Short Notes (covering most of the material up to the first test). REVISED Oct. 1, 2009.

There are always students that switch courses or that arrive in Windsor late for the start of the term. Because I was always being asked what these students had missed, and also because I wanted other students to know the type of detail that I would require them to learn, I wrote up some summary notes for the first few classes (6 7 perhaps). These notes may not include everything I discussed in class, but they roughly follow, and include most of, the material and they illustrate the type of notes you should be taking and learning. Note that they are a "oneoff". I will not be doing the same thing for the rest of the material. 1. INTRODUCTION Landforms and landscapes are the result of: a) Processes (river, coastal, wind, glacial etc. processes), which largely depends on the climate. The energy to generate or drive the processes usually comes from the sun (which is the cause of climate), gravity, or less frequently from within the Earth (volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.). Processes usually begin with weathering, then erosion, followed by transportation, and finally by deposition. Some processes are slow (eg. weathering) whereas others are rapid and often dangerous, such as landslides (hazards). b) Time. Time isnt important for features (such as ripples in sand) that form very quickly and are destroyed very quickly these are features formed in weak material (such as sand) by powerful processes (such as strong winds). Time is very important, however, for features formed in strong material by weak processes (such as plains in Africa or Australia, where there are Shield rocks and dry, hot climates). The modern approach to time and processes is by the modern systems approach, in which all the elements of a landscape are recognized as being interrelated, so that a change in one of these elements (such as increasing the width of a river) leads to changes in all of them (that is, river velocity, depth etc also change as a result of widening the river). When there is a change in the input to a system (a change in climate for example) this leads to system adjustment and a change in the output of the system (feedback). There are two types of system feedback. Positive feedback, whereby a change in a system increases the effect of an original change, is rare in nature (it is a system out of control lower temperates cause more snow and ice to develop in the Arctic which increases the albedo or reflectance of the surface. More solar radiation is therefore reflected back into space which makes it even colder than resulted from the original change). Negative feedback tends to eliminate the effect of an original change (eg. fewer of a prey species eventual leads to fewer predators in an ecosystem). Nature often adjusts to changes in a system in order to maintain equilibrium. c) Geology. The Earth consists of an inner (solid) and outer (liquid) core at very high temperature. The core consists of iron and nickel at more than 4000oC. The mantle contains different elements and makes up the greatest volume of the Earth. We live on the thin crust at the surface. In the lower part of the upper mantle is the asthenosphere, a layer of rock, 100 km or more in thickness, which contains rock that can be deformed, thereby acting as a series of ballbearings. Movement in this layer causes the

lithosphere (the crust and the upper part of the upper mantle) to move in giant plates (there are 79 major plates and many minor ones). The North American plate extends from the middle of the Atlantic to the western coast of the continent). Subduction occurs when a heavier oceanic basaltic plate, such as the Pacific plate, is forced down beneath a lighter granitic continental plate (such as the North America, or Asian plates), or when one oceanic plate is forced beneath another oceanic plate, forming a chain of volcanic islands (an island arc). Most of the worlds earthquakes and volcanoes are associated with subduction zones (the Ring of Fire is the great band of volcanic and earthquakeprone areas associated with subduction around the coast of the Pacific Ocean). Hot spots, formed by plumes of magma rising upwards below plates, are also responsible for volcanoes in locations with plates, as opposed to at their margins (eg. Hawaii, Tahiti, etc, which are on the Pacific Plate) Two equal granitic continental plates can also collide, but without subduction (eg. India and Asia). Plate collisions produce mountains. The orginal plates on earth were basaltic (oceanic) and granitic continental plates had to be formed through subduction (forming first island arcs when two oceanic plates subducted, then through coliision and coalescence of different island arcs to form the first small continents). the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old but the oldest rocks are less than 4 billion (because of the rock cycles the oldest rocks have been destroyed) while the oldest oceanic rocks (remember the first plates were oceanic) are only 180 million years old because older oceanic material has been subducted and recycled. When two oceanic plates diverge, new magma/lava fills the gap forming new rock. this has formed the submarine mountain chain that winds through the Earth's oceans. the rock on either side of these spreading centres becomes older with distance from the plate boundaries. Isostasy refers to vertical movements of the plates (equal pressure is required at some point below the Earth's surface probably at the asthenosphere). When a mountain is eroded, thereby reducing the weight exerted below, material may flow from the area where the sediments are accumulating and increasing the pressure, back under the mountain. This pushes the mountain part of the way back up (1 m of erosion might result in 2.3rd of a metre uplift). There are three categories of rock: Basaltic or basic lavas/magmas flow better than granitic or acid lavas/magmas. Igneous rocks are formed from melted or molten material (lava on the surface or magma beneath the surface). All the rocks on Earth were originally igneous, but none of these original rocks exist today (although there are of course, younger igneous rocks on the Earths surface today).The distinction is usually made between extrusive rocks that solidified on the surface, and intrusive rocks that cooled and solidified underground (although erosion might eventually expose them on the surface). Landforms produced by extrusive processes include: large, flat lava plains or plateaux (formed by very liquid, easily flowing, basic lava); volcanoes (shield volcanoes with gently sloping sides that formed from easily flowing basic lava especially in Hawaii (lava tubes form when the surface flow solidifies while hot lava continues to flow in tunnels below), cinder cones (fairly small volcanoes formed of cinders from acid lava eruptions)and strato volcanoes that emit gases, acid lava and ash (pyroclastic eruptions, pyroclastic clouds, lahars or volcanic mudflows) etc. Stratovolcanoes have much steeper slopes than shield volcanoes because the material doesnt travel as far. Most volcanoes are stratovolcanoes and these are potentially explosive); and calderas large craters formed by the collapse or subsidence of an underground lava chamber (a few

