what is the difference between a slump and solifluction

As nouns the difference between solifluction and slump is that solifluction is (geology) soil creep caused by waterlogged soil slowly moving downhill on top of an impermeable layer while slump is a heavy or helpless collapse; a slouching or drooping posture; a period of poor activity or performance, especially an extended period. As a verb slump is

Full Answer

What is solifluction?

When Water logs, Soil Flows, and this mechanism is what we call Solifluction. That said, Solifluction is a term used for the slow downhill flow of soil in regions of the Arctic Ocean. It takes place slowly and is computed in millimeters or centimeters per year.

When does solifluction occur on a slope?

Solifluction reaches its maximum potential in the late spring and summer months when thaw saturates soils. Saturated soils have increased pore pressures, resulting in unstable conditions because of a lack of friction and cohesion. Solifluction can occur on slope less than 1°, but it is more common on slope gradients between 5° and 20°.

What is a slump in geology?

A slump is a type of mass wasting that results in the sliding of coherent rock material along a curved surface. A slump is sometimes referred to as a rotational slide because a portion or block of the slope 'slides' down as it 'rotates' around an axis parallel to the slope.

What is the difference between a slump and a debris flow?

It is similar to a slump, but it is more of a translational slide because it moves in a more uniform direction along a pre-existing plane, such as an underlying layer of rock. A debris flow is the movement of a water-laden mass of loose mud, sand, soil, rock and debris down a slope.

What do you mean by solifluction?

The process of solifluction is the slow downslope movement of soil due to recurrent freezing and thawing of the ground, and results from frost creep and/or gelifluction (Ballantyne, 2018).

What is the difference between solifluction and creep?

Creep - is a very slow, continuous, downslope movement of soil or unconsolidated debris. Earthflow - debris moves downslope as a viscous fluid. Solifluction - is the flow of water-saturated debris over impermeable material.

What is solifluction in landslide?

Solifluction is a mixture of creep and flow, which forms distinctive sheets, terraces and lobes of debris and boulders. Solifluction sheets and lobes are found on steeper slopes where the process has moved loosened boulders and soil downslope.

Is solifluction a wasting mass?

Solifluction is a collective name for gradual processes in which a mass moves down a slope ("mass wasting") related to freeze-thaw activity. This is the standard modern meaning of solifluction, which differs from the original meaning given to it by Johan Gunnar Andersson in 1906.

How is a slump formed?

A slump is a form of mass wasting that occurs when a coherent mass of loosely consolidated materials or a rock layer moves a short distance down a slope. Movement is characterized by sliding along a concave-upward or planar surface.

How do you identify solifluction?

The major indication considered by geologists for solifluction in the landscape is hillsides that possess lobe-shaped slumps, same as small, thin earthflows. Other signs of identifying solifluction include patterned ground, signs of order in the stones and soils of alpine landscapes.

What is slumping in geography?

slump, in geology, downward intermittent movement of rock debris, usually the consequence of removal of buttressing earth at the foot of a slope of unconsolidated material. It commonly involves a shear plane on which a back-tilting of the top of the slumped mass occurs.

What causes solifluction?

Solifluction happens during the summer thaw when the water in the soil is trapped there by frozen permafrost beneath it. This waterlogged sludge moves downslope by gravity, helped along by freeze-and-thaw cycles that push the top of the soil outward from the slope (the mechanism of frost heave).

What is meant solifluction in geography?

solifluction, flowage of water-saturated soil down a steep slope. Because permafrost is impermeable to water, soil overlying it may become oversaturated and slide downslope under the pull of gravity.

What are the 4 types of mass wasting?

The most common mass-wasting types are falls, rotational and translational slides, flows, and creep.

Where does most solifluction happen today?

Solifluction is a widespread phenomenon in the alpine and subalpine ecotones of high mountain areas and in polar and subpolar regions (Matsuoka 2001.

What is the fastest form of mass wasting?

Answer and Explanation: Rock falls are the fastest form of mass wasting. This is because falling rocks can attain speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour. Falling rocks can attain these speeds because they experience relatively little air resistance.

What is the difference between creep and solifluction quizlet?

Solifluction occurs in subpolar climates, usually areas with permafrost or an underlain frozen layer of soil. Soil Creep, on the other hand, occurs in moderate and temperate climates.

What is creep in geology?

Creep is the imperceptibly slow, downslope movement of soil and earth materials. Rates of movement are often only a few centimeters per year, but the inevitability of creep can severely impact shallowly-placed structures.

What is solifluction geography?

Solifluction is a process where soil is saturated and starts flowing over a slope.

