Mass Wasting

     Geologists use the term landslide in a general sense

to cover a wide variety of mass movements that may cause loss of life, property
damage, or
a general disruption of human activities.  In 218 B.C.,
Avalanches in the European Alps buried 18,000 people; an earthquake-
generated landslide in
Hsian, China, killed an estimated 1,000,000 people in 1556; and 7,000 people died when
mudflows and avalanches
destroyed Huaraz, Peru, in 1941.  What makes these mass
movements so terrifying, and yet so fascinating, is that they almost always occur
with
little or no warning and are over in a very short time, leaving behind a legacy of death
and destruction.

     Mass wasting (also called mass movement)

is defined as the downslope movement of material under the direct influence of gravity.
 
Most types of mass wasting are aided by weathering and usually involve surficial
(surface) materials.  The material moves at rates ranging
from almost imperceptible,
as in the case of creep, to extremely fast as in a rockfall or slide.  Though water
can play an important role, the
relentless pull of gravity is the major force behind mass
wasting.

Factors Influencing Mass Wasting

     When the gravitational force acting on a slope exceeds its
resisting force, slope failure (mass wasting) occurs.  The resisting forces
helping
to maintain slope stability include the slope material's strength and cohesion, the amount
of internal friction between grains, and any
external support of the slope.  These
factors collectively define a slope's shear strength.

     Opposing a slope's shear strength is the force of gravity.

  Gravity operates vertically but has a component acting parallel to slope, thereby
causing instability.  The greater a slope's angle, the greater the chance for mass
wasting.  The steepest angle that a slope can maintain without
collapsing is its angle
of repose.  At this angle, the shear strength of the slope's material exactly
counterbalance the force of gravity.  For
unconsolidated material, the angle of
repose normally ranges from 25 to 40 degrees.  Slopes steeper than 40 degrees usually
consist of
unweathered solid rock.

     All slopes are in a state of dynamic equilibrium, which means

that they are constantly adjusting to new conditions.  While we tend to view
mass
wasting as a disruptive and usually destructive event, it is one of the ways that a slope
adjusts to new conditions.

     Many factors can cause mass wasting:  a change in slope

gradient, weakening of materials by weathering, increased water content,
changes in the
vegetation cover, and overloading.  Although most of these are interrelated, we will
examine them separately for ease of
discussion, but will also show how they individually
and collectively affect a slope's equilibrium.

Slope Gradient

     Slope gradient is probably the major cause of mass wasting.

  Generally speaking, the steeper the slope, the less
stable it is.  Therefore,
steep slopes are more likely to experience mass wasting than gentle ones.

     A number of processes can oversteepen a slope.  One of

the most common is undercutting by stream or wave
action.  This removes the slope's
base, increases the slope angle, and thereby increases the gravitational force
acting
parallel to the slope.  Wave action, especially during storms, often result in mass
movements along the
shores of oceans or large lakes.

     Excavations for road cuts and hillside building sites are
another major cause of slope
failure.  Grading the slope too steeply, or cutting into
its side, increases the stress in
rock or soil until it is no longer strong enough to
remain at the steeper angle and mass
wasting ensues.  Such action is analogous to
undercutting by streams or waves and has
the same result, thus explaining why so many
mountain roads are plagued by frequent
mass movements.  Fortunately, many of the
slope failures associated with hillside road
cuts and building construction can be avoided
or greatly minimized by better
understanding of the factors involved.

Weathering and Climate

     Mass wasting is more likely to occur in loose or poorly

consolidated slope material
than in solid bedrock.  As soon as solid rock is exposed
at the Earth's surface,
weathering begins to disintegrate and decompose it, thereby
reducing its shear strength
and increasing its susceptibility to mass wasting.  The
deeper the weathering zone extends, the greater the likelihood of some type of mass
movement.

     Some rocks are more susceptible to weathering than others and
climate plays an important role in the rate and type of weathering.  In the
tropics,
where temperatures are high and considerable rainfall occurs, the effects of weathering
extend to depths of several tens of meters, and
rapid mass movements most commonly occur
in the deep weathering zone.  In arid and semiarid regions, the weathering zone is
usually
considerably shallower.  Nevertheless, localized and intense cloud-bursts can
drop large quantities of water on an area in a short time.  With
little vegetation to
absorb this water, runoff is rapid and frequently results in mudflows.  In high
mountains, rockfalls are common because of
frost action.

