Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The slow, downhill movement of soil or other material in areas typically underlain by frozen ground.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun geology Soil creep caused by waterlogged soil slowly moving downhill on top of an impermeable layer.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin solum, soil + Latin flūctiō, flūctiōn-, a flowing (from flūctus, past participle of fluere, to flow; see bhleu- in Indo-European roots).]

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Examples

  • Extensive periglacial phenomena, such as solifluction fields, are still active at higher elevations.

    Ecoregions of Nevada (EPA) 2009

  • Thawing of permafrost soils can result in subsidence of the surface, thermokarst, and activation of freeze – thaw related processes such as solifluction.

    Permafrost and infrastructure in the Arctic 2009

  • The flora of the area is a low-arctic type, typical of the nutrient-poor silicaceous soil which, where humid, shows solifluction effects such as frost boils.

    Ilulissat Icefjord, Denmark-Greenland 2008

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