Another situation arises during intense rains, when a rock slab or a rock block detaches from the uppermost parts of a slope. This occurs where steep rock outcrops exhibit relief joints or where residual blocks of granite roll down the slope, impacting the compressible, saturated colluvial soil overlying the saprolitic soil. The sudden increase of pore pressure can liquefy the soil. Finally, another mechanism is that of the advance of a saturation front in a steep slope of unsaturated saprolitic soil, reaching a depth below the root zone. The loss of the cohesion due to suction, without the beneficial contribution of the roots to the shearing strength, causes a sudden slide. During extreme rain episodes literally hundreds of such superficial slides, reaching 1 to 3 m in depth, occur in a given basin. The concentrated runoff that flows along the surface of the thalweg of the basin carries this soil in a muddy state, and a debris flow ensues.