A Discussion on valley slopes and cliffs in southern England: morphology, mechanics and Quaternary history - Introductory remarks

Abstract

The papers presented at this meeting have two essential features in common, (i) They are based on detailed subsurface investigations of slopes, using boreholes, trial pits or sections; (ii) the stages of development of the slopes or, more generally, of the valleys or escarpments, have been correlated so far as possible with Quaternary history. In addition, some unity derives from the facts (iii) that the slopes are all in clay strata (Jurassic, Cretaceous or Eocene), whether or not there is a capping of rock; and (iv) the sites all lie outside the ice limits of the Last (Devensian) Glaciation. The inland sites have therefore been subjected to a complex cycle of climatic changes, including the rigour of one or more glacial periods; and it is evident that no attempt to elucidate the history and mechanics of these slopes, without taking the climatic factors into account, can have any hope of success.