Engineering geomorphological mapping as a technique to elucidate areas of superficial structures; with examples from the Bath area of the south Cotswolds

Hawkins, A. B.; Privett, K. D.

doi:10.1144/gsl.qjeg.1979.012.03.09

Cited by 18 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The first such map to be published in the UK was in the Engineering Group Working Party Report (Anonymous 1972). Lee & Fookes (2015) commented that the inclusion of this map encouraged others (including myself, see Hawkins & Privett 1979) to use the approach to map the nature and extent of landslide features.…”

Section: Knowledge and Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As mentioned by Lee & Fookes (2015), engineering geomorphological mapping was an emerging trend in site investigation practice in the late 1970s. Hawkins & Privett (1979) properties to the south of the main road. The map remains blank in these areas.…”

Section: Deep-seated Landslidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The lines of evidence approach to challenges faced in engineering geological practice

Privett

2019

QJEGH

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Establishing appropriate lines of evidence enables us to resolve the challenges faced in engineering geological practice. When considering the lines of evidence used to derive a conceptual site model (CSM), three interlocking themes are: (1) multidisciplinary working, (2) knowledge and experience and (3) lessons from the past. This is explored through case histories. There may be no standard approach and conventional engineering geological skills are not always sufficient; as during the decommissioning of cryogenic gas storage tanks at Canvey Island. Alternatively, there may be reservations about using a standard approach; which led to the unconventional use of chalk fill at Port Solent Marina. In the case of a major oil leak into the Permo-Triassic aquifer, understanding the basic science of the problem explained why the original CSM was too simplistic and informed a change of remedial strategy. Obtaining permits for an underground gas storage facility on a landslide complex on the Isle of Portland required numerous lines of evidence to assess the stability of the slope. Furthermore, new lines of evidence can be added to old data sets as technology develops, such as the use of LiDAR in mapping Cotswolds landslides. In his recollection of the early years of engineering geology in the UK, Professor Peter Fookes, the first Glossop Lecturer, wrote (Fookes & Lee 2017, p. 457): By the middle to the end of the decade [1970s], engineering geology was well established as a discipline in its own right. ... In the following decades new or improved field and laboratory techniques continued to support development of engineering geology as a discipline. But that is another story. Fookes was my PhD external examiner (Privett 1980). After my PhD I was employed as an internal consultant by a major UK contractor. I spend my subsequent working career with a number consultancy firms. My career has spanned the post-1970s period Fookes describes as 'another story' and I took up this theme for my (the nineteenth) Glossop Lecture.

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Section: Knowledge and Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Deep-seated Landslidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The lines of evidence approach to challenges faced in engineering geological practice

Privett

2019

QJEGH

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“…This is particularly evident where river capture has led to greater incision, notably 112 around the city of Bath (Kellaway and Taylor, 1968;Chandler et al, 1976;Hawkins and Privett, 1979; 113 Forster et al, 1987;Hobbs and Jenkins, 2008;Hawkins, 2013) and in the Stroud area. These mass-114 movements include rotational landslides, together with extensive cambering, valley bulging and gull 115 formation.…”

Section: Mass Movement Cambering and Gull-caves 110mentioning

confidence: 99%

Speleothem U-series constraints on scarp retreat rates and landscape evolution: an example from the Severn valley and Cotswold Hills gull-caves, UK

