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Abstract

Most civil engineering construction works, and the site investigations and planning decisions that precede them, are intimately concerned with the nature of the first few metres of the Earth's surface. The materials that constitute this zone were either deposited by the processes that took place in the Quarternary or have been significantly altered by them. This volume contains a collection of papers which examine in detail those processes, the properties of the materials that are produced by them and their implications for construction. The subject is considered from an international point of view with authors from 14 countries describing events in glacial, periglacial, temperate and tropical environments. The scene is set by P. G. Fookes whose keynote address describes from an engineer's perspective the events of the Quaternary and how they affected the surface of the Earth. Each environmental theme is introduced by a report on the papers by an eminent worker in that field and there are 'state of the art' reviews of the major themes by J. N. Hutchinson and G. E. Blight. This book is an important contribution to the engineering geological literature, especially relevant to today's international construction industry, combining clear overviews with detailed case studies which demonstrate the implications of Quaternary processes and materials in civil engineering operations.