ScienceEarth ScienceMass Wasting
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Mass Wasting

Quartney Bennett avatar Quartney Bennett
25 July 2022
4.7 (114 reviews)
23 test answers

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question
Which one of the following operate(s) primarily in areas of permafrost?
answer
Solifluction
question
Which of the following statements concerning mudflows is not true?
answer
Mudflows deposit talus slopes.
question
Which of the following mass wasting processes involves movement of rock on a zone of compressed air?
answer
Rock avalanche
question
Consider a weathered rock or soil particle lying on a slope. How will the gravitational force pulling the particle downward along the land surface vary with the inclination of the slope?
answer
It will decrease as the slope angle is lessened.
question
Consider a steep highway cut made by removing granite bedrock with conditions ranging from slightly weathered to fresh and fractured. Which of the following situations is the most stable against rockslides?
answer
One set of widely spaced, subhorizontal fractures
question
Which mass wasting process has the slowest rate of movement?
answer
Creep
question
Which of the following is not a factor affecting mass wasting?
answer
Geologic age
question
Which of the following disasters was triggered by a huge mass of soil and rock that suddenly slid into a water-filled reservoir
answer
Vaiont Canyon, Italy, 1963
question
Which of the following mass movements is most likely to occur in a geologic setting where the rock strata are inclined?
answer
Rockslide
question
As an erosional process, how is mass wasting different from wind, water, and ice?
answer
Mass wasting does not require a transporting medium; gravity is its controlling force.
question
A geologist wants to locate a horizontal coal bed on a soil-covered slope where soil creep is active. A distinctive sandstone bed underlies the coal bed. On the basis of weathered sandstone fragments in the soil where is the coal bed?
answer
Just above the highest piece of sandstone seen in the soil
question
What caused the 1985 mudflows on the Nevado del Ruiz volcano?
answer
Hot ash fell onto snow near the summit.
question
Which of the following is not a possible indicator that creep is occurring?
answer
An extremely thick soil profile
question
Why was the Alaskan pipeline built above ground and insulated?
answer
To protect the pipeline against damage due to thawing ground and to keep the crude oil hot and fluid
question
Which of the following was a major factor leading to the Gros Ventre, WY, slide?
answer
Soils and shallow bedrock were very wet and locally saturated.
question
How do the strength and the cohesion of clay-rich regolith or soil change with the addition of water?
answer
Water reduces the strength and the cohesion.
question
Which of the following is the most rapid type of mass movement?
answer
Rock avalanche
question
Of the following, which one would most likely be triggered by an earthquake?
answer
Rock avalanche
question
How do freezing, thawing, wetting, and drying contribute to soil creep?
answer
The soil expands and contracts, lifting particles and dropping them a slight distance downslope.
question
Which of the following materials has the maximum sustainable slope angle as determined by the angle of repose?
answer
Dry sand
question
What can happen to the downhill toe of a slump during wet weather or times when snow is melting?
answer
The toe can become an earthflow.
question
Which statement best describes slumping, a mass wasting process?
answer
block or blocks of unconsolidated regolith slide downhill along a curved slip surface.
question
Which of the following terms denotes the exposed crescent-shaped rupture surface at the head of a slump?
answer
Scarp