What are the causes of solifluction?

Causes of Solifluction Active solifluction can be initiated by repeated freeze-thaw cycles, the gravitational pull of Earth, debris flow and landslides, the formation of ice crystals, wet soils and regolith after heavy rainfall and snowmelt, volcanic eruptions, uncovered soil, and earthquake shocks.

What does solifluction look like?

But do you know how a landscape affected by solifluction looks? It looks the same as the bumpy ground yielded by substantial landsliding but appears more like fluid, like melted ice cream or molten/diluted cake frosting. The indications may subsist long after arctic atmospheric circumstances have changed, as in subarctic regions that were once glaciated in the Pleistocene ice ages. Solifluction is regarded as a periglacial process, as it only needs chronic freezing conditions instead of the permanent presence of ice bodies.

How to Determine Solifluction?

The major indication considered by geologists for solifluction in the landscape is hillsides that possess lobe-shaped slumps, same as small, thin earthflows. Other signs of identifying solifluction include patterned ground, signs of order in the stones and soils of alpine landscapes.

When Does Solifluction Take Place?

Solifluction occurs during the summer season thaw when the water in the soil is trapped by frozen permafrost underneath it. This waterlogged alluvium moves down slope by gravity, supported along by freeze-and-defrost cycles that thrust the top of the soil outward from the slope (a process of frost heave).

Where are solifluction lobes located?

All studied solifluction lobes were situated in the central part of the Hohe Tauern mountain, central Austria, in a 38 km (west–east) by 11 km (north–south) large-scale region.

What is soil creep?

Soil creep means the movement of the slow downslope of the superficial rocks. It is an ongoing process and also a surface phenomenon taking place on the slopes.

Does solifluction act on slopes?

the morphological proof that solifluction acted upon these slo pes a minimum few times in the past

Is there a Difference Between Solifluction and Soil Creep?

Solifluction in geology is one of the forms of creep that happens either in high altitudes or in cold climates where the mass of the saturated rock waste comes down the slope.

Why is the toe of the slump failing?

The toe of the slump is failing because it has been eroded by the small stream at the bottom. Figure 15.15 A slump along the banks of a small coulee near Lethbridge, Alberta. The main head-scarp is clearly visible at the top, and a second smaller one is visible about one-quarter of the way down.

Why do rock fragments fall off of a steep mountain?

Rock fragments can break off relatively easily from steep bedrock slopes, most commonly due to frost-wedging in areas where there are many freeze-thaw cycles per year. If you’ve ever hiked along a steep mountain trail on a cool morning, you might have heard the occasional fall of rock fragments onto a talus slope. This happens because the water between cracks freezes and expands overnight, and then when that same water thaws in the morning sun, the fragments that had been pushed beyond their limit by the ice fall to the slope below (Figure 15.7).

What is a slide in physics?

Slump is a type of slide (movement as a mass) that takes place within thick unconsolidated deposits (typically thicker than 10 m). Slump s involve movement along one or more curved failure surfaces, with downward motion near the top and outward motion toward the bottom (Figure 15.14). They are typically caused by an excess of water within these materials on a steep slope.

Why is it important to classify slope failures?

It’s important to classify slope failures so that we can understand what causes them and learn how to mitigate their effects. The three criteria used to describe slope failures are:

What is the most important characteristic of a slope failure?

The type of motion is the most important characteristic of a slope failure, and there are three different types of motion: If the material drops through the air, vertically or nearly vertically, it’s known as a fall. If the material moves as a mass along a sloping surface (without internal motion within the mass), it’s a slide.

What happens when a rock slides?

If a rock slides and then starts moving quickly (m/s), the rock is likely to break into many small pieces, and at that point it turns into a rock avalanche, in which the large and small fragments of rock move in a fluid manner supported by a cushion of air within and beneath the moving mass. The 1965 Hope Slide (Figure 15.1) was a rock avalanche, as was the famous 1903 Frank Slide in southwestern Alberta. The 2010 slide at Mt. Meager (west of Lillooet) was also a rock avalanche, and rivals the Hope Slide as the largest slope failure in Canada during historical times (Figure 15.11).

What happens when sediment becomes saturated with water?

As you saw in Exercise 15.1, when a mass of sediment becomes completely saturated with water, the mass loses strength, to the extent that the grains are pushed apart , and it will flow, even on a gentle slope. This can happen during rapid spring snowmelt or heavy rains, and is also relatively common during volcanic eruptions because of the rapid melting of snow and ice. (A mudflow or debris flow on a volcano or during a volcanic eruption is a lahar .) If the material involved is primarily sand-sized or smaller, it is known as a mudflow, such as the one shown in Figure 15.16.

