Soil creep
Also called: Creep · Topic: Geomorphic Processes: Weathering, Mass Movement, Erosion and Soil Formation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Geomorphic Processes"
Meaning
Soil creep, or simply creep, is a very slow downslope movement of soil and fine rock debris. It is so slow that you cannot see it happening. It shows up only over months and years. It is a slow flow mass movement, meaning material moving downslope under gravity. Wetting and drying, heating and cooling, and freezing and thawing make soil particles lift slightly and then settle a little further downhill each time. The signs are poles, fences and tree trunks that lean downhill, and walls that bulge or crack.
Example
On grassy hill slopes in Himachal Pradesh, old fence posts and electric poles often lean downhill. This shows that the soil beneath them is slowly creeping down the slope.
Don't confuse with
- Solifluction: also slow, but it is the flow of water-soaked soil, usually over frozen ground (permafrost) in cold regions. Creep happens in all climates and needs no saturation.
- Slump: sudden, with a backward rotation. Creep is gradual and you cannot see it happening.
Related concepts
- Mass movement
- Activating causes of mass movement
- Solifluction
- Mudflow
- Debris avalanche
- Slump
- Rockslide
- Rock fall