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Mass wasting identification and geology

The downslope movement of rock, soil, and regolith under the direct influence of gravity, without the primary involvement of a transporting agent such as water, wind, or ice. Types of mass wasting include rockfall, landslides, debris flows, mudflows, slumps, creep, and solifluction. Mass wasting is a major geomorphic process and a significant natural hazard in mountainous and hilly terrain. Field: geomorphology. Example: The 1903 Frank Slide in Alberta involved the collapse of approximately 82 million tonnes of limestone from Turtle Mountain, burying part of the town of Frank and killing approximately 70–90 people in under two minutes.. Related terms: Landslide, Creep, Debris flow, Slope stability.

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Sources, scope & corrections

These authoritative resources support category-level nomenclature, terminology, identification methods, and safety. When a specimen-specific safety warning appears, the public-health source listed here directly supports that precaution. They are not line-by-line citations for every other property on this entry, and natural specimens vary.

Editorial owner
GeoMiner
Last updated
2026-03-30T15:19:42.055955+00:00
Review status
Published; not independently peer-reviewed
  • USGS Thesaurus — U.S. Geological Survey. Controlled earth-science terminology used to describe USGS information resources.
  • Glossary of Geologic Terms — U.S. National Park Service. Geologic definitions prepared by the NPS Geologic Resources Inventory.

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Common questions

What does Mass wasting mean in geology?
The downslope movement of rock, soil, and regolith under the direct influence of gravity, without the primary involvement of a transporting agent such as water, wind, or ice. Types of mass wasting include rockfall, landslides, debris flows, mudflows, slumps, creep, and solifluction. Mass wasting is a major geomorphic process and a significant natural hazard in mountainous and hilly terrain.
What is an example of Mass wasting?
The 1903 Frank Slide in Alberta involved the collapse of approximately 82 million tonnes of limestone from Turtle Mountain, burying part of the town of Frank and killing approximately 70–90 people in under two minutes.
Which earth-science field uses the term Mass wasting?
Mass wasting is used in geomorphology.
Which terms are related to Mass wasting?
Related terms in this reference are Landslide, Creep, Debris flow, Slope stability.

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