Mass Wasting I.

Definition The bulk movement of weathered and broken rock materials down slopes under the influence of gravity. II. Factors affecting mass movements A. Gravity the force of gravity provides the energy that causes material to move downhill. Gravity is always acting!! B. Internal cohesion (strength) the characteristic property of a rock or soil that measures how well it resists being deformed or broken by forces such as gravity. 1. Solid bedrock very strong, can form steep slopes and cliffs a. Fractures reduce rock strength and offer surfaces for easy slip, especially if the fractures are oriented near to the downhill slope direction b. Bedding planes in sedimentary rocks (especially those involving clay or other weak layers) nearly parallel to the slope are very susceptible to sliding. 2. Soil an unconsolidated material (sand, gravel) a. Uncemented dry sand an coarser fragments have very little internal cohesion and assume an angle of repose which is the maximal slope at which material will remain

stable. 1) For dry sand this angle is about 30o b. Clays in the sediment promote higher internal cohesion in dry unconsolidated material, but they allow for easier downhill slippage when wet. C. Water 1. Wet clays not only act as lubricants for mass movements, but tend to flow out laterally from beneath burdens, thus causing subsidence an slumping. 2. Water in fractures and pores generally reduces the strength of rocks and clay-bearing soils. It promotes mass movement because it is under pressure, which tends to push apart individual grains and open joints and bedding planes. 3. Helps to widen joints and bedding planes by dissolving soluble minerals. 4. Helps to widen joints and bedding planes as water in openings freezes and expands. D. Steepness of slopes 1. The steeper the land surface (i.e., the slope) the larger the Clay becomes plastic and weak when it absorbs water.

component of gravity acting parallel with the slope. This increases the tendency of material to move downhill. E. Nature of vegetation 1. Plants are able to protect soil and regolith against erosion by binding grains together with root systems. F. External factors 1. Earthquakes vibrations can trigger failure in weakened rock or soil masses 2. Oversteepening of slopes stream erosion or man-made excavations can remove material at the base of a slope, promoting sudden slope failure and mass movement.

III. Mechanisms of mass movements A. Falling blocks fall down steep slopes or cliffs B. Sliding downward slip of blocks of rock C. Flow unconsolidated materials like soils, clay and weathered shale on slopes can undergo slow plastic flow D. Frost heave repeated freezing and thawing or swelling and shrinking of clay results in very slow downward movements of surface materials. If conditions are right, water that soaks into the ground

during winter months, freezes and permits ice to accumulate in the zone of freezing as water is added from the atmosphere above and is drawn upward from the unfrozen ground below. In time masses of ice are built up, and the soil above them is heaved upward. During the process of frost heaving, material moves up with each interval of freezing (expansion) and down with each interval of thawing (contraction). Therefore, material moves downslope with each freeze-thaw cycle.

IV. Classification of mass movements A. Mass movements can be classified on the basis of how fast the material moves. B. Slow Movements 1. Slow, inexorable downslope movement of material under the influence of gravity 2. Creep slow downward movement of surface material 3. Frost heave 4. 1mm/year to 1 mm/day 5. Soil moisture is another important contributor as it weakens the soils resistance to movement. 6. Freeze-thaw cycle contributes (heaving)

C. Moderate Movements 1. Slump also called slope failure downward and outward movement of earth traveling as a unit or as a series of units a. Usually occurs when the original slope has been sharply steepened. The upper surface of each block is tilted back ward as it moves. b. Water collecting between the tilted blocks encourages this downslope movement. c. Surface along which slump block moves is curved. 2. Earthflows and Mudflows a. Earthflow - sluggish, rather erratic flow of clayey or silty regolith down relatively gentle slopes. Water is present, but usually not at saturation. Sometimes recognizable by a curved scarp (portion of slip surface exposed) that develops at the breakaway line on the slope and by the crescent-shaped bulges at the toe of the flow. b. Mudflow well-mixed mass of rock, soil and water that flows downslope. It has a consistency like concrete and

supersaturated with water. Tend to travel in streamlike masses within valleys and canyons. Their formation is favored by sudden abundance of water, lack of vegetation, and abundance of loose regolith. Often these conditions are found in arid regions that are subjected to periodic torrential rains. One such region is California, where periodic brush fires leave the ground without protection against the next heavy rainfall. c. Debris flow similar to mudflows except that they contain many large fragments of rocks and trees, all carried in the moving mixture of sand, silt, clay, and water. 3. Talus and slide rock a talus is a slope built up by an accumulation of rock fragments at the foot of a cliff or ridge. a. Mechanical processes, most significantly freezing and thawing, produce the rock fragments that make up the talus slope. 4. 1 cm/day to 1 cm/sec D. Rapid Movements 1. Rock slides or avalanches

2. Factors that frequently contribute to these: a. Steep mountain sides b. Bedding planes parallel to the slope c. Faults that break bedding planes d. Weak layers (wet clays or coal, for example) located in the valley below, which can undergo slow plastic deformation under the weight of rock upslope e. Earthquakes 3. > 1 cm/sec to > 100 km/hour