Presented by Dr Andy Gibson 

University of Portsmouth 

Previously of the British Geological Survey 

Venue:            3/F, Mariners Club, Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui 

Time:             Thursday 21st January 2010, 6.00 for 6.30pm 

 

Synopsis: 

The    talk  will  outline   the  development     of  the  new   National    Landslide   Database    and   National   Landslide 

Susceptibility   Model   developed   by   the   British   Geological  Survey.   The   UK   has   many   thousands   of   landslides. 

Although most of them are ancient and considered relatively stable there are probably a considerable number that 

are   hidden   by   the   periglacial   deposits   that   mantle   much   of   the   country,   or   whose   topographic   form   has   been 

removed by agriculture, urban development or weathering. The British Geological Survey has developed two new 

datasets that have enabled a much improved understanding of the levels of risk posed to the country by landslides. 

These are the National Landslide Database, a fully relational database holding information on individual landslides 

and GeoSure – a GIS based data layer that estimates the level of landslide susceptibility across the country. A brief 

interrogation   of   these   demonstrates   that   there   are   problems   in   disaster   preparedness   in   the   country.   Not   least   of 

these is the problem that statistics too easily disregard the importance of geology, but also, that it is hard to account 

for incidents in which risk has not been fully realised. 

 

About the Speaker: 

 

                             Andy is a senior lecturer in engineering geology at the University of Portsmouth, School 

                             of  Earth   and  Environmental     Sciences   and  Leader    of  the  new  university   Centre   for 

                             Applied Geosciences. Before joining the University in 2009, he was Chief Engineering 

                             Geologist and Head of Science (Land   Use  and Development) at   the British Geological 

                             Survey.    He  led  the  BGS    shallow   geohazard   response    programme,    investigating   and 

                             reporting on tsunami, landslides, coastal erosion, floods and earthquakes. His main areas 

                             of   research   are  currently  the  use   of  high  resolution   remote   sensing   for  landslide 

                             identification,   the  economic    impact    of geohazards     and   the  regional   modelling    of 

                             geotechnical properties and slope processes. 

 

             Please join us for the presentation and drinks at the China Coast Bar opposite. 

          University of Portsmouth has kindly agreed to sponsor a limited bar for the evening. 

 

                                          CPD Certificates will be provided