What is gully erosion characterized by?

Gully erosion is characterized by the formation of large channels that can be more than 10 feet deep. This type of erosion occurs when water accumulates after heavy rainfall, flowing rapidly and eroding the land to create these pronounced channels. Unlike other forms of erosion that may create shallow depressions or merely affect the surface, gully erosion results in significant vertical and horizontal changes to the landscape.

The development of these deep channels can severely impact the surrounding ecosystem, leading to loss of nutrients in the soil, changes in local hydrology, and potential hazards to infrastructure. Gully erosion typically requires a significant amount of water flow, making the depth and size of these channels a distinctive feature. In contrast, other choices refer to characteristics that do not align with the specific nature of gully erosion; for instance, shallow depressions are more representative of rill erosion, surface runoff can occur in various forms of erosion but is not specific to gullies, and mudslides describe a different process related to mass wasting rather than the channelized erosion that gully erosion entails.