may be the result of explosions). Intrusive features include dykes (vertical structures formed of lava that may produce a wall or trough like feature at the surface depending on whether the lava is stronger or weaker than the surrounding rock); sills (horizontal structures formed by lava); plugs (the hard lava in the volcanic vent that remains when the rest of the volcano has been eroded and removed); and batholiths (enormous, shapeless, bottomless structures the Coast Mountains of British Columbia is the largest batholith in the world). Sedimentary Rocks are formed from sediments eroded from the land (sand forms sandstones, mud forms shale etc). They are laid down in beds (usually in the sea) which are originally fairly horizontal but they may dip (become tilted) because of pressures exerted in the Earths crust. Limestones are also a sedimentary rock, which may be organic (such as coral limestone) or inorganic produced chemically. Sedimentary rocks are formed by pressure, heat, or chemical solutions that compress and cement the loose sediments together.Bedding planes are the surfaces that separate individual beds of rock. Metamorphic rocks are formerly igneous or sedimentary rocks that have been subjected to some heat, pressure, or chemical solutions that have changed them (but not sufficient heat, for example, to turn them into an igneous rock). For example, limestones can become marbles, and granites can become gneiss (the Canadian Shield is mainly gneiss or granitegneiss). Metamorphic rocks often form of molten material injected into sedimentary or igneous rocks, or where there are tremendous pressures (heat, pressure) associated with mountain building, folding and faulting. Compressive forces may cause rocks to become folded. Joints and faults are cracks in rock caused by pressure, or cooling or drying of the rock. Whereas joints are simple cracks, however, faults are cracks along which there has been movement or displacement of the rocks on either side. Horst and grabens are mountains and intervening basins, respectively, formed by faulting. Thrust faults have low angles (gentle gradients) and are often formed when material is carried up and over adjacent material, so that older rocks are often thrust on top of younger rocks (this has happened in the eastern ranges of the Cordillera). Antilclines are fold domes (convex folds) whereas synclines are concave folds (anticlines may, however, become geomorphological basins, and synclines may become mountain tops). Sediments are loose materials that have been transported and deposited (often on the ocean floor). They can be formed mechanically (erosion of rock sand from sandstones, silt from siltstones, etc), chemically (salt and gypsum from evaporation of sea water in lagoons, lakes, etc), or organic (coral limestone from coral reefs coral is a marine animal with an external skeleton). The grain size and shape of sediments is important (it affects how they are transported and deposited, for example), and sediments are often sorted, or segregated into, different sizes (or sometimes shapes or densities). The rock cycle refers to the way that rock minerals are constantly recycled. For example an igneous rock can be eroded, form sediments, and then become a sedimentary rock. This sedimentary rock might be uplifted and metamorphosed, and may later become a sediment (and then a sedimentary rock again) or be heated into an igneous rock. And so it continues. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE

