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Encyclopedic Entry
For Teachers
landslide
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A landslide is the movement of rock, earth, or debris down a sloped section of land. Landslides are caused by rain,
earthquakes, volcanoes, or other factors that make the slope unstable.

Geologists, scientists who study the physical formations of the Earth, sometimes describe landslides as one type of mass
wasting. A mass wasting is any downward movement in which the Earth's surface is worn away. Other types of mass
wasting include rockfalls and the flow of shore deposits called alluvium.

Near populated areas, landslides present major hazards to people and property. Landslides cause an estimated 25 to 50
deaths and $3.5 billion in damage each year in the United States.

What Causes Landslides?

Landslides have three major causes: geology, morphology, and human activity.

Geology refers to characteristics of the material itself. The earth or rock might be weak or fractured, or different layers may
have different strengths and stiffness.

Morphology refers to the structure of the land. For example, slopes that lose their vegetation to fire or drought are more
vulnerable to landslides. Vegetation holds soil in place, and without the root systems of trees, bushes, and other plants, the
land is more likely to slide away.

A classic morphological cause of landslides is erosion, or weakening of earth due to water. In April 1983, the town of Thistle,
Utah, experienced a devastating landslide brought on by heavy rains and rapidly melting snow. A mass of earth eventually
totaling 305 meters wide, 61 meters thick, and 1.6 kilometers long (1,000 feet wide, 200 feet thick, and one mile long) slid
across the nearby Spanish Fork River, damming it and severing railroad and highway lines. The landslide was the costliest in
U.S. history, causing over $400 million in damage and destroying Thistle, which remains an evacuated ghost town today.

Human activity, such as agriculture and construction, can increase the risk of a landslide. Irrigation, deforestation,
excavation, and water leakage are some of the common activities that can help destabilize, or weaken, a slope.

Types of Landslides

There are many ways to describe a landslide. The nature of a landslide's movement and the type of material involved are two
of the most common.

There are several ways of describing how a landslide moves. These include falls, topples, translational slides, lateral
spreads, and flows. In falls and topples, heavy blocks of material fall after separating from a very steep slope or cliff.
Boulders tumbling down a slope would be a fall or topple. In translational slides, surface material is separated from the more
stable underlying layer of a slope. An earthquake may shake the loose top layer of soil free from the harder earth beneath in
this type of landslide. A lateral spread or flow is the movement of material sideways, or laterally. This happens when a
powerful force, such as an earthquake, makes the ground move quickly, like a liquid.

A landslide can involve rock, soil, vegetation, water, or some combination of all these. A landslide caused by a volcano can
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VOCABULARY
agriculture
noun
the art and science of cultivating the land for growing crops (farming) or raising
livestock (ranching).
alluvium
noun
gravel, sand, and smaller materials deposited by flowing water.
boulder
noun
large rock.
bush
noun
low-lying plant with many branches.
characteristic
noun
physical, cultural, or psychological feature of an organism, place, or object.
complex
adjective
complicated.
construction
noun
arrangement of different parts.
costly
adjective
expensive or having a lot of value.
creep
verb
to move slowly and close to the ground.
dam
verb
to block a flow of water.
debris
noun
remains of something broken or destroyed, waste, or garbage.
deforestation
noun
destruction or removal of forests and their undergrowth.
destroy
verb
to ruin or make useless.
devastate
verb
to destroy.
drought
noun
period of greatly reduced precipitation.
earth
noun
soil or dirt.
earthquake
noun
the sudden shaking of Earth's crust caused by the release of energy along fault lines
or from volcanic activity.
erosion
noun
act in which earth is worn away, often by water, wind, or ice.
eruption
noun
release of material from an opening in the Earth's crust.
estimate
verb
to guess based on knowledge of the situation or object.
evacuate
verb
to leave or remove from a dangerous place.
excavation
noun
area that has been dug up or exposed for study.
expel
verb
to eject or force out.
also contain hot volcanic ash and lava from the eruption. A landslide high in the mountains may have snow and snowmelt.

Volcanic landslides, also called lahars, are among the most devastating type of landslides. The largest landslide in recorded
history took place after the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in the U.S. state of Washington. The resulting flow of ash,
rock, soil, vegetation and water, with a volume of about 2.9 cubic kilometers (0.7 cubic miles), covered an area of 62 square
kilometers (24 square miles).

Another factor that might be important for describing landslides is the speed of the movement. Some landslides move at
many feet per second, while others creep along at an inch or two a year. The amount of water, ice or air in the earth should
also be considered. Some landslides include toxic gases from deep in the Earth expelled by volcanoes. Some landslides,
called mudslides, contain a high amount of water and move very quickly. Complex landslides consist of a combination of
different material or movement types.
Term Part of Speech Definition
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fall
noun
movement of pieces of rock or soil downward in a landslide.
fire
noun
a chemical process that releases heat and light due to burning.
flow
noun
quick movement of material in a landslide, as if it were liquid.
fracture
verb
to break.
gas
noun
state of matter with no fixed shape that will fill any container uniformly. Gas molecules
are in constant, random motion.
geologist
noun
person who studies the physical formations of the Earth.
geology
noun
study of the physical history of the Earth, its composition, its structure, and the
processes that form and change it.
ghost town
noun
urban area that has been abandoned by all residents.
hazard
noun
danger or risk.
highway
noun
large public road.
ice
noun
water in its solid form.
irrigation
noun
watering land, usually for agriculture, by artificial means.
lahar
noun
flow of mud and other wet material from a volcano.
landslide
noun
the fall of rocks, soil, and other materials from a mountain, hill, or slope.
lateral spread
noun
movement of material sideways during a landslide.
lava
noun
molten rock, or magma, that erupts from volcanoes or fissures in the Earth's surface.
mass wasting
noun
downward movement of rock, soil, and other material.
morphology
noun
study of the form and structure of organisms or materials.
mudslide
noun
rapid, downhill flow of soil and water. Also called a mudflow.
plant
noun
organism that produces its own food through photosynthesis and whose cells have
walls.
railroad
noun
road constructed with metal tracks on which trains travel.
rain
noun
liquid precipitation.
rock
noun
natural substance composed of solid mineral matter.
rockfall
noun
sudden descent of large rocks.
root system
noun
all of a plant's roots.
scheme
noun
structure or diagram of the way information is studied, documented, and understood.
sever
verb
to separate or cut away.
slope
noun
slant, either upward or downward, from a straight or flat path.
snow
noun
precipitation made of ice crystals.
snowmelt
noun
water supplied by snow.
topple
noun
movement of smaller pieces of rock or soil downward in a landslide.
toxic
adjective
poisonous.
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translational
slide
noun
movement of all surface material (including rocks, soil, and vegetation) downward
during a landslide.
tree
noun
type of large plant with a thick trunk and branches.
unstable
adjective
unsteady or likely to fall apart.
vegetation
noun
all the plant life of a specific place.
volcanic ash
noun
fragments of lava less than 2 millimeters across.
volcano
noun
an opening in the Earth's crust, through which lava, ash, and gases erupt, and also
the cone built by eruptions.
vulnerable
adjective
capable of being hurt.
FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION
Articles & Profiles
National Geographic News: Biggest Known Landslide Found on Mars?
Audio & Video
National Geographic Video: Landslide Devours Home
National Geographic Channel: Naked ScienceLandslides
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