Lyell Collection
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
Lyell Centre  |   Lyell Collection  |   Subscriptions   |   Geological Society  |   Email alerts  |   Online bookshop  |   Help

Keywords:
Author:
Advanced search>>
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bromhead, E. N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology; 1979; v. 12; issue.4; p. 291-300;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.QJEG.1979.012.04.06
© 1979 Geological Society of London

Article

Factors affecting the transition between the various types of mass movement in coastal cliffs consisting largely of overconsolidated clay with special reference to Southern England

E. N. Bromhead

School of Civil Engineering, Kingston Polytechnic, , Canbury Park Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.

At present, the most widely accepted hypothesis for the transition from mudsliding to deep-seated rotational slipping as the dominant agent of mass transport in actively eroding clay cliffs is that the transition depends on the rate of marine erosion at the toe of the slope. This paper explores an alternative theory, that the transition from one type of behaviour to another depends largely on the nature of the materials at the crest of the slope and to a lesser, but still important, extent on the groundwater hydrology.

The main argument behind this alternative theory is that the presence of stronger soil strata at the crest of the slope inhibits the mudslide behaviour that would otherwise occur and hence form a toe-protecting ‘mudslide barrier’. This allows marine action to erode the toe of the slope directly, causing it to be oversteepened, and ultimately precipitates a deep-seated rotational landslide. Where the coastal cliffs are capped with thick, hard and jointed caprock the slides tend to be of the multiple rotational kind.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and HydrogeologyHome page
P. G. KALAUGHER, R. L. P. HODGSON, and P. GRAINGER
Pre-failure strains as precursors of sliding in a coastal mudslide
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 2000; 33: 325 - 334.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Geological Society, London, Special PublicationsHome page
R. J. Nicholls, A. Dredge, and T. Wilson
Shoreline change and fine-grained sediment input: Isle of Sheppey Coast, Thames Estuary, UK
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2000; 175: 305 - 315.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and HydrogeologyHome page
R. L. P. Hodgson, P. Grainger, and P. G. Kalaugher
Progressive weathering and degradation of mudstone in a coastal landslide
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 1996; 29: 57 - 65.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Geological Society, London, Engineering Geology Special PublicationsHome page
N. Dixon and E.N. Bromhead
Groundwater conditions in the coastal landslides of the Isle of Sheppey
Geological Society, London, Engineering Geology Special Publications, 1986; 3: 51 - 58.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Progress in Physical GeographyHome page
P. Mosley and M. P. Mosley
Slopes and slope processes
Progress in Physical Geography, 1981; 5: 114 - 122.
[PDF]