GEOG 1350 Chapter 6: CHAPTER 6
16 Aug 2016
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Document Summary
Rock avalanche is a type of landslide involving sudden failure of a large mass of rock that rapidly fragments and travels as a streaming mass at high speeds. Landslides and mass wasting are terms to describe the downslope movement of rock or sediment due to gravity. The variables that underpin the classifications are: the mechanism of the movement, the type of material, the amount of water present and the rate of movement. A fall involves bounding of rock or blocks of sediment from the face of the cliff. A slide is the downslope movement of a coherent block of rock or sediment along a discrete failure plane. A slump is a particular type of slide in which the failure plane is curved upwards. A flow is the slow to rapid downslope movement of sediment in which particles move semi- independently of one another, commonly with the aid of water. Debris flows are mixtures of mud, debris and water.
