Soil sloughing
Soil sloughing is soil falling off banks and slopes due to a loss in cohesion. Soil sloughs off for the same reasons as landslides in general, with very wet soil being among the leading factors. Sloughing is a relatively shallow phenomenon involving the uppermost layers of the soil. Bare soils are more likely to slough than
soils with plant cover in part because the roots help hold the surface against gravity. Unabated soil sloughing can end in massive bank or slope failure.
