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.
Key themes:
Geomorphic processes
Geomorphology
Karst
Landscape
Landforms
Nature conservation
Tectonics
World Heritage
Piotr Migon is Professor of Geography at the University of Wroclaw, Poland. He was a Royal Society Fellow based at the University of Oxford, UK in 1995-1996, and a Fulbright Fellow based at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2003. He served as the Secretary of the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG) in 1997-2001. Currently he is a member of the IAG Task Group to strengthen cooperation between the IAG and the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). His recent publications include ‘Granite Landscapes of the World’ (Oxford University Press, 2006), a textbook on geomorphology published in Poland (2006) and numerous papers in international journals, including Geomorphology, Catena, Earth-Science Reviews.
Author(s): Christopher R. Burn (auth.), Piotr Migon (eds.)
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 375
Tags: Physical Geography; Historical Geology; Geology
Front Matter....Pages i-xii
The Mackenzie Delta: An Archetypal Permafrost Landscape....Pages 1-12
The South Nahanni: High-Latitude Limestone Landscapes....Pages 13-20
Channeled Scablands: A Megaflood Landscape....Pages 21-28
Badlands of the Northern Great Plains: Hell with the Fires Out....Pages 29-38
Canyonlands and Arches: Windows on Landscapes in the American Southwest....Pages 39-47
Grand Canyon: The Puzzle of the Colorado River....Pages 49-58
Parícutin Volcano: To the Other Side....Pages 59-67
The Cockpit Country of Jamaica: An Island Within an Island....Pages 69-77
The Gran Sabana: The World’s Finest Quartzite Karst?....Pages 79-88
Rio de Janeiro: A Metropolis Between Granite-Gneiss Massifs....Pages 89-100
Iguazu Falls: A History of Differential Fluvial Incision....Pages 101-109
The Southern Patagonian Andes: The Largest Mountain Ice Cap of the Southern Hemisphere....Pages 111-121
The Dry Valleys: An Ancient and Cold Desert in Antarctica....Pages 123-131
Drakensberg Escarpment: Mountains of Geomorphic Diversity....Pages 133-142
Victoria Falls: Mosi-oa-Tunya – The Smoke That Thunders....Pages 143-153
Spitzkoppe: The World of Granite Landforms....Pages 155-162
Namib Sand Sea: Large Dunes in an Ancient Desert....Pages 163-169
North-Eastern Niger: Sandstone Landscape of the Sahara....Pages 171-182
Afar Triangle: Rift Valleys and Volcanoes over Plate Divergence....Pages 183-190
Dolomites: The Spectacular Landscape of the ‘Pale Mountains’....Pages 191-199
Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland: Sandstone Rock Cities and Fascination in a Romantic Landscape....Pages 201-209
The Dorset and East Devon Coast: England’s Geomorphological World Heritage Site....Pages 211-221
Fjords of Norway: Complex Origin of a Scenic Landscape....Pages 223-234
Iceland: Glaciers and Volcanoes in the North Atlantic....Pages 235-245
The Dead Sea Graben: Geomorphology of the Lowest Spot on Earth....Pages 247-255
The Western Ghat: The Great Escarpment of India....Pages 257-264
The Pokhara Valley: A Product of a Natural Catastrophe....Pages 265-274
The Loess Plateau of China: Aeolian Sedimentation and Fluvial Erosion, Both with Superlative Rates....Pages 275-282
Sanqingshan: The Incredible Granite Peaks of Eastern China....Pages 283-291
Guangxi Karst: The Fenglin and Fengcong Karst of Guilin and Yangshuo....Pages 293-302
Mt. Fuji: The Beauty of a Symmetric Stratovolcano....Pages 303-309
Mulu: The World’s Most Spectacular Tropical Karst....Pages 311-320
Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas): Inselbergs of Central Australia....Pages 321-332
Bungle Bungle: Tower Karst in Sandstone....Pages 333-340
Wellington’s Tectonic Landscape: Astride a Plate Boundary....Pages 341-348
Pacific Atolls: A World Apart....Pages 349-356
World Heritage and Geomorphology....Pages 357-368
Back Matter....Pages 369-375
