Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book illustrates the landform consequences of the agricultural soil erosion discussed by Morgan, and the application of dating methods. It includes a series of papers dealing with contemporary slope processes, past processes and the dating of past events—the framework for the interpretation of soil-landform relationships. The chapter considers the ways in which certain soil properties influence those slope processes which cause progressive downslope movement of soil materials. It includes contributions by geomorphologists, soil scientists, Quaternary geologists and engineering geologists, and exemp lifies an interdisciplinary approach to common problems concerning soils and landforms. The book indicates profitable areas for future collaborative research.