Farrant

Barron

Self

et al. 2014

JGS

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Abstract:Modeling landscape evolution requires quantitative estimates of erosional processes. Dating 12 erosional landscape features such as escarpments is usually difficult because of the lack of datable deposits. 13Some escarpments and valley margins are associated with the formation of mass-movement caves, sometimes 14 known as 'gull' or 'crevice' caves, which are typically restricted to within 0.5 km of the valley margin or scarp 24Quantifying rates of landscape processes is an essential requirement for constructing, validating and 25 constraining increasingly sophisticated landscape evolution models (Pazzaglia, 2003; Tucker and 26 Hancock, 2010). With quantitative data, rates of landform development can be evaluated, enabling 27 the relative importance of geomorphological processes to be established and facilitating the 28 development of more realistic landscape evolution models. Moreover, quantification is extremely 29 important in predictive work, as it is required for estimating the impact of future global climate 30 change. Whilst some geomorphological processes can be easily quantified, such as the rate of valley 31 incision by dating river terrace sequences (Maddy, 1997; Maddy et al., 32 2000;Maddy et al., 2001), dating cave levels in carbonate terrains (Farrant et al., 1995; Palmer, 33 2007), or by dating other alluvial materials such as tufa (Banks et al., 2012), deducing the timing and 34 rates of other processes such as valley widening and escarpment ( or 'scarp') retreat is harder to 35 determine. However, both rates of valley incision and scarp retreat are required to understand how 36 valleys evolve. Do they develop by progressive incision and valley widening through fluvial channel 37 migration and concurrent hill slope retreat or is the gross relief generated 'in-situ' by the progressive 38 removal of the more erodible lithologies over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles? In the latter 39 scenario, valley width is influenced more by lithological heterogeneity and variable susceptibility to 40 periglacial weathering (Murton and Belshaw, 2011) fissures may contain speleothem deposits which can be precisely dated using uranium series 53 methods (Lenart and Pánek, 2013). As the gull-caves can only develop after a scarp has formed, the 54 basal age of the oldest speleothems within them provide a minimum age for cave inception and 55 hence scarp formation. Moreover, as the gull-caves only form close to the scarp edge, they can be 56 used to determine a chronology of scarp retreat. Taken together with rates of valley incision 57 determined from fluvial terraces, the spatial and temporal pattern of valley development and scarp 58 formation can be resolved and models of regional landscape evolution erected. 59The study area 60In this paper, we use the lower Severn valley and the Cotswold Hills in southern England (Figure 1) Triassic and Lower Jurassic (Lias Group) mudstones ( Figure 1) that occupy the core of this basin. The 77 eastern side is marked by the prominent escarpment of the Cotswol...

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“…Thus there is no information about lithology or structural characteristics in an area of very variable engineering and foundation conditions. Criticism has also been expressed (Hawkins & Privett 1979) that the categories 'foundered strata' and 'landslip' on the published 1 : 63 360 Bath sheet are not defined for the map user. The map margin also lacks lithological descriptions of the rock formations.…”

Section: Lithostratigraphymentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental geology maps of Bath and the surrounding area for engineers and planners

Förster

Hobbs

Wyatt

et al. 1987

EGSP

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In March 1984 the British Geological Survey commenced an environmental geological study of parts of west Wiltshire and south east Avon for the Department of the Environment. The objective of this study was to collect the available geological data relevant to the area, and to present them as a series of thematic maps accompanied by a descriptive report and a database/archive of the data used.The output is intended to be used by land-use planners. It is designed simultaneously to be understandable by people not trained in geology and yet to contain detailed information required by specialists concerned with the environment and its development. The 14 maps which were produced describe themes which include solid lithostratigraphy, drift deposits, the inferred distribution of Great Oolite Freestone, the inferred distribution of fuller's earth, groundwater, ground conditions in relation to groundwater, geotechnical properties of bedrock and superficial deposits, landslipped and cambered strata, distribution of slope angle, and mining.Although the task was primarily a desk study, it was found necessary to carry out a small amount of field survey to re-interpret the foundered strata to the north-west of Bath. This re-survey has been presented in a style consistent with the mapping of the rest of the study area. A fifteenth map showing the result Of the reinterpretation of the foundered strata was produced as a supplement to the main report.This paper describes the methods and the results of this study and comments on the implications of the technique for land-use planning.

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Engineering geomorphological mapping as a technique to elucidate areas of superficial structures; with examples from the Bath area of the south Cotswolds

Cited by 18 publications

References 8 publications

The lines of evidence approach to challenges faced in engineering geological practice

The lines of evidence approach to challenges faced in engineering geological practice

Speleothem U-series constraints on scarp retreat rates and landscape evolution: an example from the Severn valley and Cotswold Hills gull-caves, UK

Environmental geology maps of Bath and the surrounding area for engineers and planners

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