Downloaded from http://egsp.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 29, 2021 The engineering geology of the Nottingham area, UK F. G. Bell1, M. G. Culshaw1,2*, A. Forster1,3 & C. P. Nathanail4 1 British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK 2 School of Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK 3 Present address: Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottingham NG12 2FS, UK 4 School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; Land Quality Management Ltd., Unit 8 Beeston Business Centre, Technology Drive, Nottingham NG9 2ND, UK *Corresponding author (e-mail:
[email protected]) Abstract: Nottingham was built near a crossing point on the River Trent in the East Midlands of England. Initially, the city developed on a low sandstone hill close to the north bank of the river, which provided a secure, well-drained location above the marshes that bordered the river. Geologically, Nottingham stands at the boundary between Palaeozoic rocks to the north and west, and Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata to the south and east. The area is underlain by coal-bearing Carboniferous Coal Measures, Permian dolomitic limestones, Permo-Triassic mudstones and weak sandstones, Jurassic clays and Quaternary glacial and alluvial deposits. Artificial deposits, resulting from the social, industrial and mineral extraction activities of the past, cover the natural deposits over much of the area. This geological environment has underpinned the economic development of the area through the mining of coal (now largely ceased), oil extraction that was important during World War II, brickmaking from clays, alluvial sand and gravel extraction from the Trent Valley, and gypsum extraction from the Permo-Triassic mudstones.