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Books > Earth & environment > Earth sciences > Geology & the lithosphere > Geological surface processes (geomorphology) > General
Southern African Geomorphology provides a unique account of the varied physical landscapes of the subcontinent and the landforms which comprise them. It describes these landscapes systematically, and explains their evolution and development against a backdrop of recent trends and new developments within geomorphology. It aims to fill a niche with regard to understanding Earth surface processes and their products in a southern African context. It is an academic text, yet one which will satisfy the lay reader who wishes to learn more about the southern African landscape, and the processes responsible for it.
This book is the long-awaited successor to Owen M. Phillips's classic textbook, Flow and Reactions in Permeable Rocks, published in 1991. In the intervening eighteen years between the two, significant advances have been made to our understanding of subterranean flow, especially through the vast amount of research into underground storage of nuclear waste and aquifer pollution. This new book integrates and extends these modern ideas and techniques and applies them to the physics and chemistry of sub-surface flows in water-saturated, sandy and rocky media. It describes essential scientific concepts and tools for hydrologists and public health ecologists concerned with present day flow and transport, and also for geologists who interpret present day patterns of mineralization in terms of fluid flow in the distant past. The book is ideal for graduate students and professionals in hydrology, water resources, and aqueous geochemistry.
A comprehensive review of dryland climates and their relationship to the physical environment, hydrology, and inhabitants. Chapters are divided into five major sections on background meteorology and climatology; the nature of dryland climates in relation to precipitation and hydrology; the climatology and climate dynamics of the major dryland regions on each continent; and life and change in the world's drylands. It includes key topics such as vegetation, geomorphology, desertification, micro-habitats, and adaptation to dryland environments. This interdisciplinary volume provides an extensive review of the primary literature (covering nearly 2000 references) and the conventional and satellite datasets that form key research tools for dryland climatology. Illustrated with over 300 author photographs, it presents a unique view of dryland climates for a broad spectrum of researchers, environmental professionals and advanced students in climatology, meteorology, geography, environment science, earth system science, ecology, hydrology and geomorphology.
Outcrops of granitic rocks cover a large proportion of the Earth's surface and host a range of spectacular landforms and landscapes, from extensive plains dotted by inselbergs to deeply dissected mountain ranges. They are often strikingly beautiful, but more importantly, they provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of geomorphic evolution both in the past and at present. The book offers a comprehensive view of the geomorphology of granite areas, examining individual landforms and their assemblages. Weathering processes, and the phenomenon of deep weathering in particular, are given much emphasis as these are fundamental to the understanding of the geomorphic evolution of granite areas. Granite landforms directly related to weathering, such as boulders, tors, inselbergs, and features of surface microrelief are examined in respect to their characteristics and origin. Patterns of slope evolution are shown in the context of both rock slopes and deeply weathered terrains. Granite geomorphology in the coastal, periglacial and glacial context is presented to show how the characteristics of granite control landform evolution in these specific environments. In the closing part a variety of geological controls is reviewed and their primacy over other factors is advocated, followed by an attempt to provide a typology of natural granite landscapes. Finally, certain specific ways of human transformation of granite landscapes are presented. The book will be useful to a range of earth science disciplines, including geomorphology, igneous petrology, engineering geology and soil science. Cultural geographers and people dealing with conservation of geological heritage should find it of interest. Examples from all parts of the world and extensive referencing ensure that it will act as an up-to-date guidebook to the fascinating world of granite geomorphology.
Human activities have had a huge impact on the environment and landscape, through industrialisation and land-use change, leading to climate change, deforestation, desertification, land degradation, and air and water pollution. These impacts are strongly linked to the occurrence of geomorphological hazards, such as floods, landslides, snow avalanches, soil erosion, and others. Geomorphological work includes not only the understanding but the mapping and modelling of Earth's surface processes, many of which directly affect human societies. In addition, geomorphologists are becoming increasingly involved with the dimensions of societal problem solving, through vulnerability analysis, hazard and risk assessment and management. The work of geomorphologists is therefore of prime importance for disaster prevention. An international team of geomorphologists have contributed their expertise to this volume, making this a scientifically rigorous work for a wide audience of geomorphologists and other Earth scientists, including those involved in environmental science, hazard and risk assessment, management and policy.
