Geomorphology : the mechanics and chemistry of landscapes

Cambridge University Press, 2010. — 651 p. — ISBN 0521519780. 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. Cover 1 Geomorphology 3 Title 5 Copyright 6 CONTENTS 7 PREFACE 13 Goals 13 Novelties 14 Arrangement of the book 14 How to use the book 15 Student and teacher support 15 What we do not cover 16 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 17 Dedication 19 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to the study of surface processes 20 In this Chapter 21 The global context 22 Overview of geomorphology 23 Guiding principles 24 Conservation 24 Transport rules 25 Event size and frequency 25 Establishing timing: rates of processes and ages of landscapes 26 What drives geomorphic processes? 26 The surface temperature of the Earth 27 The climate context 27 Summary 31 Problems 32 Further reading 32 CHAPTER 2 Whole Earth morphology 34 In this chapter 35 Why an oblate spheroid? 36 Topographic statistics: Earth' s hypsometry 39 Summary 42 Problems 75 Further reading 43 CHAPTER 3 Large-scale topography 44 In this chapter 45 Ocean basins: the marriage of conduction and isostasy 46 Plate tectonics overview 54 The motion of plates 54 Plate speeds 55 Large-scale mountain ranges: orogens 56 Effects of thickening the crust 57 Effects of erosion on the isostatic balance 59 Mantle response times: geomorphology as a probe of mantle rheology 61 Ice sheet and ocean loading and the response of the Earth surface to it 62 Mantle flow and its influence on topography 67 Dynamic topography 67 Topographic oozing of the Tibetan Plateau margin 68 Gooshing of mantle across the continental edge 70 Summary 73 Problems 75 Further reading 77 CHAPTER 4 Tectonic geomorphology 78 In this chapter 79 Deformation associated with individual faults 80 Fault scaling and fault interaction 83 Coulomb stress changes 85 Stress triggering of earthquakes 86 Linkage of faults 87 Determination of offsets from modern earthquakes 87 Paleoseismology 89 Strike-slip faults 89 Normal faults 90 Megathrust faults 93 Long-term deformation: cumulative displacement deduced from offsets of geomorphic markers 96 Marine platforms 97 River profiles 101 The special case of corals 102 Flexure 104 Unloading 108 Generation of mountain ranges by repeated earthquakes 109 Summary 572 Problems 112 Further reading 113 CHAPTER 5 Atmospheric processes and geomorphology 114 In this chapter 115 The Sun 116 Climate and weather processes 117 Why is Earth the "water planet" ? 118 The spatial pattern of radiation 122 Vertical structure of the atmosphere 125 Wind and atmospheric circulation 126 Hadley cells 126 Monsoons 128 Sea breezes 130 Katabatic winds 130 Orographic effects 131 Summary 135 Problems 136 Further reading 137 CHAPTER 6 Dating methods, and establishing timing in the landscape 138 In this chapter 139 Relative dating methods 140 Absolute dating methods 140 Paleomagnetic dating 141 Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) 141 Amino acid racemization 142 Oxygen isotopes and the marine isotope stages 144 Radiometric dating methods 146 Non-steady production 148 The reservoir effect 148 Cosmogenic radionuclides 149 In situ production profiles within rock 151 Variations in production rate in space and time 152 Theoretical backdrop 153 How are the measurements made: processing and AMS measurement 154 Dating bedrock surfaces 154 Dating depositional surfaces 156 Exhumation rates 157 Basin-averaged erosion rates 159 Burial ages 160 Use to date stratigraphy 164 Shallow geothermometry: establishing long-term rates of exhumation 164 Fission tracks 165 Ar/Ar thermochronometry 166 (U-Th)/He method 169 Summary 175 Problems 175 Further reading 177 CHAPTER 7 Weathering 178 In this chapter 179 Weathering as part of erosion 180 The weathered profile 180 The Critical Zone 182 Denudation 183 Mass loss 183 Processes that fracture rock 184 Thermal stress and strain 186 Frost cracking 191 Other fracturing processes 194 The deeper history of fractures 195 The stress of denudation 195 The origin of sheeting joints 198 Fractures and rock strength 199 Chemical alteration of rock 201 Chemical equilibrium 201 Solubility and saturation 203 Rivers, continental crust, and common chemical weathering reactions 204 Congruent dissolution 205 Incongruent dissolution 206 Oxidation 206 Chemical kinetics 209 Temperature dependence 212 pH dependence 214 