Page 28 - Fundamentals of Geomorphology

WHAT IS GEOMORPHOLOGY? 11

Karkevagge drainage basin was running water bearing systems and climate that are forged through the stor-
material in solution. An increasing number of hillslopes ages and movements of energy, water, biogeochemicals,
and drainage basins have been instrumented, that is, had and sediments. Longer-term and broader-scale intercon-
measuring devices installed to record a range of geo- nections between landforms and climate, water budgets,
morphic processes. The instruments used on hillslopes vegetationcover,tectonics,andhumanactivityareafocus
and in geomorphology generally are explained in sev- for process geomorphologists who take a historical per-
eral books (e.g. Goudie 1994). Interestingly, some of spective and investigate the causes and effects of changing
the instrumented catchments established in the 1960s processes regimes during the Quaternary.
have recently received unexpected attention from scien-
tists studying global warming, because records lasting Applied geomorphology
decades in climatically sensitive areas – high latitudes
and high altitudes – are invaluable. However, after half Applied geomorphology studies the interactions of
a century of intensive field measurements, some areas, humans with landscapes and landforms. Process geomor-
including Europe and North America, still have better phologists, armed with their models, have contributed
coverage than other areas. And field measurement pro- to the investigation of worrying problems associated
grammes should ideally be ongoing and work on as fine with the human impacts on landscapes. They have stud-
a resolution as practicable, because rates measured at a ied coastal erosion and beach management (e.g. Bird
particular place may vary through time and may not be 1996; Viles and Spencer 1996), soil erosion, the weath-
representative of nearby places. ering of buildings, landslide protection, river manage-
ment and river channel restoration (e.g. Brookes and
Modelling geomorphic processes Shields 1996), and the planning and design of landfill
sites (e.g. Gray 1993). Other process geomorphologists
Since the 1960s and 1970s, process studies have been have tackled general applied issues. Geomorphology in
largely directed towards the construction of models for Environmental Planning (Hooke 1988), for example,
predicting short-term changes in landforms, that is, considered the interaction between geomorphology and
changes happening over human timescales. Such models public policies, with contributions on rural land-use
havedrawnheavilyonsoilengineering,forexampleinthe and soil erosion, urban land-use, slope management,
case of slope stability, and hydraulic engineering in the river management, coastal management, and policy
cases of flow and sediment entrainment and deposition formulation. Geomorphology in Environmental Manage-
in rivers. Nonetheless, some geomorphologists, includ- ment (Cooke 1990), as its title suggests, looked at the
ing Michael J. Kirkby and Jonathan D. Phillips, have role played by geomorphology in management aspects of
carvedoutanicheforthemselvesinthemodellingdepart- the environment. Geomorphology and Land Management
ment. An example of a geomorphic model is shown in in a Changing Environment (McGregor and Thompson
Figure 1.5 (see also p. 22). 1995) focused upon problems of managing land against
a background of environmental change. The conserva-
Process studies and global environmental tion of ancient and modern landforms is an expanding
change aspect of applied geomorphology.
Three aspects of applied geomorphology have been
With the current craze for taking a global view, pro- brought into a sharp focus by the impending envi-
cess geomorphology has found natural links with other ronmental change associated with global warming
Earth and life sciences. Main thrusts of research inves- (Slaymaker 2000b) and illustrate the value of geomor-
tigate (1) energy and mass fluxes and (2) the response phological know-how. First, applied geomorphologists
of landforms to climate, hydrology, tectonics, and land are ideally placed to work on the mitigation of natural
use (Slaymaker 2000b, 5). The focus on mass and energy hazards of geomorphic origin, which may well increase in
fluxes explores the short-term links between land-surface magnitude and frequency during the twenty-first century