Mudslide redirects here, it is also the name of a cocktail.

A mudflow or mudslide is the most rapid (up to 80 km/h / 50 mph) and fluid type of downhill mass wasting. It is a rapid movement of a large mass of mud formed from loose earth and water. Similar terms are debris flow (e.g. in high mountains), mudslide (not very liquid) lahars and mud stream (e.g. from volcanoes; see also lahar).

Mailboxes caught in a mudflow.

However, these terms show a broad variety

• in water content (from loamy mud up to almost liquid),
• in material (wet soil, sandy sediments and/or silt, dirt, rock debris, volcanic ash, small plants and even trees)
• and in length, total mass and velocity.

Mudflow control

A radical method of defending a city against mud or debris flows is by building a strong enough dam, with a large enough reservoir, upstream of the city in the valley from which the mud flows would come. An example is the Medeu Dam outside of Almaty, Kazakhstan.

See also

• moisture content, solifluction, water saturation, torrent
• slope, failure, gully, alluvial plain
• lava eruption, lava flow, Lahar
• Glacial lake outburst flood

External links

• How Mudslide works
• Directed Technologies Drilling for mudslide prevention