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Index | Diagnostic Characteristics | Geographic Occurrence | Investigation & Mitigation | Key Contacts & Expert Advice | Photo Gallery | Essential References & Further Reading | Definitions & Glossary | The term landslide, as defined by Cruden
(1991) for the Working Party on World Landslide Inventory, denotes “the movement of a mass of rock, debris or earth down
a slope”. Varnes (1978) indicated that slope movement
would be a better comprehensive term as it did not infer process. Varnes defined
a landslide as 'a downward and outward movement of slope forming materials under
the influence of gravity'. Brunsden (1984)
preferred the term mass movement and distinguished this from mass transport as
being a process which did not require a transporting medium such as water, air
or ice (Dikau et al, 1996). The phenomena described
as landslides are not limited to either the “land” or to “sliding”, and usage of
the word has implied a much more
extensive meaning than its component parts suggest. Ground subsidence and
collapse are excluded. Lyme Regis from the south-west. (Image Source: Geoff Davis). The Spittles landslide system, showing large scale landsliding in the Charmouth Mudstone Formation and in the Upper Greensand above. This landslide system is expanding westwards towards Lyme Regis. (Image Source: Geoff Davis).
Index | Diagnostic Characteristics | Geographic Occurrence | Investigation & Mitigation | Key Contacts & Expert Advice | Photo Gallery | Essential References & Further Reading | Definitions & Glossary | |
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