The carbon cycle refers to the way that carbon is cycled between the atmosphere, the land (rock, soil, vegetation), the sea, and deeper within the crust. Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas and the amount in the atmosphere has varied over geological time as a result of plate tectonics (subduction, etc), volcanic activity, and the availability of suitable rocks for weathering. Consequently there have been periods in the past that have been much hotter (more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere) and colder (less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere) than today. However, it is the rate of change that determines whether and how humans can adapt to climate change and the rates of change today are unprecedented. The Suns rays are short wave and they pass fairly easily through the atmosphere (though our atmosphere protects us from short wave ultraviolet rays). Some of these rays are reflected from the Earths surface back into space, but the rest is absorbed by the Earth. The heated Earths surface then emits longer wave radiation into the atmosphere. These longer waves do not pass through the atmosphere as well as the incoming short waves from the Sun some is absorbed in the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect (trapping of outgoing solar heat in the atmosphere) is a vital process for human habitation of the planet, but the concentration of greenhouse gases, which absorb radiation from the Earth, is rapidly increasing owing to the burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal, wood, are carbon based). The analysis of the gases contained in air bubbles trapped within glacial ice in the Antarctic and Arctic, supplemented by actual measurements from the air from the last 250 years, shows a dramatic increase in greenhouse gas concentrations since 1750 (industrialization). Carbon dioxide levels are now the highest they have been for 650,000 years ! Average global temperatures have increased accordingly since that time. There is overwhelming agreement among climate scientists, represented by the IPCC, that human activities are mainly responsible for climate warming (> 90% probability) owing to increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change) is the leading body for the assessment of climate change, established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of climate change and its potential environmental and socioeconomic consequences. The IPCC is a scientific body. It reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socioeconomic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change. It does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters. Thousands of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC on a voluntary basis. Review is an essential part of the IPCC process, to ensure an objective and complete assessment of current information. Differing viewpoints existing within the scientific community are reflected in the IPCC reports. Because of its scientific and intergovernmental nature, the IPCC embodies a unique opportunity to provide rigorous and balanced scientific information to decision makers. By endorsing the IPCC reports, governments acknowledge the authority of their scientific content. The clear results of climate change include the rapid thinning, retreat and disappearance of glacial ice. Glaciers are retreating in mountainous areas around the world and recent reports suggest that Antarctic

and Greenland ice retreat is becoming faster. Arctic sea ice is melting, opening up potentisal navigation routes and sites for mineral and gas exploration (with competing claims from the nations along the Arctic basin to ownership of these resources). Permafrost is melting, which will release huge amounts of methane (a very effective greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere (positive feedback) from buried peat and other decaying vegetation that was previously frozen. River flooding may become more severe and frequent in some areas although, unlike temperature, there is no convincing evidence of higher rainfall and other precipitation in the last few decades. The rise in sea level is of enormous concern. This has been measured at various places over the last few centuries. If all the ice on Earth melted sea level would rise about 80 m and flood most of the worlds largest cities. This is not going to happen in this century, but even a rise of a few metres would be devastating. Sea level is rising as temperature rises and recent reports of faster rates of ice melting (Greenland, Antarctica) have required a revision in our estimates of the rise to be expected in this century which is now between about 0.5 to 1.6 m ! In some areas, it is possible to simply more further inland and to allow the sea to flood coastal areas, forming, for example, new coastal wetlands (known as managed retreat), but this will be impossible where there are large cities and resorts built right up to the back of the beach; the cost to protect these areas will be enormous. There is also the possibility that warmer seas will result in stronger and more frequent extreme events, including hurricanes. Most of Canada, with the exception of parts of the southeast (Halifax and adjacent parts of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, etc), however, were under thick ice and is now rising isostatically faster than the rise in sea level; therefore, sea level rise will only affect a small portion (albeit well populated and economically important) of the coast of Canada. A different problem will occur in the lower Great Lakes, where higher evaporation (from higher temperatures) is expected to cause lake levels to fall (possibly by 0.5 m). This will affect fisheries, lake freighter traffic, and coastal processes (will we allow people to built closer to the new, lower shoreline or will we have the political will to preserve these new areas for all as parkland ?). 3. THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF CANADA Canada consists of three main units: the Shield, the lowlands around the Shield, and the mountains around the plains. The Shield was formed a little under two billion years ago, when at least six small microcontinents came together. This metamorphosed the granites of the small shields to form gneiss. Other, less common, rocks on the Shield include metamorphosed sediments or greenstones, and volcanics. The Shield represents the ancient, stable core of the continent (the Shield actually underlies most of North America, although it is covered in more recent rocks in most of the USA and in southern and western Canada). The scenery of the Shield is hilly, with many depressions with marshes and bogs, as well as lakes in the intervening lowlands.The scenery is fairly uniform throughout this vast area because the underlying rocks are usually gneisses.There are three mountainous areas. The lowlands around the exposed part of the Shield, include the Prairies of western Canada (Albertan oil is obtained from these rocks), the Great Plains of the USA, and the lowlands of the American midwest, southern Ontario and the St Lawrence lowlands of Qubec. They were laid down on top of the

