mass flow

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mass flow A down-slope slide of sediment which moves under the force of gravity. Mass flows include rockfalls (accumulations of scree), slumps and slides (where masses of sediment move down-slope along discrete shear planes), debris flows (in which ill-sorted masses of sediment move down-slope following the loss of internal strength of the sediment mass), liquefied sediment flows, grain flows, and turbidity flows.

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