NATS 1750 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Mass Wasting, Debris Flow, Regolith
30 Dec 2019
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Document Summary
Mass-wasting = the downslope movement of rock, regolith, and soil under the direct influence of. When people and communities are in the way, a natural disaster may result. A landslide = a sudden event where large quantities of rock move downhill. Mass-wasting often follows weathering; sediment is ultimately transported to the sea or the lowest local point. Combined effects of mass wasting and running water produce stream valleys. The most rapid and spectacular mass-wasting events occur in areas of rugged, geologically young mountains; mass-wasting and erosional processes slowly change these rugged mountains to mountains to more level terrain. Water adds weight to a mass of material. When sediment pores fill with water, cohesion among particles are destroyed (particles move apart. Removing vegetation helps cause unstable slopes as roots stabilize the potential failure plane, and plants bind soil and regolith together in addition to shielding the soil surface from raindrop impacts.
