooth like sandpaper does.
| Sr. No. | Processes Of Erosion | Agent |
|---|---|---|
| 7. | Down cutting, also called downward erosion is a process of hydraulic action that deepens the channel of a stream or valley by removing material from the stream's bed or the valley's floor. | River, glacier |
| 8. | Head ward erosion is the backward erosion by river in the source region. Gravel or soil in the source region may collapse due to steep slope. This is carried away by the stream. This causes the river to move backward. Such erosion takes place in the opposite direction of the flow of the river. | River, glacier |
| 9. | Lateral erosion is the erosion that occurs on the sides of valleys of a river or glacier. The valley side slopes are eroded by the tributary streams. As and when, rate of downcutting decreases, the effect of lateral erosion becomes evident. This process is also called valley widening. In the valley floor region too lateral erosion occurs that mainly leads to widening of flood plains. | River, glacier, sea waves |
| Sr. No. | Processes Of Transportation | Agent |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | Traction – The material acquired by the agents is transported by rolling, pushing and dragging along the surface. The material consists of boulders and big rocks. | All except groundwater |
| 11. | Saltation – Often, rock materials move forward by leaps and bounds through this process. Saltation is when material such as pebbles and gravel and coarse sand that is too heavy to be carried in suspension is bounced along the surface by the force of the water or wind. | River, wind and sea waves |
Teacher's Note
Down cutting happens when a river digs deeper into its own bed, like when water from a tap slowly makes a hole in the sink below it.
Exam Trick
Remember: Downcutting = going down. Headward erosion = moving backward up the river. Lateral erosion = cutting sideways to widen the valley.
Points To Remember
Downcutting makes the river deeper from top to bottom.
Headward erosion moves the river source backward up the mountain.
Lateral erosion makes valleys wider on the sides.
Traction means dragging big heavy rocks along the ground.
Saltation means bouncing like a ball, not continuous sliding.
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MSBSHSE Book Class 11 Geography Chapter 3 Agents of Erosion
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