This textbook provides a modern, quantitative and process-oriented approach to equip students with the tools to understand geomorphology. Insight into the interpretation of landscapes is developed from basic principles and simple models, and by stepping through the equations that capture the essence of the mechanics and chemistry of landscapes. Boxed worked examples and real-world applications bring the subject to life for students, allowing them to apply the theory to their own experience. The book covers cutting edge topics, including the revolutionary cosmogenic nuclide dating methods and modeling, highlights links to other Earth sciences through up-to-date summaries of current research, and illustrates the importance of geomorphology in understanding environmental changes. Setting up problems as a conservation of mass, ice, soil, or heat, this book arms students with tools to fully explore processes, understand landscapes, and to participate in this rapidly evolving field.
This textbook provides a modern, quantitative and process-oriented approach to equip students with the tools to understand geomorphology. Insight into the interpretation of landscapes is developed from basic principles and simple models, and by stepping through the equations that capture the essence of the mechanics and chemistry of landscapes. Boxed worked examples and real-world applications bring the subject to life for students, allowing them to apply the theory to their own experience. The book covers cutting edge topics, including the revolutionary cosmogenic nuclide dating methods and modeling, highlights links to other Earth sciences through up-to-date summaries of current research, and illustrates the importance of geomorphology in understanding environmental changes. Setting up problems as a conservation of mass, ice, soil, or heat, this book arms students with tools to fully explore processes, understand landscapes, and to participate in this rapidly evolving field.
Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Whole Earth morphology; 3. Large scale morphology: the roles of geophysics; 4. Tectonic geomorphology; 5. Atmospheric processes and climate; 6. Establishing timing in the landscape: dating methods; 7. Weathering; 8. Glaciers and glacial geology; 9. Periglacial forms and processes; 10. Hillslopes; 11. Water in the landscape; 12. Rivers; 13. Bedrock channel incision; 14. Sediment transport mechanics; 15. Eolian processes and forms; 16. Coastal geomorphology; 17. Geomorphology of big floods; 18. Whole landscapes; Appendix A. Physics; Appendix B. Mathematics; References; Index.
A modern, quantitative, process-oriented approach to geomorphology and the role of Earth surface processes in shaping landforms, starting from basic principles.
Bob Anderson has taught geomorphology since 1988, first at University of California, Santa Cruz, and now at University of Colorado, Boulder. Bob has now studied most parts of landscapes, from the glaciated tips to the coastal toes, with significant attention to sediment transport mechanics, interaction of geophysical and geomorphic processes to shape mountain ranges, evolution of bedrock canyons and glaciated landscapes. He has participated in the development of a new tool kit that employs cosmogenic radionucides to establish timing in the landscape. He develops numerical models of landscapes that honor both field observations and first principles of conservation; these models in turn have served to hone his field efforts. In the course of this academic adventure, he was founding editor of Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, co-authored the textbook Tectonic Geomorphology (2000, Wiley-Blackwell) with Doug Burbank, and has been honoured by election as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. Suzanne Anderson has been on the faculty at University of Colorado, Boulder since 2004, where she teaches courses on Geomorphology, Earth's Critical Zone, Landscapes and Water, and Glaciers and Permafrost. Her awards include an Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor award at University of California, Berkeley, a NASA Graduate Student Fellowship in Global Change Research, and an NSF Earth Sciences Post-doctoral Fellowship. Suzanne's research has taken her to Svalbard, Alaska, Oregon and Nepal, and has focused on interactions between chemical weathering, hydrology, and physical erosion mechanisms. She currently directs the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory, an NSF environmental observatory based at the University of Colorado and involving researchers from four institutions and agencies. Suzanne was editor of Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research from 2004–2006, and served as an associate editor of Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface from 2002–2006.
'… this book is terrific! … a model of what a textbook should be,
and the first place I'd send a student or colleague to get them
excited about landscapes and how we study them.' Chris Paola, St
Anthony Falls Laboratory, Minneapolis
'This much needed, skilfully crafted text will be welcomed by the
geomorphology community. … the text can be used for an introductory
course, or as part of a more advanced course. … The overall
reaction of my students using a draft version has been very
positive.' David Jon Furbish, Vanderbilt University
'A wonderful, wide ranging review of the modern science of
geomorphology.' Niels Hovius, University of Cambridge
'The book is both authoritative and accessible, encouraging
students (and instructors) to think creatively and precisely about
how the landscape evolves. Unlike previous geomorphology texts, it
provides a consistent approach for defining and solving models for
the full range of features found on the surface of the Earth.'
Peter R. Wilcock, Johns Hopkins University
'This is a well designed textbook that contains a healthy balance
between qualitative and quantitative descriptions of geomorphic
processes pitched at a level that suites 3rd/4th year undergraduate
students. The prose is authoritative, up to date, and accessible,
supported by well-presented and relevant diagrams and illustrations
with useful inset boxes to expand upon specific key topics …
[Geomorphology: The Mechanics and Chemistry of Landscapes] has the
breadth and depth of content that puts it in a class of its own. I
have little doubt that this will soon be the book of choice for
geomorphology courses.' Andrew Carter, The Journal of Geological
Magazine
'… an excellent book, especially with respect to incorporating the
basic science and physics of the processes outlined in the main
text as well as providing an accessible narrative explanation of
the different environments covered. As such, I intend to strongly
recommend … it to my first year Earth: Portrait of a Planet
[students] … as one of three key texts for the module. I will
emphasise this text for those students on the BSc Geography and BSc
Environmental Sciences … programmes … as being useful throughout
their undergraduate degree. In particular it will be a help for
second year modules Global Environmental Change, Earth Systems
Cycles and Research Strategies in Physical Environments, as well as
providing preliminary reading for specialist modules in the third
year.' Dr Simon Carr, Queen Mary, University of London
'Excellently illustrated and backed up with numerous references to
the most modern works, this publication is composed, for each
chapter, of boxes, summaries and exercises. They will allow the
reader to continuously check their progress. This publication will
contribute for many years to come, one of the important basic
publications to be used for an advanced teaching of geomorphology
and for the understanding of the reliefs of dry lands.'
Géochronique
'The authors encourage us to study geomorphology by successfully
demonstrating that it is the ability to formally express geomorphic
processes that makes it true science … Anyone pursuing studies of
surface processes should have Geomorphology on his or her shelf.
For libraries in earth-science institutions it is a must.' Piotr
Migoń, Geologos
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