Solifluction

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The slow downward movement of water-saturated soil occurs under the influence of gravity, altering the landscape over time
2. This geological process involves the gradual flow of saturated earth down a slope, reshaping the terrain
3. A gradual process where wet soil moves downhill slowly because of gravity causing changes in the landform

Etymology: Solifluction names a process you can see on hillsides in cold regions: waterlogged soil creeps downslope so slowly that it is hard to notice from one day to the next. The word was built from Latin rather than picked up from everyday speech. Its first element is "solum", the Latin word for "soil" or "ground", and its second is "fluctio", from "fluere", "to flow", meaning "act of flowing". The two are joined with a connecting "-i-", a common device in scientific compounds. The term was coined to describe a specific geological phenomenon, which is why it reads like a technical label rather than a word that grew organically. Its parts are transparent: the word literally means "soil-flowing," and that is exactly what the process involves. Soil saturated with meltwater, sitting over permafrost that will not let water drain away, loses its grip on the slope and flows downhill under gravity.