Biological controls 214 Chemical affinity 216 Mineral surface age 217 Long-term carbon cycle 218 Effects of chemical alteration of rock 220 Assessing mass losses (or gains) in regolith 220 Chemical alteration of rock strength 223 The conversion of bedrock to mobile regolith 225 Mobile-regolith production functions 225 Summary 226 Problems 228 Further reading 229 CHAPTER 8 Glaciers and glacial geology 230 In this chapter 231 Glaciology: what are glaciers and how do they work? 232 Types of glaciers: a bestiary of ice 233 Mass balance 234 Ice deformation 237 The pattern of stress 238 The rheology 239 Ice wrinkles 1: Glen' s flow law 241 Ice wrinkles 2: sliding/regelation 243 Basal motion by till deformation 250 Applications of glaciology 250 Glacier simulations 250 Paleo-climate estimates from glacial valleys 251 Ice sheet profiles 252 Surging glaciers and the stability of ice sheets 254 Tidewater glaciers 255 Calving 257 Tidewater glacier cycle 257 Contribution to sea level change 258 The great ice sheets: Antarctica and Greenland 259 Glacial geology: erosional forms and processes 263 Erosional processes 263 Abrasion 264 Quarrying 266 Large-scale erosional forms 269 The U-shaped valley 269 Cirques, steps, and overdeepenings: the long valley profile 270 Fjords 273 Depositional forms 275 Moraines 275 Eskers 278 Erosion rates 281 Summary 283 Problems 285 Further reading 286 CHAPTER 9 Periglacial processes and forms 288 In this chapter 289 Definition and distribution of permafrost 290 Thermal structure 290 Base of the permafrost 291 Active layer depth 293 Latent heat 295 Departures from the steady-state geotherm 296 Geomorphology of periglacial regions 298 Segregation ice and frost heave 298 Upfreezing of stones 301 Patterned ground 303 Ice wedge polygons 304 Solifluction lobes 308 Pingos 308 Thaw lakes 311 The present rapidly changing Arctic 314 Thermokarst 314 Coastal erosion 316 Permafrost and carbon 317 Summary 318 Problems 319 Further reading 321 CHAPTER 10 Hillslopes 322 In this chapter 323 Convexity of hilltops 325 Mass balance 326 Diffusive processes 327 Hillslope processes 331 Rainsplash 331 Creep 338 Solifluction: frost creep and gelifluction 338 Biogenic process examples 343 Rodents 344 Tree-throw 346 Pacing hillslopes 346 Landslides 348 The force balance at failure 349 A primer on the behavior of saturated granular materials 352 What oversteepens the slopes? 354 The aftermath 355 Debris flows 358 Hillslope models 362 Summary 363 Problems 364 Further reading 365 CHAPTER 11 Water in the landscape 366 In this chapter 367 Drainage basins 368 Water balance 370 Soil moisture and its distribution with depth 371 Infiltration 373 Groundwater 376 The Dupuit case 378 Groundwater rules of thumb 381 Runoff mechanisms 381 Infiltration capacity 383 Roles of vegetation 383 Evapotranspiration 383 Water storage in the soil 384 Overland flow generation 384 Overland flow of water and its geomorphic consequences 385 The problem of drainage density 388 Sapping and amphitheater-headed canyons 391 Summary of channel head issues 392 Hydrology of a headwater catchment: the Coos Bay experiment 392 Summary 598 Problems 395 Further reading 396 CHAPTER 12 Rivers 398 In this chapter 399 Theory and measurement of turbulent flows in open channels 400 The vertically averaged mean velocity 406 Other equations for the mean velocity 407 Manning' s equation 407 The Chezy formula 408 Darcy-Weisbach equation 408 Measurement of channel velocity and discharge 409 USGS stream gaging protocol 409 Measurement of velocity 409 Salt dilution method 409 Measurement of stage 410 Space-based measurement of discharge 411 Summary of theory and measurement of channel flow 412 Hydraulic geometry 413 Floods and floodplain sedimentation 414 The floodplain 417 Channel plan views 417 The braided case 418 The meandering case 419 Channel profiles 423 Character of the bed 425 River slopes 426 The influence of baselevel 427 The Amazon 429 Summary 432 Appendix: The Navier-Stokes equation and the origin of the Reynolds and Froude numbers 432 The left-hand side 433 The right-hand side 433 Non-dimensionalization of the Navier-Stokes equation 436 Problems 437 Further reading 439 CHAPTER 13 Bedrock channels 440 In this chapter 441 Measurement techniques 442 Straths 443 Lava flows 443 Caves 443 Cosmogenic radionuclides on the channel floor 444 Short-term monitoring 444 Erosion processes 446 The stream power