Granite Landscapes of the World

Granite Landscapes of the World

Author: Piotr Migon

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2006-01-19

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 019155684X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.


The Granite Landscape

The Granite Landscape

Author: Tom Wessels

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 9780881504293

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Chronicles and illustrates the natural history of North America's granite summits, introducing the origins of granite domes and mountains in Yosemite National Park, New York's Adirondack Mountains, and Maine's Acadia National Park.


Landforms and Geology of Granite Terrains

Landforms and Geology of Granite Terrains

Author: Charles Rowland Twidale

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2005-05-26

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 9781439833704

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Granite is exposed over more than 15% of the continents, implying that its significance to the Earth’s surface is comparable to that of the carbonates. Landforms and Geology of Granite Terrains is devoted to this phenomenon and provides a comprehensive explanation of the landforms and landscapes developed on granitic rocks and forms. Whereas existing literature in the field predominantly deals with karst landscapes, this book is specifically focussed on granitic terrains. Landforms and Geology of Granite Terrains provides detailed considerations of the forms, major and minor, well-known and not so familiar granitic terrains, developed over large areas of the continents. It comprises interpretations which are of general significance in the analysis and understanding of the landscape and includes many theories in the context of granite landforms. The importance of structure, including crystal stresses, and the value of etching of subsurface initiation, multi-stages or two-stages development, neotectonic forms, solution forms is emphasized as well as the antiquity of some forms and surfaces (inherited forms). Morphogenetic forms are placed in perspective and comparison is made with similar forms in other rock types. This work is intended for geologists, geomorphologists, geographers and mining engineers and can serve both as a practical guide for professionals and as a textbook for university courses. Author, location and subject indices are included.


Glaciers and Granite

Glaciers and Granite

Author: David L. Kendall

Publisher: North Country Press (ME)

Published: 1993-04

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9780945980407

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Rockbound, granite-ribbed, rivercarved, and lake-dotted, Maine is characterized by its geology, and yet most of us simply admire the scenery without knowing the fascinating story behind it. Glaciers & Granite tells us that story, the why behind all of Maine's scenic splendor.David Kendall vividly explains why Maine's landscape is so geologically varied and interesting. Whether you want to read about one particular place or to explore all of the state's outstanding features, Glaciers & Granite is the perfect guide.


Granite Landscapes of the World

Granite Landscapes of the World

Author: Piotr Migoń

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2006-01

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 9780199273683

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.


Ancient Landscapes of Western North America

Ancient Landscapes of Western North America

Author: Ronald C. Blakey

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-10-03

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 3319596365

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Allow yourself to be taken back into deep geologic time when strange creatures roamed the Earth and Western North America looked completely unlike the modern landscape. Volcanic islands stretched from Mexico to Alaska, most of the Pacific Rim didn’t exist yet, at least not as widespread dry land; terranes drifted from across the Pacific to dock on Western Americas’ shores creating mountains and more volcanic activity. Landscapes were transposed north or south by thousands of kilometers along huge fault systems. Follow these events through paleogeographic maps that look like satellite views of ancient Earth. Accompanying text takes the reader into the science behind these maps and the geologic history that they portray. The maps and text unfold the complex geologic history of the region as never seen before. Winner of the 2021 John D. Haun Landmark Publication Award, AAPG-Rocky Mountain Section


Granite and Grace

Granite and Grace

Author: Michael P. Cohen

Publisher: University of Nevada Press

Published: 2019-05-08

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1948908174

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Granite and Grace Michael Cohen reflects on a lifetime of climbing, walking, and pondering the granite in Yosemite National Park at Tuolumne Meadows. This high-country region of Yosemite is dominated by a young, beautifully glaciated geological formation known as the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite. It does not include familiar Yosemite icons like Half Dome, yet geologists describe this granitic realm at over 8,000 feet as “an iconic American landscape.” Drawing together the humanistic and scientific significance of the wild landscapes he traverses, Michael uncovers relationships between people and places and meaning and substance, rendering this text part memoir—but also considerably more. On-the-rock encounters by hand and foot open up a dialogue between the heart of a philosopher and the mind of a geologist. Michael adds a literary softness to this hard landscape, blending excursions with exposition and literature with science. It is through his graceful representations that the geological becomes metaphorical, while the science turns mythological. This high country, where in 1889 John Muir and Robert Underwood Johnson planned what would become Yosemite National Park, is significant for cultural as well as natural reasons. Discoursing on everything from Camus’s “Myths of Sisyphus” to the poems of Gary Snyder, Michael adds depth to an already splendorous landscape. Premier early geologists, such as François Matthes, shaped the language of Yosemite’s landscape. Even though Yosemite has changed over half a century, the rock has not. As Michael explores the beauty and grace of his familiar towering vistas, he demonstrates why, of the many aspects of the world to which one might get attached, the most secure is granite.