In some cases, the slope can flatten to cause deposition and then steepen so that erosion occurs on the lower portion of the slope. Slope length passes through the depositional area when soil loss is being estimated on the lower portion of this slope. In this case, the slope length is the distance from the origin of overland flow through depositional overland flow areas to the first concentrated flow area that collects the overland flow to the point that the runoff can no longer be considered overland flow. These soil loss values represent net sediment production for those segments, which is the net between detachment and deposition within the segment. Detachment is the removal of soil particles from the soil mass, which adds sediment to the sediment load being transported downslope.
Deposition is the transfer of sediment from the sediment load back to the soil mass.
Local deposition is the deposition of sediment very near to the point where the sediment was detached. Deposition of sediment eroded from soil clods in nearby depressions formed by the clods is an example of local deposition. Remote deposition is the deposition of sediment far from its point of origin such as deposition in a terrace channel or on the toe of a concave slope. Sediment load is a measure of the amount of sediment being transported downslope.