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Mass Wasting: An Overview

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Landslides: Theory, Practice and Modelling

Part of the book series: Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research ((NTHR,volume 50))

Abstract

Mass wasting is a natural phenomenon by which rock, soil and/or debris move downwards due to the action of gravity. It describes all the processes that act continuously with varied intensity on all type of slopes to lower the ground surface. The mass wasting process is controlled by the interaction of geological agents and processes with the geo-materials. The degree and type of movements depend upon a few aspects of geology, environment, geomorphology, hydrology, and some additional environmental stress factors, including biotic factors. It is more active in hilly regions like Himalayas, Western Ghats, Alps, and some other extensive mountain chains of the world. Sometimes it becomes disastrous to lives, property and economy. This chapter gives an overview of mass wasting processes and its classification. Some widely used mass movement classification schemes have been documented.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, India

    S. P. Pradhan & Tariq Siddique

  2. Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India

    Tariq Siddique

Authors
  1. S. P. Pradhan
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  2. Tariq Siddique
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Correspondence to S. P. Pradhan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India

    S.P. Pradhan

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    V. Vishal

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India

    T.N. Singh

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Pradhan, S.P., Siddique, T. (2019). Mass Wasting: An Overview. In: Pradhan, S., Vishal, V., Singh, T. (eds) Landslides: Theory, Practice and Modelling. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 50. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77377-3_1

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