Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Mass wasting, also known as mass movement, [1] is a general term for the movement of rock or soil down slopes under the force of gravity. It differs from other processes of erosion in that the debris transported by mass wasting is not entrained in a moving medium, such as water, wind, or ice.
It is the removal of the slope's physical support which provokes this mass wasting event. Thorough wetting is a common cause, which explains why slumping is often associated with heavy rainfall, storm events and earthflows. Rain provides lubrication for the material to slide, and increases the self-mass of the material.
A tree may be blown by the wind, and this causes a pressure at the root level and this loosens rocks and can trigger a fall. The pieces of rock collect at the bottom creating a talus or scree. Rocks falling from the cliff may dislodge other rocks and serve to create another mass wasting process, for example an avalanche.
It is "a striking example of mass wasting (the movement of large masses of earth material)." The Lake Fork of the Gunnison River was dammed by the earthflow, creating Lake San Cristobal. [1] A second earthflow has been moving continuously for about 300 years over older, stable rock. [3]
It is one of the world's largest known examples of recent mass wasting events aside from volcanic eruptions. Slide Lake is now much smaller than before the flood. Slide Lake is now much smaller than before the flood.
A volcanic landslide or volcanogenic landslide is a type of mass wasting that takes place at volcanoes. ... open at one end, ... that caused damage more than 700 km ...
The cause of the Devonian period extinction 359 million years ago, ranked as one of the five great extinctions of life on Earth, remains a mystery. Now, a new study reveals the explosion of a ...
Mass wasting or mass movement is the downward and outward movement of rock and sediments on a sloped surface, mainly due to the force of gravity. [49] [50] Mass wasting is an important part of the erosional process and is often the first stage in the breakdown and transport of weathered materials in mountainous areas.