Mass wasting is spontaneous movement of soil, regolith, and rock under the influence of gravity.
There are many forms of mass wasting, depending on the speed of the motion and the amount of water involved.
Mass wasting happens on slopes- patches of the land sur face that are inclined from the horizontal. Slopes guide the flow of surface water downhill and fit together to form stream channels. Almost all natural surfaces slope to some degree .
Water and gravity transport regolith down hill to form colluvium. Stream-flow transports sediment along the stream valley and deposits the sediment as alluvium.
Types of mass wasting
- Rock creep
- Talus creep
- Landslides
- Bedrock slump
- Rockslide
- Rockfall
- Soil creep
- Earthflow
- Earth slump
- Mudflow
- Avalanche
- Solifluction
- Debris flood
- Stream flow
Mass movements produced by human activities are called induced mass wasting.