This book is the only comprehensive summary of natural resources of Oregon and adds to World Soil Book Series state-level collection. Due to broad latitudinal and elevation differences, Oregon has an exceptionally diverse climate, which exerts a major influence on soil formation. The mean annual temperature in Oregon ranges from 0 DegreesC in the Wallowa and Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon to 13 DegreesC in south-central Oregon. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 175 mm in southeastern Oregon to over 5,000 mm at higher elevations in the Coast Range. The dominant vegetation type in Oregon is temperate shrublands, followed by forests dominated by lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir, and mixed conifers, grasslands, subalpine forests, maritime Sitka spruce-western hemlock forests, and ponderosa pine-dominated forests. Oregon is divided into 17 Major Land Resource Areas, the largest of which include the Malheur High Plateau, the Cascade Mountains, the Blue Mountain Foothills, and Blue Mountains. The single most important geologic event in Oregon was the deposition of Mazama ash 7,700 years by the explosion of Mt. Mazama. Oregon has soil series representative of 10 orders, 40 suborders, 114 great groups, 389 subgroups, over 1,000 families, and over 1,700 soil series. Mollisols are the dominant order in Oregon, followed by Aridisols, Inceptisols, Andisols, Ultisols, and Alfisols. Soils in Oregon are used primarily for forest products, livestock grazing, agricultural crops, and wildlife management. Key land use issues in Oregon are climate change; wetland loss; flooding; landslides; volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis; coastal erosion; and wildfires.
Rivers provide the primary link between land and sea. Utilizing the world's largest database, this book presents a detailed analysis and synthesis of the processes affecting fluvial discharge of water, sediment and dissolved solids. The ways in which climatic variation, episodic events, and anthropogenic activities - past, present and future - affect the quantity and quality of river discharge are discussed in the final two chapters. The book contains 26 tables and more than 165 figures - many in full color - including global and regional maps. The book's extensive appendix presents the 1534-river database as a series of 44 tables and 132 maps that provide quantitative data regarding the discharge of water, sediment and dissolved solids. The complete database is also presented within a GIS-based package available online at www.cambridge.org/milliman. River Discharge to the Coastal Ocean provides an invaluable resource for researchers, professionals and graduate students in hydrology, oceanography, geology, geomorphology and environmental policy.
There is much scientific interest in ice, both because of its unique and intriguing properties and because of its importance in the natural environment. This book is written for professional scientists and engineers, and is the only currently available book of its kind. It describes the physical properties of ice, interprets them in terms of its molecular structure, and shows their relevance to the forms of ice found on Earth and in space.
The benthic boundary layer is of considerable interest to geochemists, sedimentologists, biologists, and engineers. This book of original chapters edited by leading reseachers in the field provides an ideal reference on measurments, techniques, and models for transport and biochemical processes in the benthic boundary layer. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of a selected field, with illustrated examples from the authors own work.
This edited book is based on the papers accepted for presentation during the 2nd Springer Conference of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (CAJG-2), Tunisia, in 2019. Major subjects treated in the book include geomorphology, sedimentology, and geochemistry. The book presents an updated unique view in conjugating field studies and modeling to better quantify the process-product binomial unusual in geosciences. In the geomorphology section, 24 papers deal with topics related to fault slip and incision rates, soil science, landslides and debris flows, coastal processes, and geoarcheology, and geoheritage. Under the sedimentology section, 34 papers including stratigraphy, and environmental, tectonic, and diagenetic processes, together with evolutionary, biostratigraphic, and paleo-environmental significance of paleontology are presented. Additionally, this section also contains papers on marine geosciences, from molecular proxies related to climate to geophysical surveys. Last but not least, the third section on geochemistry is composed of 26 papers that are focused on sedimentary geochemistry and mineralogical characterization, magmatic and metamorphic processes and products, and the origin and exploration of mineral deposits. This book resumes the current situation related to the abovementioned topics mainly in the Mediterranean realm. The volume book is of interest to all researchers, practitioners, and students in the fields of geomorphology, sedimentology, and geochemistry, as well as those engaged in environmental geosciences, soil science, stratigraphy and paleontology, geoarcheology and geoheritage, marine geosciences, petrology, metallogenesis, and mineral deposits.