What is solifluction in landscapes?

Solifluction, the slow downslope flowing of saturated slope material, is generally related to periglacial environments (cf. French, 1996) but can be found in non-periglacial landscapes as well. It usually results from the combination of two mechanisms, namely frost creep and gelifluction (e.g., Van Vliet-Lanoë et al., 1984; Harris, 1987 ).

What is the process of solifluction?

The process of solifluction is the slow downslope movement of soil due to recurrent freezing and thawing of the ground, and results from frost creep and/or gelifluction (Ballantyne, 2018). Frost creep is the downslope movement of soil resulting from repeated cycles of volumetric expansion (frost heave) and contraction (thaw consolidation). Net downslope movement results because expansion occurs normal to the slope, but contraction has a gravity-imposed vertical component. A type of frost creep occurring at or very close to the ground surface involves the growth and melt of needle ice, which comprises long, thin ice crystals that grow perpendicular to the ground surface in response to rapid (often nocturnal) cooling of moist, frost-susceptible soil, pushing up a thin layer of soil and clasts. Gelifluction is the seasonal gravity-induced shear deformation of thawing soil due to generation of high pore water pressure during thaw consolidation of soil containing excess ice (ice lenses).

What are the different types of downslope movements of the soil particles?

Frost creep, solifluction, and gelifluction lobes and terracettes. Frost creep, solifluction, and gelifluction are different types of downslope movements of the soil particles as results of the frost heaving and successive settling after thawing (frost creep) or after a mass flow during the thawing (solifluction).

What type of solifluction processes are found on hill slopes?

Many hill slopes in the nonglaciated temperate zone, such as southern Britain, show clear evidence of Quaternary periglacial solifluction processes, both in their slope profiles and in their mantle of relict periglacial slope deposits dating to late Pleistocene cold stages ( Ballantyne and Harris, 1994 ).

How does solifluction affect ecosystems?

Solifluction interaction with ecosystem dynamics differs considerably depending on the nature of the mechanisms involved. Diurnal frost creep in the sub-Antarctic creates high rates of soil surface disturbance that limit seedling establishment and may lead to vegetation dieback ( Boelhouwers et al., 2003 ). Spatial patterns of sediment displacement rates and distribution are also affected by stable vegetation islands that may lead to turf-banked terrace development ( Haussmann et al., 2009a ). Vegetation itself leads to microclimatic changes that result in spatial heterogeneity in soil frost intensity and resulting creep rates ( Haussmann et al., 2009b ). Spatial self-organization of cushion plants and turf-banked terraces results from these complex interactions ( Figure 9; Haussmann et al., 2009a, 2009b ). Vegetation may also limit soil frost penetration and add soil strength, thus limiting the role of diurnal frost creep ( Matsuoka, 2001b ). In deep seasonal frost and permafrost regions, soil frost penetration and soil displacement exceed the depth of the vegetation mat. Combined with generally more severe ground climates and longer snow cover, vegetation composition and structure are much affected by cryoturbation and microtopography created by slow mass-wasting forms ( Kozłowska and Rączkowska, 2002 ). Walker et al. (2004) presented a generalized model of these interactions for mud-boil systems along a permafrost gradient in Alaska.

What is the solifluction rate in permafrost?

In permafrost regions, transport rates are slightly higher, ranging up to 230 cm 3 cm −1 yr −1, mainly due to the greater thickness of active layer affected by plug-like solifluction. Thus, sediment transport rates due to solifluction are one or more orders of magnitude higher than transport rates due to soil creep in humid temperate regions. State-of-the-art field instrumentation for monitoring of solifluction is described by Harris et al. (2007) and Matsuoka (2010).

What is solifluction in periglacial environments?

Solifluction (sometimes termed gelifluction in periglacial environments) is the slow flow of saturated soil downslope indicating no frozen ground is present in the moving layer (Washburn, 1979). Movement of these saturated soils can be initiated by thawing, creating excess pore-pressure in the soil, resulting in slope movements (Mackay, 1981) ( Fig. 13.19 ). The relief of the slope, depth of thaw, and water content are significant factors in solifluction rates ( Walker, 1986; Hjort et al., 2014 ).

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• Slump is a type of slide (movement as a mass) that takes place within thick unconsolidated deposits (typically thicker than 10 m). Slumps involve movement along one or more curved failure surfaces, with downward motion near the top and outward motion toward the bottom (Figure 15.14). They are typically caused by an excess of water within these mate...

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