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Geomorphology Notes

Geomorphology is the study of landforms, how they are formed by surface processes like water, wind, and ice, and how they provide evidence of past climates and landscapes. Geomorphologists map and analyze distributions of landforms like dunes and glacial features to understand their formation. They also interpret the history of landscapes by examining landforms and sediments containing fossils that reveal past environmental conditions. While surface processes generally change landforms slowly, events like floods or landslides can cause rapid changes. Geomorphology is an interdisciplinary field that combines perspectives from subjects like geology, ecology, and engineering to understand earth systems.

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Geography Dept YIMS
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3K views

Geomorphology Notes

Geomorphology is the study of landforms, how they are formed by surface processes like water, wind, and ice, and how they provide evidence of past climates and landscapes. Geomorphologists map and analyze distributions of landforms like dunes and glacial features to understand their formation. They also interpret the history of landscapes by examining landforms and sediments containing fossils that reveal past environmental conditions. While surface processes generally change landforms slowly, events like floods or landslides can cause rapid changes. Geomorphology is an interdisciplinary field that combines perspectives from subjects like geology, ecology, and engineering to understand earth systems.

Uploaded by

Geography Dept YIMS
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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WHAT IS GEOMORPHOLOGY?

Geomorphology is the study of landforms, their processes, form and sediments at


the surface of the Earth (and sometimes on other planets). Study includes looking
at landscapes to work out how the earth surface processes, such as air, water and
ice, can mould the landscape. Landforms are produced by erosion or deposition,
as rock and sediment is worn away by these earth-surface processes and
transported and deposited to different localities. The different climatic
environments produce different suites of landforms. The landforms of deserts,
such as sand dunes and ergs, are a world apart from the glacial and periglacial
features found in polar and sub-polar regions. Geomorphologists map the
distribution of these landforms so as to understand better their occurrence.

Earth-surface processes are forming landforms today, changing the landscape,


albeit often very slowly. Most geomorphic processes operate at a slow rate, but
sometimes a large event, such as a landslide or flood, occurs causing rapid change
to the environment, and sometimes threatening humans. So geological hazards,
such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides, fall within the
interests of geomorphologists. Advancements in remote sensing from satellites
and GIS mapping has benefited geomorphologists greatly over the past few
decades, allowing them to understand global distributions.

Geomorphologists are also “landscape-detectives” working out the history of a


landscape. Most environments, such as Britain and Ireland, have in the past been
glaciated on numerous occasions, tens and hundreds of thousands of years ago.
These glaciations have left their mark on the landscape, such as the steep-sided
valleys in the Lake District and the drumlin fields of central Ireland.
Geomorphologists can piece together the history of such places by studying the
remaining landforms and the sediments – often the particles and the organic
material, such as pollen, beetles, diatoms and macrofossils preserved in lake
sediments and peat, can provide evidence on past climate change and processes.

So geomorphology is a diverse discipline. Although the basic geomorphological


principles can be applied to all environments, geomorphologists tend to specialise
in one or two areas, such aeolian (desert) geomorphology, glacial and periglacial
geomorphology, volcanic and tectonic geomorphology, and even planetary
geomorphology. Most research is multi-disciplinary, combining the knowledge
and perspectives from two contrasting disciplines, combining with subjects as
diverse as ecology, geology, civil engineering, hydrology and soil science.

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