Formation of Thrust Structures in Front of Coastal Landslides

Abstract

Abstract Small rotational landslides developed on the Quaternary glacial till coast of West Runton, north Norfolk (eastern England), show small‐scale thrust structures that formed in front of the landslide toe. The thrust sheets (a few tens of centimeters in breadth) developed in unconsolidated beach sand in the upper intertidal zone and may be laterally discontinuous, overlapping, and vertically stacked. Formation of these toe‐thrust sheets, rarely described in the literature, likely occurs during low tide when a high pore water pressure gradient exists between the landslide toe and subbeach water table.