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

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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.


Geomorphological Landscapes of the World

Geomorphological Landscapes of the World

Author: Piotr Migon

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-01-22

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 9048130557

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Physical landscapes are one of the most fascinating facets of our Planet, which tell stories about the evolution of the surface of the Earth. This book provides up-to-date information about the geomorphology of the selected ‘classic’ sites from around the world and shows the variety of geomorphological landscapes as moulded by different sets of processes acting over different timescales, from millions of years to days. The volume is written by nearly fifty geomorphologists from more than twenty countries who for many years have researched some of the unique sceneries on the planet. The thirty six chapters present each continent of the world. They describe landscapes of different origin, so that the reader can learn about the complexity of processes behind the sceneries. This is a useful reference book, linking geomorphology with global initiatives focused on nature conservation.


Treatise on Geomorphology

Treatise on Geomorphology

Author:

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2013-02-27

Total Pages: 6392

ISBN-13: 0080885225

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The changing focus and approach of geomorphic research suggests that the time is opportune for a summary of the state of discipline. The number of peer-reviewed papers published in geomorphic journals has grown steadily for more than two decades and, more importantly, the diversity of authors with respect to geographic location and disciplinary background (geography, geology, ecology, civil engineering, computer science, geographic information science, and others) has expanded dramatically. As more good minds are drawn to geomorphology, and the breadth of the peer-reviewed literature grows, an effective summary of contemporary geomorphic knowledge becomes increasingly difficult. The fourteen volumes of this Treatise on Geomorphology will provide an important reference for users from undergraduate students looking for term paper topics, to graduate students starting a literature review for their thesis work, and professionals seeking a concise summary of a particular topic. Information on the historical development of diverse topics within geomorphology provides context for ongoing research; discussion of research strategies, equipment, and field methods, laboratory experiments, and numerical simulations reflect the multiple approaches to understanding Earth’s surfaces; and summaries of outstanding research questions highlight future challenges and suggest productive new avenues for research. Our future ability to adapt to geomorphic changes in the critical zone very much hinges upon how well landform scientists comprehend the dynamics of Earth’s diverse surfaces. This Treatise on Geomorphology provides a useful synthesis of the state of the discipline, as well as highlighting productive research directions, that Educators and students/researchers will find useful. Geomorphology has advanced greatly in the last 10 years to become a very interdisciplinary field. Undergraduate students looking for term paper topics, to graduate students starting a literature review for their thesis work, and professionals seeking a concise summary of a particular topic will find the answers they need in this broad reference work which has been designed and written to accommodate their diverse backgrounds and levels of understanding Editor-in-Chief, Prof. J. F. Shroder of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is past president of the QG&G section of the Geological Society of America and present Trustee of the GSA Foundation, while being well respected in the geomorphology research community and having won numerous awards in the field. A host of noted international geomorphologists have contributed state-of-the-art chapters to the work. Readers can be guaranteed that every chapter in this extensive work has been critically reviewed for consistency and accuracy by the World expert Volume Editors and by the Editor-in-Chief himself No other reference work exists in the area of Geomorphology that offers the breadth and depth of information contained in this 14-volume masterpiece. From the foundations and history of geomorphology through to geomorphological innovations and computer modelling, and the past and future states of landform science, no "stone" has been left unturned!


Reciprocal Landscapes

Reciprocal Landscapes

Author: Jane Hutton

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-09-06

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 1317569059

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How are the far-away, invisible landscapes where materials come from related to the highly visible, urban landscapes where those same materials are installed? Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories of Material Movements traces five everyday landscape construction materials – fertilizer, stone, steel, trees, and wood – from seminal public landscapes in New York City, back to where they came from. Drawing from archival documents, photographs, and field trips, the author brings these two separate landscapes – the material’s source and the urban site where the material ended up – together, exploring themes of unequal ecological exchange, labor, and material flows. Each chapter follows a single material’s movement: guano from Peru that landed in Central Park in the 1860s, granite from Maine that paved Broadway in the 1890s, structural steel from Pittsburgh that restructured Riverside Park in the 1930s, London plane street trees grown on Rikers Island by incarcerated workers that were planted on Seventh Avenue north of Central Park in the 1950s, and the popular tropical hardwood, ipe, from northern Brazil installed in the High Line in the 2000s. Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories of Material Movements considers the social, political, and ecological entanglements of material practice, challenging readers to think of materials not as inert products but as continuous with land and the people that shape them, and to reimagine forms of construction in solidarity with people, other species, and landscapes elsewhere.


