geomorphology

geomorphology, study of the origin and evolution of the earth's landforms, both on the continents and within the ocean basins. It is concerned with the internal geologic processes of the earth's crust, such as tectonic activity and volcanism that constructs new landforms, as well as externally driven forces of wind, water, waves, and glacial ice that modify such landforms. Geomorphology developed from the works of James Hutton and James Playfair in the 18th cent.; G. K. Gilbert described landform evolution; William Morris Davis developed the geomorphic cycle, set forth in his Geographic Essays (1909). By the 1970s, geomorphology had grown to include the environmental problems involved in landform processes, including subsidence, landslides, and coastal processes (see coast protection), which all affect humans who live in certain susceptible regions. Satellite images and data help geomorphologists to describe and map landforms and observe rapid or slow changes on the earth's surface. Development of mathematical models of landform processes have influenced the direction of modern geomorphic research. Geomorphology principles also have been applied to the study of landform development of other planets and moons of the solar system, based on images sent back to earth by flyby and orbiting satellites.

Scientific discipline that describes and classifies the Earth's topographic features. Many systems of classifying landforms have been devised. Some systems describe and group topographic features primarily according to the processes that shaped or modified them. Others take additional factors into consideration (e.g., character of the surface rocks and climatic variations) and include the developmental stage of landforms as an aspect of their evolution over geologic time.

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Geomorphology (from Greek: γη, ge, "earth"; μορφή, morfé, "form"; and λόγος, logos, "knowledge") is the study of landforms and the processes that shape them. Geomorphologists seek to understand why landscapes look the way they do: to understand landform history and dynamics, and predict future changes through a combination of field observation, physical experiment, and numerical modeling. Geomorphology is practiced within geology, geodesy, geography, archaeology, and civil and environmental engineering. Early studies in geomorphology are the foundation for pedology, one of two main branches of soil science.

Landforms evolve in response to a combination of natural and anthropogenic processes. The landscape is built up through tectonic uplift and volcanism. Denudation occurs by erosion and mass wasting, which produces sediment that is transported and deposited elsewhere within the landscape or off the coast. Landscapes are also lowered by subsidence, either due to tectonics or physical changes in underlying sedimentary deposits. These processes are each influenced differently by climate, ecology, and human activity.

Practical applications of geomorphology include measuring the effects of climate change, hazard assessments including landslide prediction and mitigation, river control and restoration, coastal protection, and assessing the presence of water on Mars.

History

Perhaps the earliest one to devise a theory of geomorphology was the polymath Chinese scientist and statesman Shen Kuo (1031-1095 AD). This was based on his observation of marine fossil shells in a geological stratum of a mountain hundreds of miles from the Pacific Ocean. Noticing bivalve shells running in a horizontal span along the cut section of a cliffside, he theorized that the cliff was once the pre-historic location of a seashore that had shifted hundreds of miles over the centuries. He inferred that the land was reshaped and formed by soil erosion of the mountains and by deposition of silt, after observing strange natural erosions of the Taihang Mountains and the Yandang Mountain near Wenzhou. Furthermore, he promoted the theory of gradual climate change over centuries of time once ancient petrified bamboos were found to be preserved underground in the dry, northern climate zone of Yanzhou, which is now modern day Yan'an, Shaanxi province.

The first geomorphic model was the geographical cycle or the cycle of erosion, developed by William Morris Davis between 1884 and 1899. The cycle was inspired by theories of uniformitarianism which were first formulated by James Hutton (1726-1797). Concerning valley forms, the cycle was depicted as a sequence by which a river would cut a valley more and more deeply, but then erosion of side valleys would eventually flatten out the terrain again, now at a lower elevation. The cycle could be started over by uplift of the terrain. The model is today considered too much of a simplification to be especially useful in practice..

Walther Penck developed an alternative model in the 1920s, based on ratios of uplift and erosion, but it was also too weak to explain a variety of landforms. G. K. Gilbert was an important early American geomorphologist.

