Processes

Mass Wasting

Also Known As Mass Movement

Citation Formats

General Reference

Earth and Environment Atlas. "Mass Wasting." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/processes/mass-wasting.

APA Style

Earth and Environment Atlas. (n.d.). Mass Wasting. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/processes/mass-wasting

BibTeX

@misc{earthandenvironmentatlas-mass-wasting,
  author = {Earth and Environment Atlas},
  title = {Mass Wasting},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/processes/mass-wasting},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The movement of rock or soil down slopes under gravity alone, distinct from other erosion in that the debris is not carried in a moving medium such as water, wind or ice. Creep, solifluction, rockfalls, debris flows and landslides each have their own character, the process works on terrestrial and submarine slopes alike, and while rapid events can be deadly, even slow soil creep deforms roadways, structures and pipelines.

Facts

Timescale

Seconds for a rockfall to hundreds of years for soil creep 1

Driving Force

Gravity acting on slope material once its weight exceeds the material's shear strength, often triggered by heavy rainfall, earthquake shaking or slope oversteepening. 1

Resulting Feature

A rockfall can pile up as a talus slope at the base of the cliff it fell from. 1

Significance

Rapid mass-wasting events such as landslides can be deadly and destructive. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections