Study of surface features and processes

Geomorphology

Geomorphology is literally the study of the form or shape of the Earth, but it deals principally with the topographical features of the Earth’s surface. It is concerned with the classification, description, and origin of landforms. The configuration of the Earth’s surface reflects to some degree virtually all of the processes that take place at or close to the surface as well as those that occur deep in the crust. The intricate details of the shape of a mountain range, for example, result more or less directly from the processes of erosion that progressively remove material from the range. The spectrum of erosive processes includes weathering and soil-forming processes and transportation of materials by running water, wind action, and mass movement. Glacial processes have been particularly influential in many mountainous regions. These processes are destructional in the sense that they modify and gradually destroy the previous form of the range. Also important in governing the external shape of the range are the constructional processes that are responsible for uplift of the mass of rock from which the range has been sculptured. A volcanic cone, for example, may be created by the successive outpouring of lava, perhaps coupled with intermittent ejection of volcanic ash and tuff. If the cone has been built up rapidly, so that there has been relatively little time for erosive processes to modify its form, its shape is governed chiefly by the constructional processes involved in the outpouring of volcanic material. But the forces of erosion begin to modify the shape of a volcanic landform almost immediately and continue indefinitely. Thus, at no time can its shape be regarded as purely constructional or purely destructional, for its shape is necessarily a consequence of the interplay of these two major classes of processes.

Investigating the processes that influence landforms is an important aspect of geomorphology. These processes include the weathering caused by the action of solutions of atmospheric carbon dioxide and oxygen in water on exposed rocks; the activity of streams and lakes; the transport and deposition of dust and sand by wind; the movement of material through downhill creep of soil and rock and by landslides and mudflows; and shoreline processes that involve the mechanics and effects of waves and currents. Study of these different types of processes forms subdisciplines that exist more or less in their own right.

Glacial geology

Glacial geology can be regarded as a branch of geomorphology, though it is such a large area of research that it stands as a distinct subdiscipline within the geologic sciences. Glacial geology is concerned with the properties of glaciers themselves as well as with the effects of glaciers as agents of both erosion and deposition. Glaciers are accumulations of snow transformed into solid ice. Important questions of glacial geology concern the climatic controls that influence the occurrence of glaciers, the processes by which snow is transformed into ice, and the mechanism of the flow of ice within glaciers. Other important questions involve the manner in which glaciers serve as erosive agents, not only in mountainous regions but also over large regions where great continental glaciers now extend or once existed. Much of the topography of the northern part of North America and Eurasia, for example, has been strongly influenced by glaciers. In places, bedrock has been scoured of most surficial debris. Elsewhere, deposits of glacial till mantle much of the area. Other extensive deposits include unconsolidated sediments deposited in former lakes that existed temporarily as a result of dams created by glacial ice or by glacial deposits. Many presently existing lakes are of glacial origin as, for example, the Great Lakes.

Research in glacial geology is conducted with a variety of tools. Investigators use, for example, radar techniques to determine the thickness of glaciers. In order to calculate the progressive advance or retreat of glacial masses, they ascertain the age of organic materials associated with glacial moraines by means of isotopic analyses.

Other branches of the geologic sciences are closely linked with glacial geology. In glaciated regions the problems of hydrology and hydrogeology are strongly influenced by the presence of glacial deposits. Furthermore, the suitability of glacial deposits as sites for buildings, roads, and other man-made features is influenced by the mechanical properties of the deposits and by soils formed on them.