Sub-surface colluviation: An example from West Sussex, UK

Reported here is an unusual type of colluvial deposit whose associated transport pathway involves a substantial subsurface component. The deposit represents the downslope transfer of nitrogenenriched agricultural soil into a seminatural woodland soil, creating significant localised eutrophication. The amount of material involved was c. 65 kg, and covered an area of c. 7.7 m². It appears that the deposition was rapid, and the outcome of a single transport event. The absence of more general observations prevent the calculation of an aerally-representative long-term rate of operation. The status of this process in the general modification of temperate hillslopes is still a matter for conjecture.