Which kind of mass wasting processes are commonly associated with creep ?

The correct answer is D, Slow speed with soil. Mass wasting, or mass movement, is the downslope movement of rock and soil under the direct pull of gravity, without a carrying agent such as running water or wind. Creep is the slowest form of it: soil and loose surface material move downhill so gradually, often less than a few centimetres a year, that the movement cannot be seen. It shows only through its effects, such as tilted fence posts, telephone poles and tombstones, bent tree trunks, and cracked walls on gentle slopes. Repeated wetting and drying, freezing and thawing make the soil swell and shrink, nudging it downslope each time. Solifluction, the slow flow of water-soaked soil over frozen ground, is a related slow movement. Option A is wrong because fast movements of soil are earthflows and mudflows, not creep. Option B is wrong because slow movement of rock is not the usual form of creep; rock usually moves fast as rockfalls and rockslides. Option C is wrong because slow ice movement is glacier flow, not mass wasting. Exam tip: creep = slowest, soil; landslides, rockfalls and mudflows = rapid.