30 March 2010
Is a lavafall a landslide?
Posted by Dave Petley
The Mountain Cat Geology blog has an astonishing image of a lavafall in Iceland following the recent eruption (click on the image for a better view in a new window):
I wonder whether this is technically a landslide, given that it is a mass movement consisting entirely of rock?
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.
If a lava fall is to be grouped in mass movements of any such, I believe it would most likely resemble a flow. This is if you agree that the displaced matter, in this case, lava; resembles the mechanics of a viscous liquid.
Fun idea, but I think "rock" by definition is a coherent solid… lava, falling or otherwise, is neither.