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CHAPTER II
EARTH’S EXTERNAL PROCESSES

Week 4
Soil Erosion and Mass Wasting

Learning Outcomes

1. Discuss the agents of soil erosion and some ways to control.

2. Identify the different types of mass wasting.

Introduction

Soils are just a tiny fraction of all Earth materials, yet they are vital. Soils are
necessary for the growth of rooted plants and a basic foundation of the human life-
support system. Thus, it’s safe to say that humans obtain a great majority of their calories
from the land, so good soil stewardship is also vital. Yet much land throughout the world
is suffering degradation from one of the biggest threats to soil — soil erosion. Human
activities like destruction or clearing of tropical forests have caused increased soil
erosion in many places and have become a serious environmental issue, but we can limit
much of this by employing conservation practices that are known to be successful. This
can help to lessen soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, and climate change.

Soil Erosion

Two processes are involved in soil erosion — detaching a soil particle from
underlying material and then moving (transporting) the particle. The main causes of
detachment are rain splash and freeze-thaw cycles. The main agents of transportation are
surface runoff and wind. Erosion of most landscapes is natural, it is part of an important
rock cycle. A natural process and an environmental problem but humans cause or
accelerate soil erosion through deforestation, farming, overgrazing, and construction
projects.

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Earth and Space Science I
1st Semester, SY 2020-2021
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Water Erosion

Every raindrop strikes the land with surprising

force. Each drop acts like a tiny bomb, blasting movable soil
particles out of their positions in the soil mass. With each
falling raindrop, pore spaces in soils are increasingly sealed,
which reduces the percolation of surface waters down into
Figure 1. Splash of tiny droplets.
groundwater. As a result, more water remains on the
surface to detach particles as the water starts to move.

As water accumulates on the surface of this field and

begins to flow downhill as runoff, it has the potential to
detach and transport soil particles that are not anchored by
grass, roots, or surface litter. The top layer of soil can be
eroded off one part of a field and when the soil is moved by
thin sheets of water, this process is termed sheet erosion.
Sheet erosion can also expose the surface of a subsoil. Then,
Figure 3. Runoff will cause sheeting
erosion. the dislodged soil particles
can be transported away and deposited in another
part. As soil is washed away with each rainfall it
develops tiny channels called rills. When the area of
soil is plowed of furrows it can accelerate soil erosion.
Deeper cuts in the soil, known as gullies, are created as
Figure 2. Smaller channels merges forming a
rills enlarge. The process is called gullying. gully.

Wind Erosion

Wind erosion also occurs through particle

disaggregation and transport. Heavier soil particles are
rolled along the surface through creep, lighter particles
bounce through saltation, and dust particles are very
small and lightest become airborne, suspended in wind
currents, and sometimes transported for thousands of
Figure 4. Wind erosion
kilometers.

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Earth and Space Science I
1st Semester, SY 2020-2021
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The most erosion and transport of soils by

wind occurs during times of the strongest winds
during storms. It may lift a large amount of dust.
Depending on how strong the wind, wind erosion
happens everywhere. Deserts and coastlines are
shaped by wind erosion because of fewer plant
Figure 5. Strong wind transport more
roots anchored the soil and sand in place. Aside particles.

from that deserts have little moisture and soil layers are thin this likely too swept away
by the wind. Moisture makes the soil heavy and sticks together.

Wind can shape rock pieces in three ways: saltation, deflation, and abrasion.

1. Saltation happens when sand-sized particles skip and bounce along in the
direction that the wind is moving. When moving sand grains hit one another,
some of the grains bounce up into the air. Other grains can then move forward.
2. Deflation happens when wind removes the top layers of fine sediment or soil
and leaves behind larger rock pieces. It can produce desert pavement, which is
a surface made of pebbles and small, broken rocks. In some places, the wind
can scoop out small, bowl-shaped areas in sediment on the ground. These
areas are called deflation hollows.
3. Abrasion happens when rock or sand wears down larger pieces of rock.
Abrasion happens in areas where there are strong winds, loose sand, and soft
rocks. The wind blows the loose sand against the rocks. The sand acts like
sandpaper to erode, smooth, and polish the rocks.

SciEd 111
Earth and Space Science I
1st Semester, SY 2020-2021
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Some Solutions to Soil Erosion

Techniques for reducing erosion can be divided into two related categories:
preventive and control measures. Preventive techniques include minimizing the impact
of rain splash erosion and runoff. Control techniques are designed to reduce the velocity
of runoff after the soil has already been dislodged, capturing sediment and nutrients
before leaving the field.

