Geomorphology (GEO 322)

The word comes from 3 ancient Greek words:

- gê, "earth"; morphḗ, "form"; and lógos, "study") (Wikipedia)

Geomorphology explains why landscapes look the way they do, due to historical dynamics of
physical, chemical or biological processes. At the topographic and bathymetric surfaces

The processes operate at or near the Earth's surface. - It therefore basically comprises everything
related to the surface of the Earth and its modification, it is a broad field with many facets.

It is the scientific study of the origin and of evolution

Geomorphology is the science that studies the origin and development of landforms (such as hills,
valleys, sand dunes,caves), and how those landforms combine to form landscapes.

Geomorphology looks at the landscapes, how earth surface processes, such as air, water and ice
have molded the landscape.

The 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.

The earth-surface processes formed the landforms of today, changing the landscapes very slowly.
Most geomorphic processes operate at a slow rate, but sometimes a large events such as a landslide
or flood can cause rapid change to the environment.

When the processes are rapid they are hazardous and threaten humans (their lives, livelihoods and
properties). These include volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides

Geomorphology has been studied from:

-Satellites and GIS mapping over the past few decades. This has allowed geomorphologists to
understand global distributions of landforms and landscapes.

- Geomorphologists can piece together the history of such places by studying the remaining
landforms and the sediments – They look at historical trends of landscapes. Past glaciated
landscapes that date back to tens and hundreds of thousands of years often leave their marks on
landscapes and the organic materials such as pollen, beetles, diatoms and macrofossils preserved in
lake sediments and peat. These too are used as evidence on past climate change and processes.

Growth /History of Geomorphology

Although the study of geomorphology has been around since ancient times, the first official
geomorphologic model was proposed between 1884 and 1899 by the American geographer, William
Morris Davis. His geomorphic cycle model was inspired by theories of uniformitarianism and
attempted to theorize the development of various landform features.

Davis's geomorphic cycle model says that a landscape undergoes a preliminary uplift that is paired
with erosion (the removal or wearing down) of materials in that uplifted landscape. Within the same
landscape, precipitation causes streams to flow more rapidly. As they grow their power then cuts into
the ground's surface both at the start of the stream and lower down the stream.

This model also says that the slope angle of the land is gradually reduced and the ridges and divides
present in certain landscapes become rounded over time because of erosion. The cause of this
erosion is not however limited to water as in the stream example. Finally, according to Davis's model,
over time such erosion occurs in cycles and a landscape eventually morphs into an old erosional
surface.

Geomorphologic Processes

Today, the study of geomorphology is broken down into the study of various geomorphologic
processes. Most of these processes are considered to be interconnected and are easily observed
and measured with modern technology. In addition, the individual processes are considered to be
either erosional, depositional, or both. An erosional process involves the wearing down of the earth’s
surface by wind, water, and/or ice. A depositional process is the laying down of material that has
been eroded by wind, water, and/or ice.

Davis's theory was important in launching the field of geomorphology and was innovative at its time
as it was a new attempt to explain physical landform features. Today however, it is not usually used
as a model because the processes he described are not so systematic in the real world and it failed
to take into account the processes being observed in later geomorphic studies.

Since Davis's model, several alternative attempts have been made to explain landform processes.
Walther Penck, an Austrian geographer, developed a model in the 1920s for example, that looked at
ratios of uplift and erosion. It did not take hold though because it could not explain all landform
features.
The geomorphologic processes are as follows:

Fluvial

Fluvial geomorphologic processes are those related to rivers and streams. The flowing water found
here is important in shaping the landscape in two ways. First, the power of the water moving across a
landscape cuts and erodes its channel. As it does this, the river shapes its landscape by growing in
size, meandering across the landscape, and sometimes merging with other rivers forming a network
of braided rivers. The paths rivers take depend on the topology of the area and the underlying
geology or rock structure found where it's moving.

In addition, as the river carves its landscape it carries the sediment it erodes as it flows. This gives it
more power to erode as there is more friction in the moving water, but it also deposits this material
when it floods or flows out of mountains onto an open plain in the case of an alluvial fan (image).

Mass Movement

The mass movement process, also sometimes called mass wasting, occurs when soil and rock
moves down a slope under the force of gravity. The movement of the material is called creeping,
slides, flows, topples, and falls. Each of these is dependent on the speed of movement and
composition of the material moving. This process is both erosional and depositional.

Glacial

Glaciers are one of the most significant agents of landscape change simply because of their sheer
size and power as they move across an area. They are erosional forces because their ice carves the
ground beneath them and on the sides in the case of a valley glacier which results in a U-shaped
valley. Glaciers are also depositional because their movement pushes rocks and other debris into
new areas. The sediment created by the grinding down of rocks by glaciers is called glacial rock flour.
As glaciers melt, they also drop their debris creating features like eskers and moraines.

Weathering

Weathering is an erosional process that involves the chemical break down of rock (such as
limestone) and the mechanical wearing down of rock by a plant’s roots growing and pushing through
it, ice expanding in its cracks, and abrasion from sediment pushed by wind and water. Weathering
can for example result in rock falls and eroded rock like those found in Arches National Park, Utah.
Geomorphology and Geography

One of the most popular divisions of geography is physical geography. By studying geomorphology
and its processes, one can gain significant insight into the formation of the various structures found in
landscapes worldwide, which can then be used as a background for studying the many aspects of
physical geography.