Olav Slaymaker - Böcker

Mountains represent one of the most inspiring and attractive natural features on the surface of the earth. Visually, they dominate the landscape. However, the increasing realization of the fragility of mountain areas because of changes in land use, management and climate, combined with an understanding of their importance for water and other natural resources, has resulted in a growing interest in mountain environments in recent years. Hence, Mountain Geomorphology represents a timely and unique contribution to the literature. Written by a team of international experts, this book is divided into three sections, which consider historical, functional and applied mountain geomorphology from both global and local perspectives. Historical mountain geomorphology focuses on the evolution of landforms. Functional mountain geomorphology emphasises the interaction between processes and landforms, while applied mountain geomorphology concerns the interrelationships between geomorphological processes and society. Mountain Geomorphology is a valuable source of information for students studying mountain geomorphology, and also for academics and research scientists interested in mountain environments.

This volume, also available as part of the collection "Geomorphology: Critical Concepts in Geography" [set ISBN 0-415-27608-X], constitutes an instant archive of esential benchmark papers and makes available in one place key published material on its area.

Demonstrates that the land-based geomorphological evidence of environmental change from late Pleistocene, Holocene, historical and contemporary time periods remain central to a full understanding of global environmental change both at the global and regional scale.* Includes case studies from Europe, North America and Asia

Steepland geomorphology concerns high gradient landscapes which are either tectonically active or influenced by volcanism and where there is a perceived close relationship between soils, incomplete vegetation cover, recent geomorphic processes and associated landforms. Such areas are difficult to manage because of their high variability in terms of natural stability and because of inadequate theory and models. This book, through thirteen independent steepland field investigations, illustrates the differing conceptual frameworks that are used at four different temporal scales of investigation. The first four investigations, from Southern Africa, the Yukon Territory, the German Alps and Colombia, define relevant temporal scales. The other investigations concern the sediment production problem in Spitzbergen and northern Norway, sediment storage phenomena in Iceland, Bolivia, the Himalayas and the Apennines, and methods of interpreting environmental change from Japan, the Canadian Rockies, Ecuador and Bolivia.

How will global environmental change affect the landscape and our interaction with it? Apart from climate change, there are other important catalysts of landscape change, including relief, hydroclimate and runoff, sea level variations and human activity. This volume summarises the geomorphic implications of global environmental change, analysing such effects on lakes, rivers, coasts, reefs, rainforests, savannas, deserts, glacial features, and mountains. Providing a benchmark statement from the world's leading geomorphologists on the state of, and potential changes to, the environment, this book is invaluable for advanced courses on geomorphology and environmental science, and as a reference for research scientists. Interdisciplinary in scope, with a primary audience of Earth and environmental scientists, geographers, geomorphologists and ecologists, it also has a wider reach to those concerned with the social, economic and political issues raised by global environmental change, and is useful to policy makers and environmental managers.

Mountains represent one of the most inspiring and attractive natural features on the surface of the earth. Visually, they dominate the landscape. However, the increasing realization of the fragility of mountain areas because of changes in land use, management and climate, combined with an understanding of their importance for water and other natural resources, has resulted in a growing interest in mountain environments in recent years. Hence, Mountain Geomorphology represents a timely and unique contribution to the literature. Written by a team of international experts, this book is divided into three sections, which consider historical, functional and applied mountain geomorphology from both global and local perspectives. Historical mountain geomorphology focuses on the evolution of landforms. Functional mountain geomorphology emphasises the interaction between processes and landforms, while applied mountain geomorphology concerns the interrelationships between geomorphological processes and society. Mountain Geomorphology is a valuable source of information for students studying mountain geomorphology, and also for academics and research scientists interested in mountain environments.

This is the first textbook to consider all aspects of the cryosphere system in the context of global environmental change driven by human activity and climate. Considers all six aspects of the cryosphere – ice sheets, glacier ice, permafrost, river and lake ice, sea ice and snow – in the context of global environmental change driven by human activity and climate.Describes a new concept of cryosphere transience and landscape transition which links climate, hydrology, ecology and geomorphology.Looks at the evidence, process, and patterns of cryosphere change, on local and global scales.Provides a wealth of data to inform the current global environmental change debate.Additional resources for this book can be found at: bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=index&bcsId=5064&itemId=140512976X

This critical book focuses on the geomorphological landscapes of eastern Canada and provides a companion volume to “Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada” (2017). There are a number of unique characteristics of eastern Canada’s landscapes, notably its magnificent coastlines, the extraordinary variety and extent of wetlands, the huge Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin, the high incidence of meteorite craters, the spectacular Niagara Falls, urban karst in Montreal and Ottawa, youthful, glaciated karst in Ontario, Newfoundland, Quebec and Nova Scotia, the ubiquitous permafrost terrain of Nunavut, Labrador and northern Quebec and the magnificent arctic fjords and glaciers.Looking at coastlines, the tidal extremes of the Bay of Fundy are world renowned; the structural complexity of the island of Newfoundland is less well known, but produces an astounding variety of coastlines in close succession; the arctic fjordlands of Baffin and Ellesmere islands and the extravagant raised beaches of Hudson Bay bear comparison with the classic fjords of Norway and the Baltic Sea raised beaches. As for wetlands, there are distinctive Arctic, Subarctic, Boreal, Eastern Temperate and Atlantic wetlands, and their extent is second only to those of Russia. In the Hudson and James Bay regions, between 75-100% of the terrestrial surface is comprised of wetlands. One of North America’s largest river basins, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin, has its source in Minnesota, straddles the USA-Canada border and debouches into Quebec as the St. Lawrence River and evolves through its estuary into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a journey of almost 5,000 km. As far as meteorite craters are concerned, 10% of the world’s total are located in eastern Canada, including some of the largest and most complex landforms. They are preserved preferentially in the ancient Shield terrain of Quebec. Finally, the three million km² of permafrost controlled relief in eastern Canada serves as a reminder of the vulnerability of eastern Canada’s landscapes to climate change. Effects of warming are expressed through thawing of the permafrost, disruption of transportation corridors and urban construction problems, ever-present geomorphic hazards.

This is the only book to focus on the geomorphological landscapes of Canada West. It outlines the little-appreciated diversity of Canada’s landscapes, and the nature of the geomorphological landscape, which deserves wider publicity. Three of the most important geomorphological facts related to Canada are that 90% of its total area emerged from ice-sheet cover relatively recently, from a geological perspective; permafrost underlies 50% of its landmass and the country enjoys the benefits of having three oceans as its borders: the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Canada West is a land of extreme contrasts — from the rugged Cordillera to the wide open spaces of the Prairies; from the humid west-coast forests to the semi-desert in the interior of British Columbia and from the vast Mackenzie river system of the to small, steep, cascading streams on Vancouver Island. The thickest Canadian permafrost is found in the Yukon and extensive areas of the Cordillera are underlain by sporadic permafrost side-by-side with the never-glaciated plateaus of the Yukon. One of the curiosities of Canada West is the presence of volcanic landforms, extruded through the ice cover of the late Pleistocene and Holocene epochs, which have also left a strong imprint on the landscape. The Mackenzie and Fraser deltas provide the contrast of large river deltas, debouching respectively into the Arctic and Pacific oceans.