Water Content

     The amount of water in rock or soil influences slope

stability.  Large quantities of water from melting snow or heavy storms greatly
increase the likelihood of slope failure.  The additional weight that water adds to a
slope can be enough to cause mass movement. 
Furthermore, water percolating through a
slope's material helps to decrease friction between grains, contributing to a loss of
cohesion.  For
example, slopes composed of dry clay are usually quite stable, but
when wet, they can quickly lose cohesiveness and internal friction and
become an unstable
slurry.  This occurs because clay, which can hold large quantities of water, consists
of platy particles that easily slide over
each other when wet.  For this reason, clay
beds are frequently the slippery layer along which overlying rock units slide downslope.

Vegetation

     Vegetation affects slope stability in several ways.  By

absorbing the water from a rainstorm, vegetation decreases water saturation of a
slope's
material and the resultant loss of shear strength that frequently leads to mass wasting.
  In addition, the root system of vegetation helps
to stabilize a slope by binding
soil particles together and holding the soil to bedrock.

     The removal of vegetation by either natural or human activity

is a major cause of many mass movements.  Summer brush and forest fires
in southern
California, for example, frequently leave the hillsides bare of vegetation.  Fall
rainstorms saturate the ground causing mudslides
that do tremendous damage.

Overloading

     Overloading is almost always the result of human activity and

typically results from dumping, filling, or piling up of material.  Under
natural
conditions, a material's load is carried by its grain-to-grain contacts, and a slope is
thus maintained by the friction between grains. 
The additional weight created by
overloading increases the water pressure within the material, which in turn decreases its
shear strength,
thereby weakening the slope material.  If enough material is added,
the slope will eventually fail, sometimes with tragic consequences.

Geology and Slope Stability

     The relationship between topography and the geology of an area

is important in determining slope stability.  If
the rocks underlying a slope dip in
the same direction as the slope, mass wasting is more likely to occur than if the
rocks
are horizontal or dip in the opposite direction.  When the rocks dip in the same
direction as the slope, water
can percolate along the various bedding planes and decrease
the cohesiveness and friction between adjacent rock
layers.  This is particularly
true when there are interbedded clay layers because clay becomes very slippery when
wet.

     Even if the rocks are horizontal or dip in a direction

opposite to that of the slope, joints (water pathways
underground 'expand when wet') may
travel in the same direction as the slope.  Water migrating through them
weathers the
rock and expands these openings until the weight of the overlying rocks cause it to fall.

Triggering Mechanisms

     While the factors previously discussed all contribute to slope

instability, most, though not all, rapid mass movements are triggered by a
force that
temporarily disturbs slope equilibrium.  The most common triggering mechanisms are
strong vibrations from earthquakes and
excessive amounts of water from a winter snow melt
or a heavy rainstorm.

    Volcanic eruptions, explosions, and even loud claps of thunder may
also be enough to trigger a landslide if the slope is sufficiently
unstable.  Many avalanches,
which are rapid movements of snow and ice down steep mountain slopes, are triggered by the
sound of a loud
gunshot, a sonic boom from a super sonic airplane, or, in rare cases, even
a person's shout.

Types of Mass Wasting

     Geologists recognize a variety of mass movements.  Some
are of one distinct type, while others are a combination of different types.  It is
not uncommon for one type of mass movement to change into another along its course.
  A landslide, for example, may start out as a slump at
its head and, with the
addition of water, become an earthflow at its base.  Even though many slope failures
are combinations of different
materials and movements, it is still convenient to classify
them according to their dominant behavior.
     Mass movements are generally classified on the basis of the
major criteria  1) rate of movement (rapid or slow); 2) type of movement
(primarily
falling, sliding, or flowing); and 3) type of material involved (rock, soil, or debris).

     Rapid mass movements involve a visible

movement of material.  Such movements usually occur quite suddenly, and the material
moves
very quickly downslope.  Rapid mass movements are potentially dangerous and
frequently result in loss of life and property damage.  Most
rapid mass movements
occur on relatively steep slopes and can involve rock, soil, or debris.

