Landslides and mass movement

This is part of the toe of the landslide of 8th May 2008 just east of Church Cliff, Lyme Regis, Dorset. As well as Jurassic shales and limestones, the landslide also brought down debris from a former landfill site including many glass bottles and rusty motor car components.

Mudflows and landslides from the Lower Jurassic shales, Black Ven cliffs, between Charmouth and Lyme Regis, Dorset.

Mudflow from the Lower Jurassic shales, Black Ven cliffs, between Charmouth and Lyme Regis, Dorset. This stuff is really hazardous to walk on. It can have a dry crust and may appear to be solid, but underneath it is soft and sticky, and it is very easy to sink in deeply and become trapped.

The Spittles landslide area near Charmouth, Dorset, looking west towards Lyme Regis. The Spittles is a wilderness of extensive, active, multiple landslides in Lower Lias (Lower Jurassic) shales, overlain by the Upper Greensand (Cretaceous) which forms the inland golden cliff to the right. Panorama stitched manually from 2 wide-angle photos.

Originally uploaded for the Guesswhere UK group. This is the remains of the Allhallows (or Rousdon) water pumping station just east of the Dowlands landslide complex, between Seaton, Devon and Lyme Regis, Dorset. It was steam-driven and used to pump water from the undercliff up to the farms and dwellings on the top of the cliff. This is located next to the South West Coast Path which runs through the Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliff National Nature Reserve, a conservation area of international importance. This is an area of extensive landslides which have created a jumble of ridges and chasms, now the location of luxurious woodland and special habitats for plants, birds, insects and other animals. The 'undercliff' is the area between the beach and the back landslide scarp face, which may be as much as 700 metres inland.

This is located next to the South West Coast Path which runs through the Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliff National Nature Reserve, a conservation area of international importance. This is an area of extensive landslides which have created a jumble of ridges and chasms, now the location of luxurious woodland and special habitats for plants, birds, insects and other animals. The rock in the landslip back scar is the Upper Greensand Formation (Cretaceous).

This is located next to the South West Coast Path which runs through the Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliff National Nature Reserve, a conservation area of international importance. This is an area of extensive landslides which have created a jumble of ridges and chasms, now the location of luxurious woodland and special habitats for plants, birds, insects and other animals. This is a panorama stitched from three photos using Canon's 'PhotoStitch' software.

Originally uploaded for the Guesswhere UK group. A glorious winter afternoon in the Peak District. This was taken from Eyam Moor from the footpath from Sir William Hill to Leam at about SK 231 787. The view is to the NE towards the Callow Bank landslide. The road to Ringinglow snakes its way eastwards up to the right. Higger Tor is just out of view to the right; Stanage Edge just out of view to the left.

Taking this was a bit scary as I was standing on damp, slippery, steep grass which sloped down to end a few metres away in the sheer drop of the back scar of the Mam Tor landslip.

Originally uploaded for the Guesswhere UK group. This is a section of the old A625 Sheffield to Chapel-en-le-Frith road at the foot of Mam Tor in the Peak District. The road was built across an extensive active landslip area and was in constant need of repair. The photo shows the repetitive layers of successive repairs made to this section. The road was finally closed in 1979. The landslip first formed about 3000 years BP, on an oversteepened slope left after Devensian periglacial period. There is an 80 m high back scar in formed in the Mam Tor Beds. The toe of the landslip is still active today, moving at up to 2 metres per year in places.

Castleton and the Lafarge cement works at Hope viewed from the old A625 road on the Mam Tor landslip, Derbyshire. This is a section of the old A625 Sheffield to Chapel-en-le-Frith road at the foot of Mam Tor in the Peak District. The road was built across an extensive active landslip area and was in constant need of repair. It was finally closed in 1979. The landslip first formed about 3000 years BP, on an oversteepened slope left after Devensian. There is an 80 m high back scar in formed in the Mam Tor Beds. The the toe of the landslip is still active today, moving at up to 2 metres per year in places.

This is a section of the old A625 Sheffield to Chapel-en-le-Frith road at the foot of Mam Tor in the Peak District. The road was built across an extensive active landslip area and was in constant need of repair. The photo shows the repetitive layers of successive repairs made to this section. The road was finally closed in 1979. The landslip first formed about 3000 years BP, on an oversteepened slope left after Devensian. There is an 80 m high back scar in formed in the Mam Tor Beds. The the toe of the landslip is still active today, moving at up to 2 metres per year in places.

This is a section of the old A625 Sheffield to Chapel-en-le-Frith road at the foot of Mam Tor in the Peak District. The road was built across an extensive active landslip area and was in constant need of repair. It was finally closed in 1979. The landslip first formed about 3000 years BP, on an oversteepened slope left after Devensian. There is an 80 m high back scar in formed in the Mam Tor Beds. The the toe of the landslip is still active today, moving at up to 2 metres per year in places.

Tree root on the beach on the south coast of Mersea Island, Essex.

Pleistocene silts and river gravels of the proto-Thames form low cliffs on the south coast of Mersea Island, Essex. This is a site of regional geological importance and is a SSSI. Active erosion is taking place, with the cliffs receding northwards. Hence all the fallen trees on the beach. Rising sea-levels associated with global warming will exascerbate this effect.

Tree root on the beach on the south coast of Mersea Island, Essex.

Tree root on the beach on the south coast of Mersea Island, Essex.

Pleistocene river gravels of the proto-Thames form low cliffs on the south coast of Mersea Island, Essex. This is a site of regional geological importance and is a SSSI. Active erosion is taking place, with the cliffs receding northwards. Rising sea-levels associated with global warming will exascerbate this effect.