Processes

Modern geomorphology focuses on the quantitative analysis of interconnected processes, such as the contribution of solar energy, the rates of steps of the hydrologic cycle, plate movement rates from geophysics to compute the age and expected fate of landforms and the weathering and erosion of the land. The use of more precise measurement technique has also enabled processes like erosion to be observed directly, rather than merely surmised from other evidence. Computer simulation is also valuable for testing that a particular model yields results with properties similar to real terrain.

Primary surface processes responsible for most topographic features include wind, waves, weathering, mass wasting, ground water, surface water, glaciers, tectonism, and volcanism.

Fluvial

Rivers and streams are not only conduits of water, but also of sediment. The water, as it flows over the channel bed, is able to mobilize sediment and transport it downstream, either as bedload, suspended load or dissolved load. The rate of sediment transport depends on the availability of sediment itself and on the river's discharge.

As rivers flow across the landscape, they generally increase in size, merging with other rivers. The network of rivers thus formed is a drainage system and is often dendritic, but may adopt other patterns depending on the regional topography and underlying geology.

Hillslope

Soil, regolith, and rock move downslope under the force of gravity via creep, slides, flows, topples, and falls. Such mass wasting occurs on both terrestrial and submarine slopes, and has been observed on Earth, Mars, and Venus.

Glacial

Glaciers, while geographically restricted, are effective agents of landscape change. The gradual movement of ice down a valley causes abrasion and plucking of the underlying rock. Abrasion produces fine sediment, termed glacial flour. The debris transported by the glacier, when the glacier recedes, is termed a moraine. Glacial erosion is responsible for U-shaped valleys, as opposed to the V-shaped valleys of fluvial origin.

Weathering

This results from chemical dissolution of rock and from the mechanical wearing of rock by plant roots, ice expansion, and the abrasive action of sediment. Weathering provides the source of the sediment transported by fluvial, glacial, aeolian, or biotic processes.

Taxonomy

Different geomorphological processes dominate at different spatial and temporal scales. To help categorize landscape scales some geomorphologists use the following taxonomy:

• 1st - Continent, ocean basin, climatic zone (~10,000,000 km²)
• 2nd - Shield, e.g. Baltic shield, or mountain range (~1,000,000 km²)
• 3rd - Isolated sea, Sahel (~100,000 km²)
• 4th - Massif, e.g. Massif Central or Group of related landforms, e.g., Weald (~10,000 km²)
• 5th - River valley, Cotswolds (~1,000 km²)
• 6th - Individual mountain or volcano, small valleys (~100 km²)
• 7th - Hillslopes, stream channels, estuary (~10 km²)
• 8th - gully, barchannel (~1 km²)
• 9th - Meter-sized features

See also

References

• Selby, Michael John (1985). Earth's changing surface: an introduction to geomorphology. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Chorley, Richard J.; Stanley Alfred Schumm and David E. Sugden (1985). Geomorphology. London: Methuen.
• Edmaier, Bernhard (2004). Earthsong. London: Phaidon Press.
• Scheidegger, Adrian E. (2004). Morphotectonics. Berlin: Springer.
• Needham, Joseph (1954). Science and civilisation in China. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Kondolf, G. Mathias; Hervé Piégay (2003). Tools in fluvial geomorphology. New York: Wiley.

Courses

• Geomorphic and Ecological Fundamentals for River and Stream Restoration: includes a listing of instructors & additional short courses in Geomorphology topics taught by this group.

External links

• International Association of Geomorphologists
• Geomorphology in the Association of American Geographers
• British Society for Geomorphology
• Association of Polish Geomorphologists
• German Geomorphologists Group (Deutscher Arbeitskreis fuer Geomorphologie
• Model of landscape evolution by William Morris Davis (by GEOMORPHLIST)
• The Geographical Cycle, or the Cycle of Erosion (1899)
• Geomorphology from Space (by NASA)
• USDA-NRCS Web Soil Survey Survey of surficial geologic deposits and geomorphology across the U.S.