The " air cushion " theory, an early hypothesis, postulated that a layer of air was trapped between the mass of rock and the mountain, which caused the rock to move a greater distance than would otherwise be expected . " Acoustic fluidization " is another theory, which suggests that large masses of material create seismic energy that reduces friction and causes the debris to flow down the mountain as though it is a fluid.
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:: : The big advantage of fluidization is that it allows the discrete ( solid ) phase ( catalyst and / or reactant ) to mix better with the continuous ( gas / liquid ) phase ( reactant ( s ) ), thus increasing the reaction rate . ( See Dust explosion for an extreme case of exothermic reaction occurring in an ( unintentionally ) fluidized state . ) This is why all the talk ) 04 : 00, 7 February 2010 ( UTC)
