Alan Forster

Applied geological mapping for planning and development: an example from Wigan, UK

The applied geological mapping study of the Wigan Metropolitan Borough was completed in October 1995 by the British Geological Survey (BGS) in association with the planning consultants Roger Tym & Partners. The aim of the project was to provide a geoscience basis for planning and development decisions. The users of the study were seen primarily as planners and developers but also engineers, conservationists and others. The important common factor was that the users need not have geological training. The study represented the state-of-the-art in the UK in terms of the transfer of geological information to nongeologists. Geoscience data were compiled as a series of nine thematic maps and a technical report in which the geology of the area, and its modification by human activities, were described. The engineering geology map is significant in that it uses the stripe method of showing subsurface information, a method rarely used in the UK since its first use by Dearman in the North East of England. The key geological factors relevant to planning and development were identified by the project team during discussions with local planners and developers. They were summarized on a map and described in a report that indicated how and where geology might significantly affect development. The successful outcome of this study required a multidisciplinary team approach and good communication between team members.

Gully Erosion: an example from Maputo, Mozambique

The floods that struck Mozambique at the start of 2000 were the worst in living memory. On the 2nd of March 2000 the Guardian reported that more than 1 000 000 people had been made homeless and at least 200 had died. The major problems of inundation such as loss of crops and livestock were well publicized but others that have an engineering geological significance, such as gullying caused by intense surface water flows were less well reported. Gullying can be rapid and can have a significant impact both locally on housing and more widely on roads, transport and infrastructure. Theexamples described here occurred in the area near the capital, Maputo. Maputo lies at the southern end of Mozambique on high ground at the mouth of the Maputo River ( Fig. 1). To the east a steep slope leads down to a coastal plainthat comprises coastal dune sand of the Quaternary Formacao de Xefina (QXf) and to the south a steep slope leads down …

Is there a role for engineering geology on Mars

In January this year, the European Space Agencys (ESA) satellite ‘Mars Express’ started to record stereoscopic colour images of amazing detail and clarity of the Martian surface (at high resolution, 12 m per pixel). ‘Mars Express’ is Europes first spacecraft to visit Mars and the mission comprised an orbiter to study the atmosphere, surface and subsurface plus a lander that was to investigate the surface and search for signs of life. One of the missions most important objectives was to search for signs of water because NASA research of the Martian surface had indicated that there was evidence for catastrophic floods early in its history that had left large outflow channels and valley networks that must have …