Landscapes and Landforms of Spain

Landscapes and Landforms of Spain

Author: Francisco Gutiérrez

Publisher: Springer Science & Business

Published: 2014-04-18

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 9401786283

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The Landscapes and Landforms of Spain provides an informative and inviting overview of the geology and geomorphology of Spain. It incorporates a diverse range of topics, ranging from the fiery landscapes of the Canary Islands and its volcanic formations to the glacial scenery of the Pyrenees. The book devotes attention to granite landforms, karst terrains, coastal dunes and marshes, as well as to heritage and conservation, with the objective of offering the reader a comprehensive insight into the Spanish geological setting. The book presents readers with the opportunity to explore Spanish landforms in detail through its highly illustrated pages and maps, making this an appealing text on the subject field.


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

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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.


Landscapes and Landforms of Italy

Landscapes and Landforms of Italy

Author: Mauro Soldati

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-05-23

Total Pages: 538

ISBN-13: 3319261940

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The book deals with the most striking landscapes and landforms of Italy. Attention is given to landform diversity and landscape evolution through time which has been controlled by very diverse geological conditions and dramatic climate changes that have characterized the Italian peninsula and islands since the end of the last glaciation. In addition, various examples of human impact on the landscape are presented. Landscapes and Landforms of Italy contains more than thirty case studies of a multitude of Italian geographical landmarks. The topics and sites described in this book range from the Alpine glaciers to the Etna and Vesuvius volcanoes, taking into account the most representative fluvial, coastal, gravity-induced, karst and structural landscapes of the country. Chapters on the geomorphological landmarks of the cities of Rome and Venice are also included. The book provides the readers with the opportunity to explore the variety of Italian landscapes and landforms through informative texts illustrated with several color maps and photos. This book will be relevant to scientists, scholars and any readers interested in geology, physical geography, geomorphology, landscape tourism, geoheritage and environmental protection.


Landscapes and Landforms of the Horn of Africa

Landscapes and Landforms of the Horn of Africa

Author: Paolo Billi

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-09-30

Total Pages: 407

ISBN-13: 3031054873

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This book focuses on regions for which until now the geomorphology was very poorly studied and relatively unknown. Nevertheless, the landforms and landscapes of the Horn of Africa are highly attractive, diverse and in a few cases unique, since they span very different environments, from highland plateaus and mountains to lowlands (even below sea level) and coastlines with a high degree of diversity and from monsoon to arid climate conditions. The main topics addressed in the book include the links between the geological evolution and the current large scale geomorphology of the Horn of Africa; the large differences between the highlands and lowlands climate, river hydrology and their variation through time within a climate change perspective. This part of the world was home of the very first hominids. The landscape in which they lived and evolved throughout the Pleistocene is described in comparison with the arid and inhospitable, though immensely scenic, environment of today. Perennial and ephemeral rivers with very different morphology, processes, and hydrology drain the area, and, in combination with the past and recent uplift, substantially contributed to provide the region with peculiar landscapes and landforms. Long lasting weathering and erosion processes result in a typical inselberg landscape such as the Bur region, or the currently exposed flatland of old peneplain surfaces. Their changes through time, induced by both natural and anthropogenic factors, are addressed by a couple of case studies. Though the region has few inhabitants, they had to struggle to find their livelihood in a land that offers poor resources. This resulted in landscape change and land degradation. Examples of human impact on the landscape are presented at different scales. This book provides readers interested in geography and geomorphology with essential scientific and educational information on the Landscapes and Landforms of Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia through simple, though scientifically, rigorous texts illustrated with several color maps and photos. One main prerogative of this book is therefore to give an insight into a region of the world where, for geographical and historical constraints, geomorphological investigation was very limited, thus enriching its intrinsic informative value.


Great Warm Deserts of the World

Great Warm Deserts of the World

Author: Andrew Goudie

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 488

ISBN-13: 9780199245154

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A survey of the nature and history of the landscapes of the world's great warm deserts, that illustrates how their distinctive features have developed in response to major climatic and tectonic changes over millions of years. The treatment is a regional one, and each of the world's major warm deserts has its own chapter. Written by a leading expert in the field.


Landscapes and Landforms of Hungary

Landscapes and Landforms of Hungary

Author: Dénes Lóczy

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-03-02

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 3319089978

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This volume is the first comprehensive description of the most spectacular landforms of Hungary. It is a richly illustrated book which presents a collection of significant sites, capturing the geodiversity of Hungarian landscapes. The Landscapes and Landforms of Hungary discusses the effects of geomorphological features to the landscape, such as volcanism, weathering, fluvial or aeolian erosion, karst formation, gravitational movements, and others. The importance of the conservation of geomorphological heritage is underlined, as well as the importance of geomorphological heritage and conservation. This book can be used for undergraduate and graduate courses in geomorphology, physical geography, hydrogeography, and nature conservation. It will be of benefit to environmental scientists, geomorphologists, conservationists, among others.