underlying Shield over hundreds of millions of years when shallow seas periodically flooded this area. The horizontally bedded sedimentary rocks (they have remained horizontal because they have such a stable Shield foundation) in the lowlands consist of sediments eroded from the mountains and the Shield. These rocks are largely covered by later glacial sediments in most places, but they appear on the surface in Ontario in the Niagara Escarpment, and in the Amherstburg quarry area near Windsor. In Ontario these sedimentary rocks are largely limestones (including coral limestones) with some shales. The Lowlands and Shield are surrounded by mountains in the west, southeast, and north. The Cordillera in the west extends from the Rockies in the east to the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. The area consists of three units: the Coast Mountains near the Pacific coast (a massive batholith); the hilly interior of British Columbia; and the mountains of the east (several ranges which include the Rockies). The Cordillera is still active and is still being formed (2,000 to 3,000 m of uplift in the last 10 million years). About 80 percent of the Cordillera consists of huge blocks (erotic terrane) consisting of former volcanic island chains, parts of the Pacific Plate, and parts of Asia that have been brought across the Pacific and welded onto western North America. There are numerous volcanoes of various types in the Coast mountains, and small eruptions have occurred in the last few hundred years. The other two mountain chains are: the AcadianAppalachian mountains of eastern Canada (the Canadian portion of the Appalachian mountains of the USA), which were formed during the opening and closing of the ocean that preceded the Atlantic Ocean; and a mountainous chain in the extreme north of Arctic Canada which might have been formed at the same time. Both chains are old mountains that are not being formed today but are being progressively worn down by erosion. It is now realised that most of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland consist of erotic terrane that broke off from Gondwanaland, originating from what is today North Africa and South America. Earthquakes occur in all parts of Canada (faulting, isostasy etc) but most are too weak to be felt by humans. Most earthquakes in Canada, as well as the strongest earthquakes, are in southwestern Brisih Columbia, where they may be associated with stresses generated by the Pacific Plate subducting under the North American plate, although the reasons are not entirely clear. Western Vancouver Island has experienced tsunamis in the past and will no doubt experience them in the future, but the most devestating event in Canada was in the east, in southeastern Newfoundland, where a tsunmai generated by a submarine landslide (caused by an earthquake) killed almost 30 people in 1929. There are about 30 confirmed meteorite craters in Canada. Almost all of these are on the Shield because most impacts occurred before the Earths atmosphere had fully developed (our atmosphere burns up most incoming meteorites today), when the only land masses on Earth were Shield areas, and because of the hardness of the rocks on the Shield which prevent them being rapidly destroyed by erosion and filled in with sediment. One of the largest craters, now buried beneath younger rock, is at Sudbury where the enormous impact is thought to have been responsible for the formation of the nickel deposits in this area. The broad patterns of Canadian temperatures are very simple, with higher temperatures in the south than in the north, and in summer rather than winter. The distribution of precipitation and snowfall is a little more complex, with the wettest and snowiest areas on the mountains of the Cordillera in the west,

