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A long and wide trench that cuts into soft rock or sediment. Gullies normally occur in areas where the ground surface has been exposed to fire, the effects of climate change, or human activity. Without plants, especially their root systems, rainfall can cause the sediment to erode as water moves swiftly over the surface of the earth and, via friction, removes particulate matter.
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"Headward erosion (gullying)" by Grove Karl Gilbert is licensed under Public Domain.
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Encyclopædia Britannica Online
N.d. gully. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/249259/gully, accessed
September 24, 2014.