Landforms of the World

Catalog description

Geography 115 World Landforms (GN) provides an introduction to the modern geologic study of landforms and the Earth processes responsible for their creation and modification. Emphasis is placed on internal geophysical processes and external landscape responses to tectonic and climatic forcing. The course is structured into three units. The first unit introduces Earth's atmospheric processes. The second unit examines the relationship of water, weather and climate change to the dynamic equilibrium of landforms. The final and largest unit covers tectonics, weathering, mass movement, and fluvial, coastal and glacial processes and their role in shaping the large-scale details of Earth's topography and the geographic distribution of resources. This course includes 2 lecture discussions and weekly laboratory practicums with emphasis on terrain analysis, natural hazards and human adaptation and contribution to landscape change.