Mass movement: coastal processes

• What is mass movement?

  Movement of material down a slope under the influence of gravity ( 4 areas: creeps, flows, slides and falls)
• What is soil creep?

  Movement of soil particles downhill. Particles rise + fall due to wetting + freezing and form shallow terracettes
• What is solifluction


  Because mainly in preglacial environment when top layers thaw during summer + the surface layers flow over the frozen layers
• What are mudflows?


  An increase in water content of soil can reduce friction, leading to earth, and mudflows over underlying bedrock, or slippery materials
• What are rockfall?


  Occurs on sloped cliffs when exposed to mechanical weathering, though mostly occurs on vertical cliff faces. It leads to Scree building up at the base of a slope acting as an input to the coastal zone
• What is a landslide?

  Heavy rainfall can reduce friction in cliffs and lead to a landslide. Occurs when a block of intact, rock moves down the cliff face very quickly along a flat slope
• What is a landslip or slump?

  The slope is curved. The land collapses under its own weight.
• What is run-off?


  Water may erode cliff face, or pick up sediment that enters literal zone. It may also be responsible for increased pollution in coastal areas