head

Head describes deposits consisting of fragmented material which, following weathering, have moved downslope through a process of solifluction. The term has been used by British geologists since the middle of the 19th century to describe such material in a range of different settings from flat hilltops to the bottoms of valleys. Areas identified as head include deposits of aeolian origin such as blown sand and loess, slope deposits such as gelifluctates and solifluctates, and recently eroded soil material, called colluvium. With geologists becoming more interested in studying the near-surface environment and its related processes, the term head is becoming obsolete.