Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Talus cones produced by mass moving, north shore of Isfjord, Svalbard, Norway Mass wasting at Palo Duro Canyon, West Texas (2002) A rockfall in Grand Canyon National Park. 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.
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.
Rock slides are the most dangerous form of mass-wasting because they incorporate a sudden, incredibly fast-paced release of bedrock along a uniform plane of weakness. These uniform weaknesses are key to identifying rock slides because unlike slumps, flows, or falls, the failed material moves in a fairly uniform direction over a layer of solid ...
Fissures may develop during the movement of clayey materials, which facilitate the intrusion of water into the moving mass and produce faster responses to precipitation. [31] A rock avalanche, sometimes referred to as sturzstrom, is a large and fast-moving landslide of the flow type. It is rarer than other types of landslides but it is often ...
Description: "Toppling is the forward rotation out of the slope of a mass of soil or rock about a point or axis below the centre of gravity of the displaced mass. Toppling is sometimes driven by gravity exerted by material upslope of the displaced mass and sometimes by water or ice in cracks in the mass" (Varnes, 1996)
A slump is a form of mass wasting that occurs when a coherent mass of loosely consolidated materials or a rock layer moves a short distance down a slope. [1] Movement is characterized by sliding along a concave-upward or planar surface.
The term incorporates earth slides, rock falls, flows, and mudslides, amongst other categories of hillslope mass movements. [12] They do not have to be as fluid as a mudflow. Mudflows can be caused by unusually heavy rains or a sudden thaw. They consist mainly of mud and water plus fragments of rock and other debris, so they often behave like ...
The first impact occurred at 18:52:28.0 Pacific Daylight Time (02:52:28 UTC), and the second at 18:52:41.6 PDT (02:52:41 UTC).. After detaching from the cliff, the rock mass slide [] down a rock shelf for 600 feet at an angle of 50 degrees from vertical and acquired sufficient speed to free-fall ballistically an estimated 1800 feet (550 m) prior to impacting about 200 feet (60 m) from the base ...