Geomorphology Vignettes

These illustrated essays have been contributed by participants in the Teaching Geomorphology in the 21st Century workshop in 2008. The vignettes are drafts that are being written and revised by the participants and are not finished products.


Results 1 - 10 of 229 matches

Slow erosion without creep in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Dan Morgan, Vanderbilt University
Quantifying erosion rates is central to understanding how landscapes evolve through time and for discerning the links between landforms and the processes that shape them. The alpine valleys of the McMurdo Dry ...

Subject: Geomorphology: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Arid Region Geomorphology, Landforms/Processes:Hillslopes, Mass Movement, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landforms/Processes, Landscape Evolution
Vignette Type: Process, Computation

The degradation of glacial deposits in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Dan Morgan, Vanderbilt University
Surface deposits such as glacial moraines and tills can yield significant information about the timing, extent, and rate of environmental change on Earth. In order to correctly interpret the record of past ...

Subject: Geomorphology: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Arid Region Geomorphology, Landforms/Processes:Glacial/Periglacial, Hillslopes, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landforms/Processes
Vignette Type: Process, Computation

Fluvial geomorphology in a tank - The scientific value of physical experiments
Nikki Strong, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
The beauty and utility of experiments is to illuminate the fundamental processes that drive the evolution of natural systems. Experiments help us build intuition for processes that otherwise might be hard to ...

Subject: Geomorphology: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Climate/Paleoclimate, Dating and Rates, Landforms/Processes:Coastal-zone, Fluvial, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landforms/Processes, Landscape Evolution, Modeling/Physical Experiments, Tectonic Geomorphology, Geoscience:Geology:Tectonics
Vignette Type: Process, Stratigraphy, Chronology, Computation

Using technology as an aid to the geomorphologist
Sarah Robinson, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
Geomorphology requires characterization of the earth's surface at sufficient high resolution in 3 dimensions to explicitly represent landforms. Measuring change requires repeat survey, thus adding the 4th ...

Subject: Geomorphology: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:GIS/Mapping/Field Techniques, Landforms/Processes, Landscape Evolution, Tectonic Geomorphology, Geoscience:Geology:Tectonics
Vignette Type: Chronology, Computation

Using geomorphology to determine tectonic slip at Wallace Creek
Sarah Robinson, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
The Carrizo Plain along the San Andreas fault in California is world-famous for its dramatic offset features. Sag ponds, linear ridges, beheaded channels and scarps define the landscape along the fault (Vedder and ...

Subject: Geomorphology: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Arid Region Geomorphology, Dating and Rates, Landscape Evolution, Tectonic Geomorphology, Geoscience:Geology:Tectonics
Vignette Type: Chronology

Land disturbance and recovery following a massive deforestation event in the Missouri Ozarks
Winston Crausaz
In 1983 California businessman Raymond L. Sheeks purchased 40 square kilometers of wooded upland in the Ozark Mountains of south-central Missouri. Starting with steep forested slopes, a relief of 100 meters, thin ...

Subject: Geomorphology: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landforms/Processes:Fluvial, Hillslopes, Mass Movement, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landscape Evolution
Vignette Type: Process

Glacial Features of Franconia Notch, New Hampshire
R. Laurence Davis, University of New Haven
INTRODUCTION Franconia Notch, New Hampshire (Figure 1) is a classic northern Appalachian glaciated valley. It has geomorphic features from pre-glacial times, from the glaciation itself, from glacial meltwater, and ...

Subject: Geomorphology: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landforms/Processes:Fluvial, Glacial/Periglacial, Hillslopes, Mass Movement, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landforms/Processes, Landscape Evolution
Vignette Type: Process, Chronology

Karst Processes and Landforms on San Salvador Island, Bahamas
R. Laurence Davis, University of New Haven
INTRODUCTION San Salvador Island is located in the Central Bahamas, about 225 km ESE of Miami and is about 12 km north to south and about 5 km east to west (Figure 1). It is notable for being Columbus' first ...

Subject: Geomorphology: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landforms/Processes:Karst
Vignette Type: Process

A 54-year record of sediment yield linked with proglacial sedimentary dynamics
Martin Geilhausen, Zurich University of Applied Sciences
Proglacial zones are newly formed landscapes in front of or just beyond the outer limits of glaciers (fig. 1). They are out of equilibrium with the current climate and therefore highly sensitive to climate change. ...

Subject: Geomorphology: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Dating and Rates, GIS/Mapping/Field Techniques, Landforms/Processes:Fluvial, Glacial/Periglacial, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landforms/Processes
Vignette Type: Process, Stratigraphy, Chronology, Computation

Geomorphic history controls the locations of fresh-water wetlands on barrier islands, Virginia's Atlantic shore
Rich Whittecar, Old Dominion University
Fresh-water ponds on low sand islands Native Americans, pirates and the early European colonists used them. Ship-wreaked sailors owe their survival to them. Fresh-water ponds somehow seem out of place, though, ...

Subject: Geomorphology: Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Landforms/Processes:Coastal-zone, Geoscience:Geology:Geomorphology:Geomorphology as applied to other disciplines
Vignette Type: Process, Stratigraphy