Synonyms
Gelifluction; Soil flow
Definition
Solifluction, literally “soil flow,” is a category of shallow mass movement, which affects saturated unconsolidated deposits and results from reduction of internal friction and cohesion due to excess water.
Discussion
Precise definition of solifluction has not been agreed upon, and three views can be found in the literature: (1) solifluction is a laminar flow of soil in any environment, soil saturation being an essential prerequisite; (2) solifluction is a specific cold-climate phenomenon and involves soil flow of water-saturated active layer above the permafrost table. Others call this type of movement “gelifluction” and consider it a variant of solifluction; (3) solifluction is again a cold-climate phenomenon and involves two mechanisms: gelifluction (understood as in (2) above) and slow soil creep due to volume changes imposed by alternating freezing and thawing. In addition, sliding of soil on a frozen substrate is included in...
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Bibliography
French, H. M., 2007. The Periglacial Environment. Chichester: Wiley.
Hutchinson, J. N., 1991. Theme lecture: periglacial and slope processes. In Forster, A., Culshaw, M. G., Cripps, J. C., Little, J. A., Moon, C. F. (eds.), Quaternary Engineering Geology. Geological Society Engineering Geology Special Publication, 7, pp 283–331.
Matsuoka, N., 2001. Solifluction rates, processes and landforms: a global review. Earth-Science Reviews, 55, 107–134.
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Migoń, P. (2013). Solifluction. In: Bobrowsky, P.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_328
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_328
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