This volume provides a versatile introduction to the study of drainage basin evolution, morphology, drainage basin hydrology and sedimentology, human interference, natural and anthropogenic hazards and various management techniques. This book offers the responsible factors of sediment yield and their absolute and specific growth and rate of delivery through tributaries to the main streams. Rivers are important geomorphic agents which reflect an amazing variety of form and behaviour, showing the wide range of natural environment in which they are originated. The drainage system evolution and spatial network development within the dynamic nature are being discussed and how they are adjusted in the geomorphic time scale over the millions of years. This book shows how drainage systems function and react to change and why this thoughtful is required for flourishing integrated basin management. In tropical and sub-tropical countries population pressures as well as different developmental projects are being executed on the drainage basin without proper planning. Today scientists consider drainage basin as an administrative unit during implementation of regional projects. In this context this book will carry a bench mark for scholars and young scientists.
This book comprehensively documents the various types of karst collapse and related conceptual site models, before discussing these collapses in terms of their impacts on engineering and the environment. Featuring over 200 real-world photos to illustrate the variety of karst collapses and their consequences, the book also provides specific methods and techniques to prevent, investigate, monitor and remediate these collapses. Decades of experience with these collapses make it clear that addressing the related hazards requires a multi-disciplinary approach that integrates geomorphology, engineering geology, hydrology, hydrogeology, biology, geophysics, geochemistry, and risk assessment.
Students taking undergraduate degrees in geography, ecology, earth science, and environmental science frequently take an introductory unit in Physical Geography. Some will have not done any geography since their early teens, while others have more recent knowledge. This range of backgrounds can be challenging for both the instructor and the student, this primer aims to help. A primer is a readable introduction to a subject, more technical than a piece of popular science, but less detailed than a specialist textbook. It aims to give the reader a platform in a subject with which they may be unfamiliar, so that they can proceed simultaneously, or sequentially, to more advanced texts and information. Ideally the primer should have something for those without any knowledge, while also challenge and entertaining those who do. Not quite bedtime reading, but a step in that direction. Our Dynamic Earth introduces students to the Earth's origins, to plate tectonics, atmospheric and oceanographic circulation, as well as to a range of Earth surface processes. Idea to get you started in your studies.
Planetary Surface Processes is the first advanced textbook to cover the full range of geologic processes that shape the surfaces of planetary-scale bodies. Using a modern, quantitative approach, this book reconsiders geologic processes outside the traditional terrestrial context. It highlights processes that are contingent upon Earth's unique circumstances and processes that are universal. For example, it shows explicitly that equations predicting the velocity of a river are dependent on gravity: traditional geomorphology textbooks fail to take this into account. This textbook is a one-stop source of information on planetary surface processes, providing readers with the necessary background to interpret new data from NASA, ESA and other space missions. Based on a course taught by the author at the University of Arizona for 25 years, it is aimed at advanced students, and is also an invaluable resource for researchers, professional planetary scientists and space-mission engineers.
Although similar geomorphic processes take place in other regions, in the tropics these processes operate at different rates and with varying intensities. Tropical geomorphology therefore provides many new discoveries regarding geomorphic processes. This textbook describes both the humid and arid tropics. It provides thoroughly up-to-date concepts and relevant case studies, and emphasises the importance of geomorphology in the management and sustainable development of the tropical environment, including climate change scenarios. The text is supported by a large number of illustrations, including satellite images. Student exercises accompany each chapter. Tropical Geomorphology is an ideal textbook for any course on tropical geomorphology or the tropical environment, and is also invaluable as a reference text for researchers and environmental managers in the tropics.
