Oxford Regional Environments – serie

The Physical Geography of South America presents an enduring statement of the continent's fascinating environments. Written by international specialists, it addresses themes ranging from tectonism and climate change to biotoc endemism; analyzes specific regions from the Amazon forests to the Patagonian steppes; and evaluates human impacts on the environment over time.

This is the third volume in The Oxford Regional Environments series. The series volumes are devoted to major regions of the world, each presenting a detailed and up-to-date body of scientific knowledge concerning a particular region.For most topics on the physical geography of Northern Eurasia abundant literature now exists. Most of it, however, is in Russian and other East European languages and this has significantly limited the number of potential readers. This volume seeks to familiarize, at an international level, those with an interest in this area with the most significant achievements in classical and current geographical research.The Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia covers most of the territory of the former USSR. The first section discusses the individual compenents of the physical environment. These chapters cut across regional boundaries and treate the area discussed as a whole. A regional analysis follows mainly in the context of geographical zonation, though a number of specific regions are given individual treatment. The concluding chapters discuss the effects of anthropogenic activities on the physical environment.The approach is an integrative one, tying together various aspects of the physical environments with the environmental implications of human activites. Every component of the environment is treated as a step in the development of the multi-faceted landscapes which in turn provide possibilities and limitations for cultural and economic usage.

An international team of distinguished scholars have each contributed a chapter to produce an advanced, full length, physical geography of Africa. The first part provides an overview of both pan-Africa patterns in the physical environment and those attributes of African physical geography that are distinctive by considering the development of the main features through time. The authors also provide a synoptic review of Francophone and Anglophone literature on the subject, discuss the present state of knowledge, and set out the work and methods that have created it. This part is followed by a group of chapters that integrate such topics as geomorphology, biogeography, environmental change and hydrology within each of the major biomes - forest, savannah, desert, coast, wetland, mountain, Mediterranean and Rift Valley - found in the African continent. Finally there is a section in which various authors look at topical issues concerned with the impact of human activity on the environment. Conservation and development are considered in the light of issues such as soil erosion, desertification, and biodiversity and biodepletion.The authors have produced this integrated physical geography in honour of A.T. Grove as a durable reference work which gives a new perspective on the continent of Africa.

This is the fifth volume in the Oxford Regional Environments series. The series is devoted to major regions of the world, each presenting a detailed and up-to-date body of scientific knowledge concerning a particular region. Fennoscandia is composed of Finland ('Fennia' in Latin) and the Scandinavian peninsula (Norway and Sweden). A team of experts presents the physical geographical factors which affect and control life in this northern area. The contributors concentrate on topics which are characteristic of the region, scientifically sound, and not necessarily familiar to an international audience, such as land uplift, large drumlin fields and eskers, mires, snow, the timberline, fjords, archipelagos, lakes, scattered frost features, and the biodiversity of conservation.

The Physical Geography of Southeast Asia examines the complex mosaic of physical environments which comprise Southeast Asia, and the current environmental problems and management practices which have arisen in this part of the world. The book is in three sections. The first section introduces the basic environmental components (geology, landforms, rivers, vegetation, and others) across the entire region. The second section discusses specific environments that are characteristic of this assemblage of continental and maritime landscapes (volcanic islands, coastal environment, granitic terrains, karst, etc.). The third and final section illustrates the ecological relationship between the environment and people (volcanic hazards, urban environment, coastal zone development, coral reefs, and others).The physical environment of Southeast Asia is examined at different levels, covering a world region that ranges from ancient, stable landmasses to dynamic, unstable plate boundaries, from aged, primary rainforests to brash, vibrant, resource-demanding built environments. Southeast Asia has been perceived as a laboratory for studying plate tectonics. It is an assemblage of large river basins, peninsulas and archipelagos, and seas surrounded by islands. It is an area of great physical variations where parts of the physical environment have been significantly degraded anthropogenically, following rapid population growth and development. In large parts of the region, the forms and processes on land and offshore should no longer be seen as entirely natural. As this book repeatedly illustrates, plate tectonics and people are both important contributors to the physical geography of Southeast Asia. The contributors to this volume are distinguished, scholarly, and have a long association with Southeast Asia. The chapters are not only skilfully built on state-of-the-art research findings but also include new material from the on-going research activities of the authors. The book goes beyond being the first comprehensive and detailed volume of the biophysical geography of Southeast Asia in that it also deals with the tropical environment and the relationship between environment and people in a rapidly developing world region.

This volume explores the climates, landscapes, ecosystems and hazards that comprise the Mediterranean world. It traces the development of the Mediterranean landscape over very long timescales and examines modern processes and key environmental issues in a wide range of settings. The Mediterranean is the only region on Earth where three continents meet and this interaction has produced a very distinctive Physical Geography. This book examines the landscapes and processes at the margins of these continents and the distinctive marine environment between them. Catastrophic earthquakes, explosive volcanic eruptions and devastating storms and floods are intimately bound up within the history and mythology of the Mediterranean world. This is a key region for the study of natural hazards because it offers unrivalled access to long records of hazard occurrence and impact through documentary, archaeological and geological archives. The Mediterranean is also a biodiversity hotspot; it has been a meeting place for plants, animals and humans from three continents throughout much of its history. The Quaternary records of these interactions are more varied and better preserved than in any other part of the world. These records have provided important new insights into the tempo of climate, landscape and ecosystem change in the Mediterranean region and beyond. The region is unique because of the very early and widespread impact of humans in landscape and ecosystem change - and the richness of the archaeological and geological archives that chronicle this impact. This book examines this history and these interactions and places current environmental issues in long term context. Contributors : Ramadan Husain Abu-Zied Harriet Allen Jacques Blondel Maria-Carmen Llasat James Casford Marc Castellnou Andrew Goudie Andrew Harding Angela Hayes Tom Holt Babette Hoogakker Philip Hughes Jos Lelieveld John Lewin Francisco Lloret Francisco Lopez-Bermudez Mark Macklin Jean Margat Anne Mather Frédéric Médail Christophe Morhange Clive Oppenheimer Jean Palutikof Gerassimos Papadopoulos Josep Piñol David Pyle Jane Reed Neil Roberts Eelco Rohling Iain Stewart Stathis Stiros John Thornes Chronis Tzedakis John Wainwright