     Slow mass movements advance at an

imperceptible rate and are usually only detectable by the effects of their movements such
as tilted
trees, power poles, or cracked foundations.  Although rapid mass movements
are more dramatic, slow mass movements are responsible for
the downslope transport of a
much greater volume of weathered material.

Falls

     Rockfalls are a common type of extremely

rapid mass movement in which rocks of any size fall through the
air.  Rockfalls occur
along steep canyons, cliffs, and road cuts and build up accumulations of loose rocks and
rock
fragments at their base called talus.

     Rockfalls result from failure along joints or bedding planes

in the bedrock and are commonly triggered by
natural or human undercutting of slopes, or
by earthquakes.  Many rockfalls in cold climates are the result of
frost
wedging.  Chemical weathering caused by water percolating through
fissures in carbonate rocks (limestone,
dolostone, and marble) is also responsible for
many rockfalls.

     Rockfalls range in size from small rocks falling from a cliff
to massive falls involve millions of cubic meters of debris that destroy
buildings, bury
towns, and block highways.  Rockfalls are a particular common hazard in mountainous
areas where roads have been built by
blasting and grading through steep hillsides of
bedrock.  Anyone who has ever driven through the Appalachians, the Rocky Mountains,
or the
Sierra Nevada is familiar with the "Watch for Falling Rocks" signs posted
to warn drivers of the danger.  Slopes particularly prone to
rockfalls are sometimes
covered with wire mesh in an effort to prevent dislodged rocks from falling to the road
below.  Another tactic is to
put up wire mesh fences along the base of the slope to
catch or slow down bouncing or rolling rocks.

Slides

     A slide involves movement of material along

one or more surfaces of failure.  The type of material may be soil, rock, or a
combination of
the two, and it may break apart during movement or remain intact.  A
slide's rate of movement can vary from extremely slow to very rapid.

     Two types of slides are generally recognized:  1) slumps

or rotational slides, in which movement occurs along a curved surface; and 2)
rock or
block glides, which move along a more or less planar surface.

     A slump involves the downward movement of

material along a curved surface of rupture and is characterized by the backward rotation
of
the slump block.  Slumps occur most commonly in unconsolidated or weakly
consolidated material and range in size from a small individual
sets, such as occur along
stream banks, to massive, multiple sets that affect large areas and cause considerable
damage.

     Slumps can be caused by a variety of factors, but the most

common is erosion along the base of a slope, which removes support for the
overlying
material.  This local steepening may be caused naturally by stream erosion along its
banks or by wave action at the base of a
coastal cliff.  Slope oversteepening can
also be caused by human activity, such as the construction of highways and housing
developments. 
Slumps are particularly prevalent along highway cuts where they are
generally the most frequent type of slope failure observed.

     While many slumps are merely a nuisance, large-scale slumps

involving populated areas and highways can cause extensive damage.  Such
is the case
in coastal southern California where slumping and sliding have been a constant problem.
  Many areas along the coast are
underlain by poorly to weakly consolidated silts,
sands, and gravels interbedded with clay layers, some of which are weathered ash falls.
  In
addition, southern California is tectonically active so that many of these
deposits are cut by faults and joints, which allow the infrequent rains
to percolate
downward rapidly, wetting and lubricating the clay layers.

     A rock or block glide

occurs when rocks move downslope along a more or less planar surface.  Most rock
glides occur because the local
slopes and rock layers dip in the same direction, although
they can also occur along fractures parallel to a slope.
     The largest know rock glide in the world is the prehistoric
Saidmarreh landslide in southwestern Iran.  A slab of limestone 305m thick,
14km
long, and 5km wide became detached from the Kabir kuh ridge and slid down and across the
adjacent 8km wide Saidmarreh Valley
with enough momentum to climb over a ridge 460m high
before stopping nearly 18km from its source!  The volume of the slipped material
was
about 21km^3, and it weighed approximately 50 billion tons.  When the debris from the
rock glide finally settled, it covered an area of
166km^2.

Flows

     Mass movements in which material flows as a viscous fluid or

displays plastic movement are termed flows.  Their rate of movements
ranges
from extremely slow to extremely rapid.  In many cases, mass movements may begin as
falls, slumps, or slides and change into flows
further downslope.

