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Mass Wasting: Gravity's Role in Soil Movement

Mass movement, or mass wasting, refers to the downslope movement of soil and rock due to gravity, commonly seen in landslides, mudslides, and avalanches. Factors influencing these movements include weathering, rock characteristics, vegetation removal, earthquakes, and water content. Various types of mass movement include rockfalls, slumps, earthflows, mudflows, and debris avalanches, with their velocity determined by slope steepness and material saturation.

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14 views9 pages

Mass Wasting: Gravity's Role in Soil Movement

Mass movement, or mass wasting, refers to the downslope movement of soil and rock due to gravity, commonly seen in landslides, mudslides, and avalanches. Factors influencing these movements include weathering, rock characteristics, vegetation removal, earthquakes, and water content. Various types of mass movement include rockfalls, slumps, earthflows, mudflows, and debris avalanches, with their velocity determined by slope steepness and material saturation.

Uploaded by

blancomaryrosary
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

SOIL MOVE

DOWNSLOPE DUE
TO THE DIRECT
ACTION OF
GRAVITY.
DEFIN
Downslope movements of
Emasses of bodies of soil,
bed rock, rock debris, soil,
or mud which usually occur
along steep-sided hills and MUDS SLIDE
mountains because of the
pull of gravity is called LANDS SLIDE
Mass movement or Mass
wasting.
This slipping of large
amounts of rock and soil is
seen in landslides, mud
slides, and avalanches.
The variety of downslope mass movements reflects the
diversity of factors that are responsible for their origin.

factors
•Weathering or erosional debris cover on slopes which
is usually liable to mass movement.
•Characteristics or structure of rocks
•Removal of vegetation cover
•Earthquake tremors
•Flowing ground water/ water content
types
•Rockfall the abrupt movement and free fall
loosened blocks of rock
•Slump the separation of a mass along a
concave head scarp, moving down a curved slip
surface and accumulating at the slope’s foot
•Earthflow the saturation of debris and
weathered material by rainfall, increasing the
weight of the debris and causing a slow
downslope movement
•Mudflow a rapidly moving earthflow
possessing a higher water content
•Debris Avalanche a fast-moving earthflow in
a mountainous region.
How does mass movement
occur?We’ve seen that mass movement
travel at a range of different velocities,
from slow to fastest. The velocity
depends on the steepness of the slope
and the water or air content of the
mass. For these movements to take
place, the stage must be set by the
following phenomena: fracturing and
weathering, which weaken the materials
at Earth’s surface so that they cannot
hold up against the pull of the gravity;
and the development of relief, which
provides slopes down which masses
above.

Common questions

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Fractures and weathering weaken surface materials, reducing their structural integrity, making them unable to resist gravitational forces. This predisposes them to deformation and eventual downslope movement .

A slump involves a section of earth moving downwards along a concave slip surface, accumulating at the slope's foot, creating a crescent-shaped feature. An earthflow, however, involves the more gradual downslope movement of saturated soil and debris, usually with a muddier, elongated appearance on the landscape .

Water influences mass wasting by saturating debris and weathered materials, increasing their weight, and reducing friction with underlying surfaces, thus facilitating faster and more pronounced downslope movements .

Mudflows are rapidly moving earthflows with high water content, while debris avalanches are very fast-moving with less water content, occurring typically in mountainous regions with large amounts of rock and earth debris .

An earthflow occurs when saturated debris moves slowly downslope due to gravity, usually forming a continuous flow. In contrast, a rockfall involves the abrupt movement and free fall of loosened blocks of rock down a slope, driven primarily by gravitational forces without significant water content .

Vegetation stabilizes the soil by enhancing root cohesion and reducing surface runoff. Its removal weakens soil structure, making it more susceptible to gravitational forces and thus increasing the risk of mass movement .

Seismic activity can trigger mass wasting by causing soil and rocks to lose cohesion under vibrational forces. This can result in slumps where masses separate along a concave head scarp and landslides where large volumes of earth or rock slip downslope .

The structural integrity or characteristics of rocks, such as strata orientation and fracture patterns, determine how they withstand gravitational forces. Unstable structures or those prone to fracture under stress increase the probability of mass movements as they provide weak points through which gravitational forces can act more easily .

The steepness of a slope increases the velocity of mass movements because steeper slopes provide a greater gravitational force component to drive movements. This results in faster downslope movements depending on the mass's water or air content .

Primary triggers of mass movements in steep terrains include weathering or erosional debris cover, the structural characteristics of rocks, removal of vegetation cover, earthquake tremors, flowing ground water, and increased water content .

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