Students taking undergraduate degrees in geography, ecology, earth science, and environmental science frequently take an introductory unit in Physical Geography. Some will have not done any geography since their early teens, while others have more recent knowledge. This range of backgrounds can be challenging for both the instructor and the student, this primer aims to help. A primer is a readable introduction to a subject, more technical than a piece of popular science, but less detailed than a specialist textbook. It aims to give the reader a platform in a subject with which they may be unfamiliar, so that they can proceed simultaneously, or sequentially, to more advanced texts and information. Ideally the primer should have something for those without any knowledge, while also challenge and entertaining those who do. Not quite bedtime reading, but a step in that direction. Our Dynamic Earth introduces students to the Earth's origins, to plate tectonics, atmospheric and oceanographic circulation, as well as to a range of Earth surface processes. Idea to get you started in your studies.
Author(s): Matthew R. Bennett
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 197
City: Cham
Preface
Prologue: Why Physical Geography?
Contents
Part I: Earth History and Climate
Chapter 1: Geological Time
Entropy
No Sight of a Beginning, No Sight of an End
Earth’s Origin Story
Further Reading
Chapter 2: Earth’s Internal Heat Engine
Paradigms and Shifting Science
Plate Tectonics
Isostasy
Supercontinents Again
Further Reading
Chapter 3: Volcanoes
Distribution in Space and Time
All in the Eruption
Further Reading
Chapter 4: Earth’s External Heat Engine
Source, Receptor, and Filter
Earth’s Heat Engine
Earth’s Air Conditioning Systems
Further Reading
Chapter 5: Climate Change Is Normal
Climate and Earth History
Evidence for Climate Change
Mechanisms of Climate Change
Landscape and Land-Sea Distribution (1)
Ocean Basins (2)
Solar Input (3)
Atmospheric Content (4)
Planetary-Scale Feedbacks
Cenozoic Climate Change
Summary
Further Reading
Part II: Shaping the Landscape
Chapter 6: The Landscape Beneath Our Feet
Rocks and Minerals
Natural Decay
Soils
Further Reading
Chapter 7: Gravity and Slopes
Forces on a Clast(s), or Rock Slope
Mass Movement
Further Reading
Chapter 8: Flowing Water
All About Rain
Water on Hillslopes
Surface Hydrology
Channel Flow
Alluvial Channels
Rock Channels
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 9: Flowing Ice
Physics of Glaciers
Glacial Erosion
Glacier Transport
Depositional Landsystems
Further Reading
Chapter 10: Coastal Processes
Importance of Tides
Making Waves
Dancing Beaches
Cliffs, Shore Platforms and Erosion
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 11: Landscapes Around Us
British Landscapes
Amazonia
Summary
Further Reading
