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Rare earth elements play a vital and increasing role in a wide range of consumer electronics, in environmental technologies and in military applications.

Although rare earth deposits are known in several countries, production in recent years has been strongly concentrated in a very few locations.

In the light of this, and some issues relating to trade restrictions, there is considerable concern about the security of supply of these critical materials.

The BGS guide to Rare Earth Elements profiles their uses, geology, mining, processing and trade.

The most recent landslides, September 2010, are located to the west of Blubberhouses in North Yorkshire along the A59 road.

Although the landslides did not encroach on the road surface, the A59 was closed between Blubberhouses and Raven's Peak while remediation work took place.

The BGS Landslide Response Team made a visit to the landslide on 30 September 2010 to investigate the failures. Information was collected for the BGS National Landslide Database and geological maps.

More about the Blubberhouses landslide

iGeology is a new free iPhone App that lets you take a geological map of Britain wherever you go to help you learn about the rocks beneath your feet. And with the phone s GPS, you'll know exactly where you are.

iGeology is free!

Download it from iTunes
or the App Store