Editing Gully (section)

{{Short description|Landform created by running water and/or mass movement eroding sharply into soil}}
{{About|the landform|other uses}}
[[File:Gully in the Kharkov region.jpg|thumb|A gully in [[Kharkiv oblast]], [[Ukraine]].]]
[[File:SomaliaLuftaufnahme1993.jpg|thumb|Gullied landscape in [[Somalia]].]]
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A '''gully''' is a [[landform]] created by [[Runoff (hydrology)|running water]], [[mass movement (geology)|mass movement]], or both, which [[erosion|erodes]] [[soil]] to a sharp angle, typically on a hillside or in river [[floodplain]]s or [[Fluvial terrace|terraces]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-21 |title=Definition of GULLY |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gully |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref> 

Gullies resemble large [[ditch]]es or small [[valley]]s, but are metres to tens of metres in depth and width, are characterized by a distinct 'headscarp' or '[[headwall]]' and progress by [[Headward erosion|headward (i.e., upstream) erosion]].  Gullies are commonly related to intermittent or ephemeral water flow, usually associated with localised intense or protracted rainfall events or snowmelt. 

Gullies can be formed and accelerated by cultivation practices on hillslopes (often gentle gradients) in [[Farmland (farming)|farmland]], and they can develop rapidly in rangelands from existing natural erosion forms subject to vegetative cover removal and livestock activity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Breeze |first=Andrew |date=January 1999 |title=A Celtic Etymology for Scots Gully "Large Knife" |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08957699909598048 |journal=ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews |language=en |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=5–6 |doi=10.1080/08957699909598048 |issn=0895-769X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>