One of the fundamental mechanisms operative during pre-overland flow soil erosion is crusting. The form of the crust, its relationship to infiltration, have been described by earlier workers. But the way in which a crust forms and develops through a single storm has not been considered. A set of controlled laboratory experiments were undertaken to look at this. In these experiments a constant rainfall intensity was used, and supplied by a rainfall simulator, the soil was held constant throughout the experiments. The areal development through a single storm event was looked at by means of time sequence air photographs, and the vertical development by the study of time sequence thin sections. The results show how crust formation may be regarded as a discrete rapid event with respect to time. The rapid development moves towards an equilibrium state prior to the initiation of overland flow. A model of the mechanisms of crust development is also formulated.

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Field evidence from the Maltese Islands is presented of extreme wave activity in the central Mediterranean Sea. An extensive range of extreme wave signatures, both erosional and depositional, is here presented for the first time and indicates a wave attack from the NE. Existing models of runup and boulder detachment imply that the extreme wave signatures lie beyond the capabilities of storm waves. These considerations, taken together with the range of evidence available, point toward tsunami as the agency responsible, which is consistent with the evidence from Mediterranean marginal coasts opposed to the Maltese Islands. Evidence from existing boulder detachment, tsunami runup and wave velocity models suggests that tsunami with shoreline wave height of up to ~4 m, and with local velocities of >10 ms-1 would have been required in order to form the signatures observed.

Traditionally, landforms have been measured using a combination of field survey techniques and analogue and analytical photogrammetry. With advances in computing power digital photogrammetric solutions are now seen as offering an affordable and cost effective way of mapping topographic features. This paper looks at the relative merits of each of these photogrammetric techniques, in terms of the practical considerations involved in data extraction and accuracies that can be achieved for a case study. The site investigated is Maiden Castle, situated southwest of Dorchester in Dorset, UK. This paper examines the relative accuracies of both digital and analytical photogrammetric techniques in relation to ground control points recorded using a global positioning system (GPS). Colour stereoscopic aerial photographs were taken of Maiden Castle, Dorset, in November 1999 at a scale of approximately 1 : 4000. Stereo models were constructed using pre-marked ground control points positioned using post-processed differential GPS. Subsequent analysis involved the calculation of residual values produced by comparing the computer-generated surface with a set of test points measured using differential GPS. This research demonstrates that the optimal digital system matched the performance of analytical photogrammetry for the collection of geomorphological data.

The importance of soil surface microrelief has been identified in the literature of soil erosion. However, studies of soil microrelief have often ignored photogrammetry as a means of obtaining soil surface data. This paper recognizes the validity of analytical photogrammetry to quantify height changes at the experimental plot scale ( Յ 1 m 2 ). Additionally, however, analytical photogrammetry enables the recording of non-morphological information (including soil aggregates and rock fragments) so that the impact of such features upon the evolution of soil surfaces may be considered. The two forms of information may then be integrated within a geographical information system to relate the effects of such features upon soil surface height changes.