and in eastern Quebec and the Maritime Provinces in the east. The driest area of Canada, and also the one with least snow, is the western Arctic (not the eastern Arctic, which is much wetter), although the southern Prairies are also quite dry and experience high evaporation. 4. WEATHERING Most rocks were formed under conditions of high temperature, high pressure, and in the absence of air, water and biological organisms (formed some distance below the surface from lava or magma). Weathering is the in situ (without movement or transport) breakdown of rocks as a result of their exposure on the Earths surface to low temperatures, low pressure, and the presence of air, water and biological organisms (weathering forms soils). Weathering is therefore a result of rocks that were in equilibrium under one set of circumstances (the conditions that prevailed when they were formed) having to adjust (through weathering) to find a new equilibrium because of a change in the system (a change to the conditions at the Earths surface). Weathering forms soils, without which our planet would be completely inhospitable. Weathering is not erosion, but erosion occurs when weathered material (or debris) is removed (for example by waves, rivers, glaciers, gravity, etc). Rocks break down in four main ways: a) exfoliation, by which curved layers of rock peel away from a central core; b) the breakdown of rocks into their component mineral grains; c) the detachment of blocks of rock along the joints; and d) shattering of sharp, angular rock fragments. There are three types of weathering: a) Physical or mechanical weathering involves purely physical processes without any chemical or biological action; b) Chemical weathering chemical reactions between rock minerals and elements in the air, or more often, in water; and c) Biological weathering can be biophysical or biochemical. There are several main types of physical weathering: a) Pressure release; b) frost weathering; c) salt weathering; d) alternate wetting and drying; e) alternate heating and cooling. Pressure release involves the expansion of dense rocks (such as granites) towards areas where rock has been removed (for example, erosional surface like the side of a valley). This causes joints to develop parallel to the erosion surface (sometimes as exfoliation jointing), which makes it much easier to remove more rock and to continue eroding the surface. Frost action is the result of the 9 percent expansion of water on freezing. Expansion of water continued in joints or other crevices, or in tiny pores in the rock, can therefore cause the rock to shatter. Salt weathering occurs in much the same way in hot deserts or in coastal areas through expansion of salts as they crystallize from evaporating saline solutions in rocks. Alternate wetting and drying (most likely in coastal areas) and heating and cooling (most probably in hot deserts) involves break of the rock caused by repeated expansion due to heating or wetting, and contraction due to cooling or drying. Chemical weathering includes such processes as oxidation (reaction of rock minerals, especially iron, to oxygen in the air or in water), carbonation (with carbon dioxide), hydration and hydrolysis (with water), and solution (dissolving minerals in water, especially the calcium carbonate of limestones). One of the

main consequences of chemical weathering is the formation of clays new minerals that are much more stable under present conditions on the Earths surfaces than the original minerals in igneous rocks. Biological weathering (bioerosion) is the least understood, but probably the most important, type of weathering. It is the result of physical and chemical processes associated with living matter (vegetation, bacteria, fungi, lichen, algae etc). Examples of physical biological weathering include rocks being broken up by the growth of plant roots and the grinding away of rock surfaces in coastal areas by a variety of shelly organisms grazing for food. Examples of chemical biological weathering include the effect of acids given off by decaying plants on the underlying rock, or chemical changes to rocks caused by bacteria. Frost action is probably most effective in cool (as opposed to very cold) environments which are fairly wet (frost is more effective in southern Ontario, for example, than in the much colder and drier areas of Arctic Canada). Chemical weathering is generally most effective in wet, tropical area. Hot and cold deserts are the areas where weathering is least effective. Badlands (eg Alberta) develop in areas that weather and erode very quickly, preventing the colonization of stabilizing vegation. Running water then forms gulleys with sharp ridges between. 5. MASS MOVEMENT The downslope movement as a direct result of gravity. Stable slopes have an equilibrium (balance) between the driving forces trying to make the slope move (gravity) and the resisting forces trying to stop it moving (material resistance). Movements can result from: a) increasing the effect of gravity by: i) increasing the gradient of the slope by erosion at the base by waves, rivers, glaciers, humans, etc; or Ii) increasing the weight on the slope by buildings). b) reducing the resistance of the slope materials by: i) weathering; ii) the addition of water (rain, snowmelt, irrigation, septic tanks), which increases slope weight and, through pore water pressure, pushes grains further apart thereby reducing friction between the grains. iii) deforestation (tree roots hold slope material together) Falls vertical or very steep movements. They occur, for example, where waves, rivers, or glaciers cut into the bottom of cliffs. Thermoerosional falls occur in cold regions where in summer, the frozen (permafrost) banks of lakes, oceans or rivers are melted, and so undercut, by the warmer water.

