Displacement of a mass of soil or other unconsolidated material, including loose rock bodies, under the influence of gravity down sloping topography. Slower motions are referred to as creep, more rapid ones as slides, slumps or superficial faults. Mass movement may be a consequence of water‐saturation, of neo‐tectonic movements, or of anthropic activities, all of which may have been operative in the example illustrated of a slope failure in the Himalayas of Nepal (Figure M1).