GEOG 1350 Chapter 5: Mass Wasting
10 Jan 2012
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Document Summary
Cause is an internal or external factor that, over time, reduces the stability of a slope and brings it to the point of failure. Trigger is an event that sets off the landslide; it can be considered the final straw . Mass wasting and landslides describe downslope movements of rock or sediment as a result of gravity. 4 important variables support landslide classification: mechanism of movement (fall, topple, slide, flow, or complex movement, type of material (rock, consolidated sediment, or organic soil, amount of water present, rate movement. *movement is considered rapid if it can be seen by the naked eye, if not it is classified as slow. Fall involves bounding of rock or blocks of sediment from the face of the cliff. Slide is the downslope movement of a coherent block of rock or sediment along a discrete failure plane. Slump is a particular type of slide in which the failure plane is curved upward.
