Hillslope Materials and Processes

Book excerpt: This second edition, like its predecessor, provides students with an integrated review of the basic knowledge and methods which form the foundation for advanced study. It also brings them information on the latest contributions to developments in the understanding of hillslopes. Since publication of the first edition, not only has knowledge advanced but an interdisciplinary approach to much of the research has become increasingly common and productive. These developments are reflected in this book by the threefold expansion of the bibliography and by the bringing together of the approaches and scientific knowledge from the contributing disciplines of geology, civil engineering, hydrology, soil science, ecology, and geomorphology to produce a comprehensive text which makes possible an integrated understanding of hillslopes. Approximately seventy per cent of the text is new, with many new figures and plates, which has enabled Professor Selby to provide a more comprehensive introduction than in the first edition to the nature of chemical bonding, the properties of mineral particles and fabrics of weak rock, rheology of rock and soil, hillslope hydrology, hillslope stratigraphy, and landslide hazard investigation.