Landslides forming the South wight undercliff : Hutchinson, J N Proc Conference on Slope Stability Engineering: Developments and Applications, Isle of Wight, 15–18 April 1991P157–168. Publ London: Thomas Telford, 1991

Abstract

After describing the nature and physical setting of the large coastal landslides which form the the Undercliff, the historical development of ideas on their mechanisms is reviewed. The slides are shown to be essentially the product of the interaction between marine erosion, brought to bear by the Flandrian transgression, and the synclinal, seaward-dipping structure and detailed lithology of the Cretaceous rocks involved. The geomorphology of the slides is used with available sub-surface information to define the distribution of the various landslide types. The degree of symmetry of these about the synclinal axis and their dating ang long-term cyclicity are discussed. (Keynote paper in section on Isle of Wight). For the covering abstract see IRRD 877809.