<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations . Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . (December 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Mass wasting, also known as slope movement or mass movement, is the geomorphic process by which soil, sand, regolith, and rock move downslope typically as a solid, continuous or discontinuous mass, largely under the force of gravity, but frequently with characteristics of a flow as in debris flows and mudflows . Types of mass wasting include creep, slides, flows, topples, and falls, each with its own characteristic features, and taking place over timescales from seconds to hundreds of years . Mass wasting occurs on both terrestrial and submarine slopes, and has been observed on Earth, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter's moon Io . </P> <P> When the gravitational force acting on a slope exceeds its resisting force, slope failure (mass wasting) occurs . The slope material's strength and cohesion and the amount of internal friction between material help maintain the slope's stability and are known collectively as the slope's shear strength . The steepest angle that a cohesionless slope can maintain without losing its stability is known as its angle of repose . When a slope made of loose material possesses this angle, its shear strength perfectly counterbalances the force of gravity acting upon it . </P> <P> Mass wasting may occur at a very slow rate, particularly in areas that are very dry or those areas that receive sufficient rainfall such that vegetation has stabilized the surface . It may also occur at very high speed, such as in rockslides or landslides, with disastrous consequences, both immediate and delayed, e.g., resulting from the formation of landslide dams . </P>

Where is mass wasting most likely to occur