     Mudflows are the most fluid of the major mass

movement types.  They consist of at least 50% silt and clay sized material combined
with
a significant amount of water (up to 30%).  Mudflows are common in arid and
semiarid regions where they are triggered by heavy rainstorms
that quickly saturate the
regolist, turning it into a raging flow of mud that engulfs everything in its path.
  Mudflows can also occur in
mountain regions and in areas covered by volcanic ash
where they can be particularly destructive.  Because mudflows are so fluid, they
generally follow a preexisting channels until the slope decreases or the channel widens,
at which point the fan out.

Aerial view of the city of Armero, Colombia, devastated by mudflows triggered by the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in November 1985. The
mudflows destroyed everything in their paths and killed about 25,000 people. (Photograph by Darrell G. Herd, USGS.)

     Debris flows are composed of larger-sized

particles than those in mudflows and do not contain as much water.  Consequently,
they are
usually more viscous than mudflows, typically do not move as rapidly, and rarely
are confined to preexisting channels.  Debris flows can,
however, be just as damaging
because they can transport large objects.

     Earthflows move more slowly than either

mudflows or debris flows.  An earthflow slumps from the upper part of a thick,
viscous,
tongue-shaped mass of wet regolith.  Like mudflows and debris flows,
earthflows can be of any size, and are frequently destructive.  They
occur most
commonly in humid climates on grassy soil-covered slopes following heavy rains.

     Some clays spontaneously liquefy and flow like water when they
are disturbed.  Such quick clays have caused serious damage and loss
of
lives in Sweden, Norway, eastern Canada, and Alaska.  Quick clays are composed of
silt and clay particles made by the grinding action of
glaciers.  Geologists think
these fine sediments were originally deposited in a marine environment where their pore
space was filled with salt
water.  The ions in the salt water helped establish strong
bonds between the clay particles, thus stabilizing and strengthening the clay.  When
the clays were subsequently uplifted above sea level, however, the salt water was flushed
out by fresh groundwater, reducing the
effectiveness of the ionic bonds between the clay
particles and thereby reducing the overall strength and cohesiveness of the clay.
 
Consequently, when the clay is disturbed by a sudden shock or shaking, it
essentially turns to a liquid and flows.

     Solifluction is the slow downslope movement

of water-saturated surface sediment.  Solifluction can occur in any climate where the
ground becomes saturated with water, but is most common in cold climates where the upper
surface periodically thaws and freezes. 
Permafrost is ground that
remains permanently frozen.  It covers nearly 20% of the world's land surface.
  During the warmer season when
the upper portion of the permafrost thaws, water and
surface sediments form a soggy mass that flows by solifluction and produces a
characteristic lobate topography.

     Creep is the slowest type of flow.  It

is also the most widespread and significant mass wasting process in terms of the total
amount of
material moved downslope and the monetary damage that it does annually.
  Creep involves extremely slow downhill movement of soil or
rock under the
inexorable pull of gravity.  Although in can occur anywhere and in any climate, it is
most effective and significant as a
geologic agent in humid regions.  In fact, it is
the most common form of mass wasting in the southeastern United States and the southern
Appalachian Mountains.

     Because the rate of movement is essentially imperceptible, we

are frequently unaware of creep's existence until we notice its effects: tilted
trees and
power poles, broken streets and sidewalks, and cracked retaining walls or foundations.
  Creep usually involves the whole hillside
and probably occurs, to some extent, on
any weathered or soil-covered, sloping surface.

Complex Movements

     Many mass movements are combinations of different movement

types.  When one type is dominant, the movement can be classified as
one of the
movements described so far.  If several types are more or less equally involved, it
is called a complex movement.

     The most common type of complex movement is the slide-flow in

which there is sliding at the head and then some type of flowage farther
along its course.
  Most slide-flow landslides involve well-defined slumping at the head, followed by a
debris flow or earthflow.  Any
combination of different mass movement types can be
classified as a complex movement.

     A debris avalanche is a complex movement that

often occurs in very steep mountain ranges.  Debris avalanches typically start out as
rockfalls when large quantities of rock, ice, and snow are dislodged from a mountainside,
frequently as a result of an earthquake.  The
material then slides or flows down the
mountainside, picking up additional surface material and increasing in speed and momentum.