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Table of Contents

PART 1 GEOMORPHOLOGY AND ITS TOOLS
Chapter 1 Earths Dynamic Surface
Introduction
Geosphere
Hydrosphere
Biosphere
Landscapes
Unifying Concepts
Applications
Digging Deeper: Why is Earth Habitable?
Case Study: Geomorphic Effects of Human-Induced Climate Change
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 2 A Brief History of Geomorphology
Introduction
Geomythology
Classical and Natural Philosophers
Nineteenth Century
Twentieth Century
Modern Geomorphology
Digging Deeper: Theories of Earth
Case Study: Portraying the Land
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 3 Geomorphologists Tool Kit
Introduction
Characterizing Earths Surface
Relative Dating Methods
Numerical Dating Methods
Measuring Rates of Geomorphic Processes
Experiments
Proxy Records
Applications
Digging Deeper: How Does a Dating Method Work?
Case Study: Surface Indications of a Vanished Civilization
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

PART II SOURCE TO SINK
Chapter 4 Geomorphic Hydrology
Introduction
Precipitation
Evapotranspiration
Groundwater Hydrology
Surface Water Hydrology
Hydrologic Landforms
Applications
Digging Deeper: Humans, Hydrology, and Landscape Change--Whats the Connection?
Case Study: Houston Under Water
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 5 Weathering and Geomorphology
Introduction
Interactions of Weathering Processes
Physical Weathering
Chemical Weathering
Weathering-Dominated Landforms
Applications
Digging Deeper: How Do Geomorphologists Determine Chemical Weathering Rates?
Case Study: Rock Weathering Leads to Acid Rock Drainage
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 6 Soils and Geomorphology
Introduction
Soil Production
Soil Development
Soil Profiles and Description
Soils and Landscapes
Digging Deeper: How Fast Do Soils Form?
Case Study: Soil Erosion and the Downfall of Civilizations
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 7 Hillslopes
Introduction
Slope-Farming Materials
Mass Movements
Slope Stability
Diffusion-like Processes
Slope Morphology
Applications
Digging Deeper: How Much Do Roots Contribute to Slope Stability?
Case Study: The Oso Landslide
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 8 Channels
Introduction
External Controls on Fluvial Processes and Form
Fluvial Processes
Sediment Transport
Channel Patterns
Channel-Reach Morphology
Floodplains
Channel Response
Applications
Digging Deeper: What Controls Rates of Bedrock River Incision?
Case Study: The Fluvial Legacy of the Gold Rush
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 9 Drainage Basins
Introduction
Basin-Scale Processes
Channel Networks/Basin Morphology
Uplands to Lowlands
Drainage Basin Landforms
Applications
Digging Deeper: When Erosion Happens, Where Does the Sediment Go?
Case Study: Urbanization and Stream Response
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 10 Coastal and Submarine Geomorphology
Introduction
Coastal Settings and Drivers
Coastal Landforms and Processes
Marine Settings and Drivers
Marine Landforms and Processes
Applications
Digging Deeper: What Is Happening to the Worlds Deltas?
Case Study: Superstorm Sandy
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

PART III ICE, WIND, AND FIRE
Chapter 11 Wind as a Geomorphic Agent
Introduction
Air as a Fluid
Spatial Distribution of Wind-Driven Geomorphic Processes
Aeolian Processes
Aeolian Features, Landforms, and Deposits
Applications
Selected References and Further Reading
Digging Deeper: Desert Pavements--The Wind Connection
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 12 Volcanic Geomorphology
Introduction
Distribution and Styles of Volcanism
Eruptive Mechanisms and Products
Eruption Sizes and Types
Volcanic Landscapes
Processes of Volcanic Landform Evolution
Applications
Digging Deeper: Geomorphic Effects of Volcano Sector Collapse
Case Study: The 2018 Rift Eruption and Summit Collapse of Kilauea
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 13 Glacial and Periglacial Geomorphology
Introduction
Glaciers
Subglacial Processes and Glacial Erosion
Glacial Sediment Transport and Deposition
Glacial Landscapes, Landforms, and Deposits
Periglacial Environments and Landforms
Applications
Selected References and Further Reading
Digging Deeper: How Much and Where Do Glaciers Erode?
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

PART IV THE BIGGER PICTURE
Chapter 14 Geomorphology and Climate
Introduction
Records of a Changing Climate
Climate Cycles
Geomorphic Boundary Conditions
Climatic Geomorphology
Landscape Response to Climate
Landscape Controls on Climate
Applications
Selected References and Further Reading
Digging Deeper: Do Climate-Driven Giant Floods Do Significant Geomorphic Work?
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 15 Tectonic Geomorphology
Introduction
Tectonic Processes
Tectonic Settings
Landscape Response to Tectonics
Applications
Digging Deeper: When and Where Did That Fault Last Move?
Case Study: Geomorphic Effects of the 2018 Alaska Earthquake
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment

Chapter 16 Landscape Evolution
Introduction
Factors of Landscape Evolution
Models of Landscape Evolution
Landscape Types
Rates of Landscape Processes
Applications
Digging Deeper: Is This Landscape in Steady State?
Case Study: The Anthropocene
Worked Problem
Knowledge Assessment
Appendix A: Selected References and Further Reading
Glossary

Authors

Paul R. Bierman

Paul Bierman has been a professor of Geology and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont since 1993. His research and teaching expertise focus on the interaction of people and Earths dynamic surface. Bierman is a native of Baltimore, Maryland. For college, he moved north to Massachusetts, where he earned a bachelors degree in Geology at Williams College. After several years working as an environmental consultant in Boston, Bierman moved north again to the University of Washington in Seattle where he earned both a masters and doctoral degree in Geology. After a short post-doctoral interlude far to the south in Australia, Bierman has been a professor at the University of Vermont since 1993.

Biermans research has taken him around the globe. He has studied erosion in Australia, South America, and several countries in Africa and the Middle East. In Greenland, Bierman and his graduate students are tracing the history of the Greenland Ice sheet over the last million years, an adventure that repeatedly takes them helicoptering over the ice. In Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York, Bierman and his students created the first record of storminess and erosion that extended back over the last 10,000 years how many of the past megastorms they identified were hurricanes?

Bierman works extensively communicating science to the pubic. He teaches summer science programs for highly motivated high school students, directs a public web site (www.uvm.edu/landscape) holding over 70,000 photographs of historic Vermont landscapes, has been co-author since 2005 of Pipkin et al., an introductory Environmental Geology textbook, and is the lead author of a new, NSF-funded textbook, Key Concepts in Geomorphology, that uses extensive visuals and photographs to teach about the workings of Earths surface.

David R. Montgomery

David R. Montgomery is a MacArthur Fellow and professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington. He studied geology as an undergraduate at Stanford University and geomorphology for his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley. He is an internationally recognized geologist who studies landscape evolution and the effects of geological processes on ecological systems and human societies. An author of award-winning popular-science books, he has been featured in documentary films, network and cable news, and on a wide variety of TV and radio programs. His books have been translated into nine languages and he is the co-author (with Paul Bierman) of Key Concepts in Geomorphology, and the forthcoming Environmental Science and Sustainability (with Daniel Sherman).