What is the process of mass wasting?
Mass wasting is the movement of rock and soil down slope under the influence of gravity. Rock falls, slumps, and debris flows are all examples of mass wasting. Often lubricated by rainfall or agitated by seismic activity, these events may occur very rapidly and move as a flow.
What is the main force responsible for mass movement processes?
Gravity
Why is mass wasting important?
Mass movements are an important part of the erosional process, as it moves material from higher elevations to lower elevations where transporting agents like streams and glaciers can then pick up the material and move it to even lower elevations.
What are the relationship with mass wasting and gravity?
Gravity is probably the ultimate driving force of mass wasting. The force of gravity pulls all things on the planet toward the center of the Earth. Without gravity, mass wasting would not occur. But unlike many of the other factors, humans have no influence or control on gravity.
What is the driving force behind all mass wasting processes?
The two driving forces behind mass wasting are tectonic activity, the uplift and mountain building that continuously maintains the slopes, and gravity, which tends to pull the slopes down even out the landscape.
What are resisting forces in a mass movement?
Resisting forces act oppositely of driving forces. The resistance to downslope movement is dependent on the shear strength of the slope material. And shear strength is a function of cohesion (ability of particles to attract and hold each other together) and internal friction (friction between grains within a material).
Which is one of the most dramatic triggers of sudden mass movements?
Cards
| Term What is mechanical weathering? | Definition When physical forces break rock into smaller and smaller pieces without changing the rock’s mineral composition. |
|---|---|
| Term One of the most dramatic triggers of sudden mass movements is an | Definition Earthquake |
Which does not usually trigger mass movements?
The correct answer is growth of native vegetation on slopes.
How are mass movements classified?
Mass movements can be classified on the basis of type of material moved and the characteristic type or form of movement. Failure: surface along which the slump occurred. Mass of regolith detaches from its substrate along a spoon-shaped sliding/ failure surface; slips coherently downhill.
What is not true about mass movements?
Mass movement does not always leads to landslides as it depends upon the density of moving material going down the slope. The heavier and denser the material, the more profound will be the affect resulting in landslide but lighter material cannot cause landslide.
What breaks rocks into smaller pieces without changing their composition?
Mechanical weathering breaks rocks into smaller pieces without changing their composition. Ice wedging and abrasion are two important processes of mechanical weathering.
Why can the removal of vegetation trigger mass movements?
Vegetation stabilizes a slope as it prevents soil erosion. Its removal from an area can trigger mass movement because it will increase the rate of soil erosion and also increase the rate of absorption of water by soil, thereby destabilizing the slopes and causing mass movements.