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Earth and Space Science I
1st Semester, SY 2020-2021
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MASS WASTING

Mountains and hills are examples of Earth’s landforms which surface consists of a
great variety of slopes. Once weathering weakens rock on this landform and breaks it
apart, mass wasting transfers the debris downslope. The downslope movement of rock,
regolith, and soil on slopes under the direct influence of gravity is called mass wasting or
mass movement. All mass movements occur on slopes and almost all of Earth’s surface
undergoes mass movement. Mass movements range from motions that are barely
obvious to sudden slides, falls, and flows. Some mass movement processes are dangerous
events that represent important geologic hazards like a landslide. It is a popular
nontechnical word used to describe any or all relatively rapid forms of mass movement.
Mass wasting is an important part of the erosional process, moving material downslope
from higher to lower elevations, and feeding sediment from hillslopes to streams,
beaches, and glaciers.

Controls and Triggers of Mass Wasting

Gravity is the controlling or driving force of mass wasting, but several factors play
important roles in overcoming inertia and creating downslope movements. Mass wasting
is sometimes triggered when heavy rains saturate surface materials. The water does not
transport the material. Rather, it saturates sediment and weakens slope material,
gradually making it more and more susceptible to the pull of gravity.

Over steepening of slopes is another trigger of many mass movements. This takes
place in many situations in nature. The steeper slope increases the downslope forces and
reduces the resisting forces, causing the material to fall or slide into the stream. It occurs
when the load on the surface exceeds a slop's ability to resist movement. Humans
sometimes build heavy structures (road construction) on slopes, overloading the slope
and causing it to fail.

Removal of vegetation such plants may also trigger mass wasting because no root
systems to bind soil and regolith together and may cause instability of slopes. Plants
shield the soil surface from the erosional effects of raindrop impact. Lastly, the most
dramatic triggers are earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, it can shake, fracture, tilt the
ground, and displace massive volumes of rock and unconsolidated material.
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Earth and Space Science I
1st Semester, SY 2020-2021
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The Steepness of the Slope and Stability

The steepest angle at which a pile of unconsolidated grains remains stable is called
the angle of repose. This angle is controlled by frictional contact between grains. In
general, most loose, dry material has an angle of repose between 30° and 37°. This angle
is somewhat higher for coarser material, for more angular grains, for slightly wet
material, and for material that is partly consolidated. It is lower for material with flakes
or rounded grains and for material that contains so much water that adjacent grains lose
contact.

Dry, unconsolidated sand grains form a pile, and

the angle of the resulting slope is at the angle of repose. If
more sand is added, the pile becomes wider and higher,
but the angle of repose remains the same. If part of the
pile is undercut and removed, the grains slide downhill
until the pile returns to a stable slope at the angle of
repose. If sand is slightly wet, surface tension between
Figure 6. Angle of Repose
the grains and a thin coating of water enables the sand to
be stable on steeper slopes.

Classification of Mass Movement Process

The term mass movement describes a broad array of different processes. All
classifications consider how the material moves, what types of material move, and the rate
of movement of the material.

Type of Motion

The kind of motion is described as either a fall, a slide, or a flow. Mass movements move
different types of materials in various ways.

 When the movement in a mass movement event involves the free fall of detached
individual pieces of any size, it is termed a fall. A fall is a common form of
movement on slopes that are so steep that loose material cannot remain on the

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Earth and Space Science I
1st Semester, SY 2020-2021
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surface. The rock may fall directly to the base of the slope or move in a series of
leaps and bounds over other rocks along the way.
 Many mass movement processes are described as slides. The term refers to mass
movements in which there is a distinct zone of weakness separating the slide
material from the more stable underlying material. In rotational slides, the surface
of rupture is a concave-upward curve that resembles the shape of a spoon, and the
descending material exhibits a downward and outward rotation. By contrast, in a
translational slide, a mass of material moves along a relatively flat surface such as
a joint, fault, or bedding plane.
 The third type of movement common to mass movement processes is termed flow.
Flow occurs when material moves downslope as a viscous, often turbulent, and
fluid. Most flows are saturated with water and typically move as lobes or tongues.

Type of Material

The classification of mass movement processes based on the material involved in

the movement depends on whether the descending mass began as unconsolidated
material or as bedrock. If soil and regolith dominate, terms such as debris, mud, or earth
are used in the description. In contrast, when a mass of bedrock breaks loose and moves
downslope, the term rock may be part of the description.

Rate of Movement of the Material.

The most rapid type of mass movement is termed as rock avalanche. Most mass
movements, however, do not move with the speed of a rock avalanche. A great deal of
mass movement is imperceptibly slow. Particle movements that are usually measured in
millimeters or centimeters per year. Thus, as you can see, rates of movement can be
spectacularly sudden or exceptionally gradual. Although many types of mass movement
are often classified as either rapid or slow.

