Exam 14: Mass Wasting: The Work of Gravity

Rockslides (dangerous, fast-moving masses of broken rock)are typically initiated by an earthquake.

________ describes the downslope movement of cohesive material along a well defined surface such as a joint or a bedding plane.

Which rockslide dammed the Madison River and buried a campground?

How are talus slopes built?

Solifluction occurs below the active layer of permafrost.

Based on the examples and discussion in Chapter 14, what is the relationship of climate to mass wasting? Also, are certain climates more susceptible to mass wasting? Why?

Bedding planes and fractures can both act as slip surfaces for rockslides.

The significance of mass wasting processes can be seen in that most river valleys are broad rather than "V shaped" because mass wasting slope failures exceed stream erosion.

Earthflows are often located downslope from slumps and triggered by the outflow of water from the slumps.

________ of soil and regolith commonly flow gradually downhill in humid areas following heavy rain.

Which of the following statements concerning debris flows is not true?

Pingoes are mounds on tundra that are cored by sand and gravel or ice?

How do forest or wild fires contribute to mass wasting?

Excavated road cuts or quarry faces, and eroding natural river bluffs and sea cliffs, are all examples of ________ which can lead to mass wasting.

Which statement best describes slumping, a mass wasting process?

When descending cohesive material moves "en masse" along a curved surface of rupture that just formed, it is termed a ________.

Slump describes the very slow, downhill movement of soil and regolith.

Most sediment produced by mass wasting is eventually transported back to its source.

Which of the following travels on compressed air and are usually triggered by earthquakes?

Felsenmeer is formed by melting permafrost and the expansion of talik.