Mass Wasting

A Talus cone at the base of Mount Smith, Canadian Rockies

You may wish to print a copy of the lecture outline (minus the illustrations) and you have two options:

• Microsoft Word if you use that Word Processor or
• A Netscape Document that you can print (use the Left Arrow key to return to this page).
• Or, you may view the Mass Wasting power point presentation shown in class.

Chapter Objectives

After reading Chapter Nine, you should be able to:
1. Define mass wasting.
2. List the factors that control and trigger mass wasting.
3. Explain the classification of mass wasting.
4. Define the types of mass wasting, including rockslide, mudflow, earthflow, creep, and solifluction.

Introduction

When the gravitational force acting on a slope exceeds its resisting force, slope failure occurs (mass wasting). In less than two minutes 40 million cubic yards of rock from Turtle Mountain slid along a plane of structural weakness to cover the town of Frank, Alberta, Canada in 1903. The link in the Chapter Heading will take you to the National Landslide Information Center where you can read about this type of Mass Movement. As you read the text and this resource guide think about "early warning" signals that may accompany the movement of Earth materials.

Class Notes

Internet Resources

1. The Liquid Earth

   "Landslides and other "ground failures" cost more lives and more money each year than all other natural disasters combined, and their incidence appears to be rising. Nevertheless, the government devotes few resources to their study -- and the foolhardy continue to build and live in places likely to be consumed one day by avalanches of mud"

2. National Landslide Information Center

   Check out the information for the state in which your college or university is located. See what information you can obtain about the landslides in your state.

3. Mass Wasting Review
   "The downslope movement of surface material under the direct influence of gravity is called "Mass Wasting." Mass wasting plays a vital role in transferring the products of weathering from their original sites to lower lying places where the agents of erosion can pick them up for transporting a longer distance."

A Virtual Field Trip to a debris flow in California

Carnelian Bay, Debris Flow On the afternoon of February 4, 1996, two debris flows blocked Highway 89, about 7 miles north of Tahoe City. The first debris flow occurred in the Silver Creek drainage. The culvert was plugged, and the only damage was some erosion along the roadway. The second debris flow occurred 2-3 hours later in an unnamed creek, about one quarter of a mile north of Silver Creek. This flow pushed some parked cars around and did moderate damage to an apartment building."

Learning about geology from a computer screen is only half as fun as enjoying it in the field!

Self-Quiz

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Copyright by John C. Butler, July 29, 1995