 Rotational Slide move along one or more curved slip surfaces. This type of slide,
also called a slump, can occur in bedrock or less consolidated material. Individual
slices can remain relatively intact or can break and spread apart. It is common
especially in thick accumulations of cohesive materials such as clay. It occurs
because a slope has been over steepened. As the block moved downhill, it rotated,
causing the layers to tilt to the left. Fractures within the block allowed parts of the
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Earth and Space Science I
1st Semester, SY 2020-2021
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block to shift up or down relative to one another. The material on the upper
portion of a slope is held in place by the material at the bottom of the slope.
 Rockslides occur when blocks of bedrock break loose and slide down a slope. If the
material involved is largely unconsolidated, the term debris slide is used instead.
Debris slides are usually less than 10 m thick and leave behind a low scarp. A
debris slide moves downhill partly as a sliding, coherent mass and partly by
internal shearing and flow.
 Debris avalanche is the fastest and most destructive mass movement. A debris
avalanche moves down the slope, in many cases traveling considerable distances
down valleys and across relatively gentle slopes. A rock avalanche occurs when a
rock mass falls off a cliff face and shatters on contact, sending a turbulent jumble
of rock fragments, some bigger than cars, flowing downhill. They can flow at over
a hundred kilometers per hour, fast enough to continue flowing uphill when they
encounter a topographic obstacle. Both types of avalanches are often triggered by
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and can kill thousands of people at a time.
 Debris flow is a relatively rapid type of mass movement that involves a flow of soil
and regolith containing a large amount of water. Debris flows are sometimes
called mudflows when the material is primarily fine-grained and they move
rapidly. Mudflows can be triggered by earthquakes and are common in volcanic
regions where the heat from a volcano melts snow on nearby slopes that have fine
sediment and little vegetation. Debris flows are a particular problem on steep
volcanic slopes which has volcanic materials where they are called lahars because
of their fluid properties. It frequently follows canyons and stream channels. Debris
flows are thick and denser than water and can support and carry large boulders
or even houses. In populated areas, it can pose a significant hazard to life and
property.
 Earth flows are flowing masses of weak, mostly fine-grained material, especially
mud and soil. The material moves like thick, wet concrete, generally slowly enough
to outrun, but it contains enough water to be slightly fluid. It is most often form on
hillsides in humid areas during times of heavy precipitation or snowmelt. When
water saturates the soil and regolith on a hillside, the material may break away,
leaving a scar on the slope and forming a tongue- or teardrop-shaped mass that
flows downslope Earthflows range in size from bodies a few meters long, a few
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Earth and Space Science I
1st Semester, SY 2020-2021
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meters wide, and less than a meter deep to masses more than 1 kilometer long,
several hundred meters wide, and more than 10 meters deep.

Very Slow Mass Movement

 Creep is involved in the gradual downhill movement of soil and regolith. One factor
that contributes to creeping is the alternating expansion and contraction of
surface material caused by freezing and thawing or wetting and drying. The
movement might be as little as a few centimeters per year, the effects of creep are
usually noticeable only over long periods. At the surface, evidence for creep is
expressed in a bent or leaning trees, warps in roads and fences, and leaning utility
poles.
 When soil is saturated with water, the soggy mass may flow downslope at a rate
of a few millimeters or a few centimeters per day or year. Such a process is called
solifluction (literally “soil flow”), a type of creep at high latitudes or elevations. It
is common wherever water cannot escape from the saturated surface layer by
infiltrating to deeper levels. A dense clay hardpan in soil or an impermeable
bedrock layer can promote solifluction.

This diagram summarizes the rates of movement and whether movement occurred
under dry or wet conditions. In this table, fast means you cannot outrun it, moderate
means you have a chance to escape, and slow means you might have to stay for a while to
see anything happen. For the lowest rates, you would not be able to see the movement in
real-time, only the results of months, years, or decades of the accumulated movement.

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Earth and Space Science I
1st Semester, SY 2020-2021
 10

Worksheet IV

I. Differentiate the terms in each of the following sets.

1. water erosion – wind erosion

2. control technique – preventive technique
3. debris flow- earth flow
4. creep – solifluction
5. mudflow – debris flow

II. Answer the following briefly.

1. A hillside community has asked to help you to brainstorm ways to prevent future mass
wasting. Describe three of your ideas.

2. Fill in the blank spaces in the table.

Type of Mass Movement Description

Landslide The material moves suddenly and rapidly down a slope.

Rockfall

Mudflow

The water mixes with volcanic ash to produce a fast-

moving, dangerous mudflow.

The material moves downhill very slowly.

SciEd 111
Earth and Space Science I
1st Semester, SY 2020-2021