MASS MOVEMENT by Mr. Charles Dyson

Mass movement, also called Mass Wasting, bulk movements of soil and rock debris down slopes in response to the pull of gravity, or the rapid or gradual sinking of the Earth’s ground surface in a predominantly vertical direction. Formerly, the term mass wasting referred to a variety of processes by which large masses of crustal materials are moved by gravity from one place to another. More recently, the term mass movement has been substituted to include mass wasting processes and the sinking of confined areas of the Earth’s ground surface. Mass movements on slopes and sinking mass movements are often aided by water and the significance of both types is the part each plays in the alteration of landforms.