This book provides insights into the benefits of using remote sensing data from a geoscientist's perspective, by integrating the data with the understanding of Earth's surface and subsurface. In 3 sections, the book takes a detailed look at what data explorationists use when they explore for hydrocarbon resources, assess different terrain types for planning and hazards and extract present-day geologic analogs for subsurface geologic settings. The book presents the usage of remote sensing data in exploration in a structured way by detecting individual geologic features as building blocks for complex geologic systems. This concept enables readers to build their own workflows for the assessment of complex geologic systems using various combinations of remote sensing data. Section 1 introduces readers to the foundations of remote sensing for exploration, covers various methods of image processing and studies different digital elevation and bathymetry models. Section 2 presents the concept of geomorphology as a means to integrate surface and subsurface data. Different aspects of rendering in 2D and 3D are explained and used for the interpretation and extraction of geologic features that are used in exploration. Section 3 addresses remote sensing for hydrocarbon exploration in detail, from geophysical data acquisition to development and infrastructure planning. The organization of this chapter follows an exploration workflow from regional to local modeling studying basin and petroleum system modeling as well as logistics planning of seismic surveys and near-surface modeling. Aspects of field development and infrastructure planning comprise multi-temporal and dynamic modeling. The section closes with a structured approach to extracting geologic analogs from interpreted remote sensing data. The book will be of interest to professionals and students working in exploration for hydrocarbons and water resources, as well as geoscientists and engineers using remote sensing for infrastructure planning, hazard assessment and dynamic environmental studies.
Filling a niche in the geomorphology teaching market, this introductory book is built around a 12 week course in fluvial geomorphology. 'Reading the landscape' entails making sense of what a riverscape looks like, how it works, how it has evolved over time, and how alterations to one part of a catchment may have secondary consequences elsewhere, over different timeframes. These place-based field analyses are framed within their topographic, climatic and environmental context. Issues and principles presented in the first part of this book provide foundational understandings that underpin the approach to reading the landscape that is presented in the second half of the book. In reading the landscape, detective-style investigations and interpretations are tied to theoretical and conceptual principles to generate catchment-specific analyses of river character, behaviour and evolution, including responses to human disturbance. This book has been constructed as an introductory text on river landscapes, providing a bridge and/or companion to quantitatively-framed or modelled approaches to landscape analysis that are addressed elsewhere. Key principles outlined in the book emphasise the importance of complexity, contingency and emergence in interpreting the character, behaviour and evolution of any given system. The target audience is second and third year undergraduate students in geomorphology, hydrology, earth science and environmental science, as well as river practitioners who use geomorphic understandings to guide scientific and/or management applications. The primary focus of Kirstie and Gary's research and teaching entails the use of geomorphic principles as a tool with which to develop coherent scientific understandings of river systems, and the application of these understandings in management practice. Kirstie and Gary are co-developers of the River Styles(R) Framework and Short Course that is widely used in river management, decision-making and training. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/fryirs/riversystems.
This edited volume dedicated to late Prof. P.S. Saklani addresses the multidisciplinary themes pertaining to role of tectonism and magmatism in Crustal Evolution and global distribution of metallic and non metallic mineral deposits. It gives valuable information on geodynamic evolution, structural, petrological, isotopic, metamorphic, geochemical and geochronological attributes of continental and oceanic crust and is challenging reassessments of the existing paradigms. It addresses the implication of magmatism, metallogeny and application of geochronological ages (U-Pb SHRIMP age, Lu-Hf isotopic system; detrital zircons). This book also advocates the role of tectonics in contamination of ground water, and control on drainage pattern and geothermal systems. It explores the vulnerability of earth towards natural hazards viz. earthquakes, floods, cyclones, tsunami, volcanism, cyclones and drought. This volume throws light on the applications of remote sensing, GIS (Geographical Information System) and SRTM data for evaluation of the morphometric and morphotectonic parameters and exploring the susceptibility of river basins toward erosion and flood. It will be beneficial to graduate and post-graduate students as well as professionals and researchers.
