Mass Wasting & Erosion

Mass wasting is the movement of rock and slope under the influence of gravity, it is synonymous with slope failure. Mass wasting is also known as mass movement. This is a general term for the movement of rock or soil down slopes under the force of gravity. It differs from other processes of erosion in that the debris transported by mass wasting is not entrained in a moving medium, such as water, wind, or ice.

There are 4 main factors that control the slope of a surface:

• The strength of materials

• The consolidation of materials (tightly or loosely packed)

• The saturation of materials

• The classification of mass wasting

There are also 4 main long-term effects of mass wasting:

• the topography of the earth's surface, particularly the morphologies of mountain and valley systems, both on the continents and on the ocean floors

• the character/quality of rivers and streams and groundwater flow

• the forests that cover much of the earth's subaerial surface

• the habitats of natural wildlife that exist on the earth's surface, including its rivers, lakes, and oceans.

These long-term effects can have a really negative impact on our environment and can hurt a lot of organisms.

1. Overview of the Effects of Mass Wasting

2. Overview of Mass Wasting