Geomorphology Course

Lesson 1 • Timescales and Rates of Change

Examines geomorphic timescales from event-scale to geological, and introduces rate measurement concepts. Prepares students to interpret landform age and activity.

Lesson 2 • Defining Geomorphology and Its Scope

Introduces the discipline's definition, goals, and position within Earth sciences. Connects geomorphology to physical geography, geology, and environmental science.

Lesson 3 • Geomorphic Agents and Processes

Identifies the primary agents—water, wind, ice, gravity—and their process categories. Establishes the process-form linkage central to all subsequent chapters.

Lesson 4 • Systems Thinking in Geomorphology

Applies open and closed system models to landform assemblages. Builds analytical habits used throughout the course for process-response interpretation.

Lesson 1 • Weathering Controls and Spatial Patterns

Evaluates how climate, lithology, structure, and time control weathering intensity and distribution. Enables spatial prediction of regolith across landscapes.

Lesson 2 • Chemical Weathering Reactions

Examines hydrolysis, oxidation, carbonation, and dissolution reactions. Connects reaction rates to mineral composition, temperature, and moisture availability.

Lesson 3 • Biological Weathering Contributions

Assesses root wedging, microbial activity, and biotic acid production as weathering agents. Integrates biological processes into the broader weathering system.

Lesson 4 • Mechanical Weathering Processes

Covers frost action, salt crystallization, thermal expansion, and pressure release. Links physical breakdown to rock structure and climate regime.

Lesson 1 • Slope Stability and Failure Mechanics

Introduces the factor of safety concept, shear strength, and pore water pressure. Provides the mechanical basis for classifying and predicting slope failures.

Lesson 2 • Slope Evolution Models

Compares parallel retreat, decline, and replacement models of slope form change over time. Synthesizes process knowledge into long-term hillslope development scenarios.

Lesson 3 • Classification of Mass Movements

Applies standard classification schemes to falls, slides, flows, and complex movements. Enables field identification and hazard characterization of mass movement types.

Lesson 4 • Hillslope Hydrology and Runoff

Covers infiltration, overland flow generation, and subsurface throughflow on slopes. Establishes hydrological controls on erosion and slope stability.

Lesson 1 • Channel Morphology and Planform

Describes straight, meandering, braided, and anastomosing channel patterns and their controls. Connects discharge, sediment load, and valley slope to planform type.

Lesson 2 • Channel Flow and Sediment Transport

Examines hydraulic geometry, flow resistance, and bedload and suspended load transport. Links discharge and sediment supply to channel form adjustments.

Lesson 3 • Drainage Basin Hydrology

Covers basin morphometry, discharge generation, and the hydrograph. Establishes the hydrological inputs that drive fluvial geomorphic processes.

Lesson 4 • Floodplains and River Terraces

Analyzes floodplain formation, sediment architecture, and terrace genesis. Provides tools for reconstructing past river behavior from valley-floor landforms.

Lesson 1 • Estuaries, Deltas, and Tidal Flats

Examines sediment dynamics and morphology of estuaries, deltas, and intertidal zones. Integrates fluvial and marine processes at the land-sea interface.

Lesson 2 • Depositional Coastal Landforms

Describes beaches, spits, barriers, tombolos, and dune systems and their formation. Connects longshore drift and sediment supply to depositional morphology.

Lesson 3 • Erosional Coastal Landforms

Analyzes cliffs, wave-cut platforms, sea caves, arches, and stacks. Links erosional form to rock resistance, wave energy, and subaerial weathering.

Lesson 4 • Coastal Energy and Wave Dynamics

Covers wave generation, transformation, and energy dissipation at the shoreline. Establishes the energy framework for understanding coastal erosion and deposition.

Lesson 1 • Glacier Types and Mass Balance

Covers glacier classification, accumulation and ablation zones, and equilibrium line altitude. Establishes the glaciological basis for erosional and depositional processes.

Lesson 2 • Glacial Erosion Processes and Landforms

Examines abrasion, quarrying, and meltwater erosion and their resulting landforms. Links erosional intensity to ice velocity, basal thermal regime, and bedrock properties.

Lesson 3 • Glacial Sediments and Depositional Landforms

Describes till types, glaciofluvial sediments, and depositional landforms including moraines and drumlins. Enables reconstruction of ice extent and dynamics from sediment evidence.

Lesson 4 • Glacial Legacy and Paraglacial Adjustment

Evaluates how formerly glaciated landscapes continue adjusting after ice retreat. Integrates glacial inheritance into contemporary geomorphic process interpretation.

Lesson 1 • Desertification and Dust Dynamics

Analyzes land degradation processes, dust emission, and long-distance transport in drylands. Prepares students to assess human and climatic drivers of desertification.

Lesson 2 • Wind as a Geomorphic Agent

Covers wind velocity profiles, threshold entrainment, and sediment transport modes. Establishes the aerodynamic basis for aeolian erosion and deposition.

Lesson 3 • Dune Morphology and Dynamics

Classifies dune types by form and wind regime and explains migration and stabilization. Connects dune morphology to sand supply, wind variability, and vegetation cover.

Lesson 4 • Dryland Fluvial and Alluvial Systems

Examines ephemeral streams, alluvial fans, and playas in arid environments. Integrates fluvial and aeolian interactions in dryland sediment budgets.

Lesson 1 • Isostasy and Crustal Adjustment

Analyzes Airy and Pratt isostasy, glacial isostatic adjustment, and erosional unloading. Connects crustal buoyancy to long-term landscape uplift and subsidence.

Lesson 2 • Structural Geomorphology and Rock Control

Assesses how geological structure, lithology, and discontinuities control landform patterns. Enables interpretation of cuestas, hogbacks, and inselbergs from structural evidence.

Lesson 3 • Tectonic Controls on Topography

Covers plate tectonics, fault types, and uplift mechanisms as drivers of relief generation. Establishes the tectonic framework for interpreting mountain and rift landscapes.

Lesson 4 • Drainage Network Response to Tectonics

Examines stream capture, drainage inversion, and knickpoint migration as tectonic responses. Links drainage network geometry to uplift patterns and rock resistance.