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Fall

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Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms

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Definition

A geomorphic process in which the debris units (which can vary widely in size and composition) are transported to their deposition location under only the influence of gravity. No medium transports the material, so the debris units undergo downward motion via free falling, rolling or bouncing on the surface; if there is a horizontal component of velocity, the units will move in ballistic trajectories. Falls may take place on bodies with or without an atmosphere. Each fragment may interact with the slope in periodic collisions, but there is no significant interaction between fragments.

Category

A type of mass wasting

Synonyms

Particle settling

Description

Falls entail a free-falling phase over at least part of the material’s trajectory. For example, it may involve spontaneous movement of regolith down a steep slope such as a cliff, due to physical erosion such as undercutting of a slope by waves, flows, human and animal action, freeze-thaw action, seismic activity, or...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geophysical Flow Observatory Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology with NASA GSFC, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, MD, USA

    M. H. K. Bulmer

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  1. M. H. K. Bulmer
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Correspondence to M. H. K. Bulmer .

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Bulmer, M.H.K. (2014). Fall. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_144-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_144-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9

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