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 open access book explores El Hierro Island, which is geologically the youngest of the Canary Islands (Spain). Having registered its latest volcanic eruption in 2011-2012, it is an oceanic subtropical island with low population pressure and a largely unchanged natural landscape. Accordingly, a great geodiversity of volcanic morphologies and erosion processes has been preserved. In addition, half of the land is protected as a Biosphere Reserve and as a UNESCO Global Geopark, and the island is pursuing energy self-sufficiency. Local tourism is a sustainable activity, as the main attractions are either diving or hiking through the island's various volcanic landscapes. Covering these and other aspects, and using accessible language, the book will appeal to scientists specialized in geotourism, active leisure entrepreneurs, and members of the general public interested in volcanic geoheritage and geotourism.
Human activities have had a huge impact on the environment and landscape, through industrialisation and land-use change, leading to climate change, deforestation, desertification, land degradation, and air and water pollution. These impacts are strongly linked to the occurrence of geomorphological hazards, such as floods, landslides, snow avalanches, soil erosion, and others. Geomorphological work includes not only the understanding but the mapping and modelling of Earth's surface processes, many of which directly affect human societies. In addition, geomorphologists are becoming increasingly involved with the dimensions of societal problem solving, through vulnerability analysis, hazard and risk assessment and management. The work of geomorphologists is therefore of prime importance for disaster prevention. An international team of geomorphologists have contributed their expertise to this volume, making this a scientifically rigorous work for a wide audience of geomorphologists and other Earth scientists, including those involved in environmental science, hazard and risk assessment, management and policy.
This book provides an integrated, thorough and up-to-date review of the nature and development of the Kalahari environment, an environment of great ecological and geomorphological diversity. Its complex climatic and geological history and its long association with human societies attempting to utilise its natural resources are aspects of increasing scientific interest. The book has evolved from the authors' own research in the Kalahari, and attempts to provide explanations and answers to some of the many questions raised about this region, ranging from the commonly asked 'is it really a desert?', to more specific and detailed concerns. The interdisciplinary approach will make the book of interest to researchers, lecturers and advanced students in earth sciences, environmental studies, tropical geomorphology and Quaternary science. The extensive bibliography will also make the book a very important source of reference.
Groundwater is an increasingly important resource to human populations around the world, and the study and protection of groundwater is an essential part of hydrogeology - the subset of hydrology that concentrates on the subsurface. Environmental isotopes, naturally occurring nuclides in water and solutes, have become fundamental tools for tracing the recharge, history, and contamination of groundwater.
This book provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the morphodynamic process of the Changjiang River from upstream to estuary in the Anthropocene. As the longest river in China, the Changjiang River has nurtured Chinese civilization with ample natural resources for thousands of years. Evidence highlights that the Changjiang River has experienced intensive human interference and indicated dramatic changes in the Anthropocene, including "no flood in flood season, no dry in dry season" in discharge; "less flood in flood season, more dry in dry season" in sediment; riverbed shifts from accretion to erosion; lakes in the middle-lower reach turn from sediment sink to source; estuarine tidal flat exhibits self-organization characteristics and maintains the current accretion state; estuarine branches that connect to the sea show district morphodynamic patterns; and depocenters of the submerged delta indicate periodic shifts. The book stresses that dam construction upstream, practically the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydraulic engineering project, has significant influences on the hydrology and geomorphology of the middle-lower reach but has a slight effect on estuarine delta development. The geomorphological structure of the estuarine channel is dominated by local land reclamation, navigation, and dredging. This book clarifies the river-estuary morphodynamics of the Changjiang River and indicates the general features of global mega rivers under human interference as well as their own response mechanisms. This book also exhibits the potential risk of river-estuary deltas in the future, as both material and dynamics are experiencing acceleration adjustment. |
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