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Debris flows tend to move in a series of pulses, or discrete surges, wherein each pulse or surge has a distinctive head, body and tail. A debris flow in Ladakh, triggered by storms in 2010. It has poor sorting and levees. Steep source catchment is visible in background. Debris-flow deposits are readily recognizable in the field.
A landslide, also called a landslip, [10] is a relatively rapid movement of a large mass of earth and rocks down a hill or a mountainside. Landslides can be further classified by the importance of water in the mass wasting process. In a narrow sense, landslides are rapid movement of large amounts of relatively dry debris down moderate to steep ...
Large masses of material are moved in debris flows, hyperconcentrated mixtures of mud, clasts that range up to boulder-size, and water. Debris flows move as granular flows down steep mountain valleys and washes. Because they transport sediment as a granular mixture, their transport mechanisms and capacities scale differently from those of ...
Most flows are liquefied, and many references to fluidized sediment gravity flows are in fact incorrect and actually refer to liquefied flows. [5] Debris flow or mudflow – Grains are supported by the strength and buoyancy of the matrix. Mudflows and debris flows have cohesive strength, which makes their behavior difficult to predict using the ...
However, also dry debris can exhibit flow-like movement. [30] Flowing debris or mud may pick up trees, houses and cars, and block bridges and rivers causing flooding along its path. This phenomenon is particularly hazardous in alpine areas, where narrow gorges and steep valleys are conducive of faster flows. Debris and mud flows may initiate on ...
Commonly called mudslides, these dangerous torrents are usually referred to by geologists and first responders as debris flows, which the U.S. Geological Survey describes as fast-moving landslides ...
Debris flow fans receive most of their sediments in the form of debris flows. Debris flows are slurry-like mixtures of water and particles of all sizes, from clay to boulders, that resemble wet concrete. They are characterized by having a yield strength, meaning that they are highly viscous at low flow velocities but become less viscous as the ...
Agents of erosion include rainfall; [4] bedrock wear in rivers; coastal erosion by the sea and waves; glacial plucking, abrasion, and scour; areal flooding; wind abrasion; groundwater processes; and mass movement processes in steep landscapes like landslides and debris flows. The rates at which such processes act control how fast a surface is ...