Geomorphology is the study of the Earth's diverse physical land surface features and the dynamic processes that shape these features. Examining natural and anthropogenic processes, The SAGE Handbook of Geomorphology is a comprehensive exposition of the fundamentals of geomorphology that examines form, process, and history in the discipline. Organized into four sections, the Handbook is an overview of foundations and relevance, including the nature and scope of geomorphology, the origins and development of geomorphology, the role and character of theory in geomorphology, the significance of models and abstractions to geomorphology; techniques and approaches, including geomorphological mapping, field observations and experimental design, remote sensing in geomorphology, quantifying rates of erosion, measuring fluid flows and sediment fluxes, dating surfaces and sediment, GIS in geomorphology, and modelling landforms and processes; process and environment, including rock weathering, the evolution of regolith, hill slopes, riverine environments, glacial environments, periglacial environments, coastal environments, desert environments, karst landscapes, environmental change and anthropogenic activity; and environmental change, including geomorphology and environmental management, geomorphology and society, and planetary geomorphology.

Interpreting Quaternary Environments

Interpreting Quaternary Environments

Interpreting quaternary environments
AnneMather

Deposits and associated landforms of the late Cenozoic (the last 2.6 Ma, also termed the Quaternary, see below) potentially provide a highresolution database of environmental change if we can successfully interpret them. These records are locked in both terrestrial (ice cores, glacial moraines; river terraces, raised beaches; organic deposits; tufa/travertine deposits; speleothems, cave deposits) and subaqueous (marine and lacustrine) sequences. Problems arise, however, particularly with the land-based sequences, in that the record is laterally and vertically discontinuous. This poses problems for placing any palaeoenvironmental data into a suitable temporal and spatial scale for interpretation beyond individual sites. Thus a reliable stratigraphic approach is essential to any palaeoenvironmental interpretation. More recently the development of new dating methods has helped resolve some ...

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