Why do debris flow landslides move like rivers of rock and mud? @TheGeoModels

Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 5 hours ago

Ball Family article: newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article293424114.html

USGS video: youtube.com/watch?v=MpXcKiYeSDk
Another: youtube.com/watch?v=RlM90wXOraE&t=132s

Helene caused a tremendous number of debris flow landslides. Often called mudslides, debris flows are literally rivers of liquefied mountainside containing boulders, soil, trees, and anything else in their way. This video uses maps and Microsoft Paint to illustrate how soil, when saturated and on a slope, can turn into a liquid and stay liquefied as long as it's moving. The example debris flow near Barnardsville, North Carolina, is well documented in the Ball Family newspaper articles and in Tim Burleson's Facebook videos. Debris flows seem like an impossible phenomenon, but are they really that rare in the Appalachians?

Why do debris flow landslides move like rivers of rock and mud?

Restraining and releasing bends with erosion during deformation...and cross sections

$Fold-thrust belt topography: The Ouachita Mountains, whetstone capital of the world This video shows how different sedimentary rock types folded into distinct structures control topography in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma. The chert, or novaculite, ridges in this area are sources of raw materials for making the worlds finest natural sharpening stones. Novaculite is essentially slightly recrystallized chert, and the extremely high silica content and fine grain produce an outstanding abrasive stone for honing fine edges onto steel tools. These whetstones are often sold as Arkansas Stones or Ouachita (Washita) Stones, and have been produced in the area since the early 19th century. The original users of the material were, of course, Native Americans in the region, who produced exceptional points and cutting tools from the conchoidally-fracturing novaculite.$

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