# erosion (process)

drift too slow for the system it acts on to register

- Computed level: L12 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: window ontology  ·  Arena: emergent systems

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [drift](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-drift.aimless), [system](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-system.organized), [register](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-register.record), [act](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-act.deed)

**Through:** An aimless drift performs an act so slowly that the organized system fails to detect or record it, despite ongoing change within a survivable range.

**Novel properties:**
- undetectable change
- persistent unnoticed effect

## Examples
- The Mississippi River shifted its course by 2° over 150 years, unnoticed by riverboat pilots relying on outdated charts. *(geography)*
- The International Space Station loses 100 meters of altitude per day due to atmospheric drag, requiring monthly reboosts. *(engineering)*
- The word 'gay' drifted in common usage over decades, until courts no longer recognized its older meaning in contract law. *(institutions)*

---
*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-erosion.process*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-erosion.process.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*