approach 446 Abrasion 447 Quarrying 449 Hydraulic wedging 451 Dissolution 451 Knickpoint migration 452 Summary of processes 453 Stream profiles in bedrock channels 453 Steady uniform case 453 Steady case, but non-uniform bedrock 455 Steady uplift, non-uniform precipitation: the orographic effect 455 The transient case 457 Waterfalls 458 Response to baselevel lowering 459 Role of climatic variability: the origin of strath terraces 460 The roles of landslide dams 462 The channel width problem 463 Empirical constraints 464 Theory 464 Slot canyons 466 Summary 467 Appendix: Future work and research needs 467 Problems 468 Further reading 469 CHAPTER 14 Sediment transport mechanics 470 In this chapter 471 The pieces of the problem 472 Grain entrainment 473 Recent progress in the fluvial realm 477 Modes of transport 479 The saltation trajectory 480 The granular splash 481 Mass flux: transport " laws" 482 Suspended sediment transport 486 The suspension trajectory 486 The continuum approach 487 Summary 491 Problems 492 Further reading 365 CHAPTER 15 Eolian forms and deposits 494 In this chapter 495 Bedforms 496 Classification of dune types 499 Barchan dunes 500 Parabolic dunes 501 Transverse dunes 501 Linear dunes 501 Star dunes 502 Models of dunes and their stratigraphy 502 Eolian ripples 504 Ripple stratigraphy 506 Summary of bedforms 507 Loess 507 Erosion by windblown particles 511 Windblown snow 515 Eolian evidence on Mars 516 Summary 517 Problems 600 Further reading 519 CHAPTER 16 Coastal geomorphology 520 In this chapter 521 The relative movement of land and sea 522 The Pleistocene record 522 Sea level change in the Holocene 523 The last century of sea level change and its causes 524 Rock uplift 525 Waves 526 Origin of waves 526 Transformation of waves 528 Hurricane storm surge 529 Physics of sand movement in the littoral system 530 Sandy coasts 531 Capes and spits 531 Beach cusps 532 Deltas 533 Rocky coasts 538 Coastal littoral sand budget 539 Pocket beaches and headlands 541 Icy coasts 542 The continental shelf 544 Summary 546 Problems 492 Further reading 439 CHAPTER 17 The geomorphology of big floods 550 In this chapter 551 Why should we study large floods? 552 A historical backdrop 552 A recipe for truly big floods: a bunch of water, a breach of the dam 553 Paleoflood analysis 555 Slackwater and separation eddy deposits 556 Estimates of flow competence 556 Paleodischarge estimates 556 The Bonneville flood 556 Glacial floods: Jökulhlaups 558 The Lake Missoula floods and the channeled scablands 559 Lakes Agassiz and Ojibway 564 The English Channel reinterpreted 567 Noah' s flood 567 Floods from the failure of landslide dams 571 Summary 572 Problems 572 Further reading 573 CHAPTER 18 Whole landscapes 574 In this chapter 575 The Santa Cruz landscape: introduction 576 Rock uplift: advection around a fault bend 578 Evolution of the terraces 580 Stream channels 581 Terrace ages 583 Evolution of soils on the terraces 585 Implications of the weathering of soils for the hydrology 586 Littoral system 586 Seacliff evolution 591 Long-term evolution of the coastal plan view 597 Summary 598 Problems 364 Further reading 439 APPENDIX A: PHYSICS 600 Primary units 175 Key definitions 600 Heat transport mechanisms 601 Radiation 601 Conduction 601 Advection 601 Convection 601 Rheologies 601 Fluids: strain rate ~ stress 601 Solids: strain rate ~ stress 601 Important dimensionless numbers 601 Important natural constants 601 Physical properties 601 APPENDIX B: MATHEMATICS 602 Numbers worth memorizing 602 Important functions 602 Basic rules of thumb for manipulation of expressions 609 Logs, powers and exponentials 609 Laws of exponents 609 Logarithms 609 Laws of logarithms 609 Trigonometry 609 Angle formulas 610 Geometry 610 Volume, area, and circumference 610 Algebra 610 Calculus 610 Derivatives 610 Integrals 612 Mean value theorem 612 Taylor series expansion 612 Ordinary differential equations (ODEs) 613 Partial differential equations (PDEs) 614 Statistics 614 Probability density functions (PDFs) 615 Goodness of fit 617 REFERENCES 618 INDEX 653 "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"--Provided by publisher. "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"--Résumé de l'éditeur

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.

Machine generated contents note: 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. Math; References; Index.