Topples occur where columns of rocks (usually defined by steeply dipping bedding planes or joints) rotate and topple over. One can distinguish slides and flows. In slides, the material moves together as though it were a single mass (even though it may consists of numerous individual boulders, etc). In slides, therefore, the velocity at the top of the sliding material is the same as at the bottom. In flows, particles move at different rates, and because of friction at the bottom of the sliding material, the top of slides moves faster than the bottom. Slides can occur over straight or curved surfaces. Movement over straight surfaces is usually in dipping rocks along a surface beneath the ground consisting of weak material (clay, shale) or a surface along which water tends to buildup. Movement over curved surfaces (slumps) is generally in weak, fairly homogeneous (uniform) material including clays and shales. There are various types of flow: Creep is very slow, flowing movement: i) Mantle creep refers to creep in the first 0.5 to 1 m below the surface. Mantle creep is the result of material being lifted upwards, perpendicularly to the surface, by heating or wetting of the material, and then being let downwards vertically by cooling or drying. In cold areas, frost creep is the result of alternate freezing and thawing raising and lowering the surface material in the same way. The main type of mantle creep is soil creep, but it also includes talus creep and several other types. Soil creep is responsible for the gentle curves that dominate our landscapes in temperate regions, as opposed to the sharp angles common in desert areas (where there is little soil). ii) Mass rock creep occurs at tens of metres below the ground and is the result of creep or flow of the rock at depth owing to the enormous weight of the rock above. Mass rock creep can cause rocks to pop out of valley walls and they may therefore trigger larger landslides. b) Avalanches: i) snow avalanches only carry small amounts of earth material; ii) rock avalanches are very large, fast flowing movements of rocky material which, because the material flows, can travel considerable distances (kms) much further than landslides. It is not known how the material flows, though it may be on a cushion of air or dust trapped beneath the debris. The Frank Slide in the southern Canadian Cordillera was a rock avalanche that killed over 70 people in 1903. Large landslides and rock avalanches are often the main cause of deaths associated with earthquakes. In addition to the direct effect of these mass movements, they can also temporarily block rivers, causing lakes to develop behind these rocky dams. When these dams are breached eventually, the resulting floods often kill large numbers of people living in the valleys below, often great distances from the mass movement event. c) Earthflows consist of wetter material than avalanches. There are two types:

i) Slow earthflows generally occur after rainfall or snowmelt, and are slow oozing flows of material. Some can be very old and very long. In the Canadian and American Cordillera, for example, there are earthflows at the bottom of valleys that are thousands of years in age and kilometres in length. Earthflows can develop from, and at the foot of, slumps and other mass movements. ii) Fast earthflows are much more dangerous and are often associated with sensitive clays. Fast earthflows are especially common in the St Lawrence Lowlands and in the Ottawa Valley (Quebec city, Montreal, Ottawa, etc), where these clays were deposited in a sea (Champlain Sea) that covered the isostatically depressed (forced down by the weight of the ice) region after the retreat of the ice (about 10,000 years ago). These clays can be transformed from a solid to a liquid very quickly (by heavy rainfall, traffic vibrations, earthquakes, etc) , and fast earthflows in this regions have killed large numbers over the last two centuries. Although associated particularly with the St Lawrence Lowlands, fast earthflows also occur in central British Columbia. d) Mudflows are very wet flows created by water carrying huge amounts of mud, along with boulders (can be very large), tree trunks etc. They can be channelized (in river channels) or unchannelized (flowing over a broad area and not in channels). Channelized mudflows often terminate in fans (cone shaped accumulations of sediment usually at the foot of mountains where river valleys meet the surrounding lowlands). In Canada, mudflows are most common in the Cordillera where there are paraglacial conditions. The term paraglacial refers to conditions that are transitional between glacial and nonglacial conditions. The mountain valleys of the Cordillera have a lot of loose glacial material (boulders, etc) that can be quickly mobilized by flooded streams (after snowmelt etc), thereby turning them quickly into mudflows. Lahars, which can be hot or cold, are volcanic mudflows. e) Periglacial flows are flows that occur in northern Canada and other cold regions. Frost creep (a type of soil creep discussed above) occurs in the top 1 m or so as a result of alternate freezing and thawing of the seasonally thawed active layer above the permafrost (a surface layer that thaws in the summer and so is not permafrost). Frost creep occurs when the active layer thaws and is then followed, slightly later in the year (say early summer) by gelifluction, a downward shift in the active layer caused by the increased weight of the thawed active layer which is filled with water. Other flows in northern Canada include skin flows, a type of mudflow that occurs in the active layer often after fire has destroyed vegetation, and bimodal flows that are features that look somewhat like slumps (but without the slumped debris at the bottom) where large masses of ice (ground ice) in the permafrost has melted after being exposed to the Sun by river or coast erosion, etc. Many large mass movements consist of several of the categories listed above, and are known as composite movements. For example, a large rock avalanche might have started as a rock fall at its head and may terminate in an earthflow or mudflow at its base. Subsidence is not a mass movement (mass movement is a slope movement whereas subsidence occurs where an enclosed area is lowered). It can be fast or slow. Fast subsidence can occur over a collapsed mine shaft or over a collapsed underground limestone or salt cave, for example, whereas slow subsidence might be isostatic in nature (responding to adjacent areas rising after removal of the weight

of the ice), or it could result from gradual compaction of sediment, the extraction of gas and oil (Mississippi Delta), pumping out of groundwater, etc.