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Preface ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3 Prologue: Why Physical Geography? ………………………………………………………………………………. 7 Part I: Earth history and climate ……………………………………………………………………………………… 10 Chapter 1: Geological time ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 10 Entropy ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10 No sight of a beginning, no sight of an end ……………………………………………………………….. 11 Earth’s origin story ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 14 Further reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16 Chapter 2: Earth’s internal heat engine ………………………………………………………………………….. 18 Paradigms and shifting science ………………………………………………………………………………….. 18 Plate tectonics ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 19 Isostasy …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 22 Supercontinents again …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 23 Further reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24 Chapter 3: Volcanoes ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 26 Distribution in space and time …………………………………………………………………………………….. 26 All in the eruption …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 28 Further reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 31 Chapter 4: Earth’s external heat engine …………………………………………………………………………. 32 Source, receptor, and filter ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 32 Earth’s heat engine ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 35 Earth’s air conditioning systems ………………………………………………………………………………… 42 Further reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 42 Chapter 5: Climate change is normal ……………………………………………………………………………… 43 Climate and earth history …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 43 Evidence for Climate Change ………………………………………………………………………………………. 45 Mechanisms of climate change …………………………………………………………………………………… 49 Landscape and land-sea distribution (1) …………………………………………………………………….. 50 Ocean basins (2) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 51 Solar input (3) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 52 Atmospheric content (4) ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 53 Planetary-scale feedbacks …………………………………………………………………………………………… 55 Cenozoic climate change …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 57 5 Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 62 Further reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 63 Part II: Shaping the landscape ………………………………………………………………………………………… 66 Chapter 6: The landscape beneath our feet …………………………………………………………………… 66 Rocks and minerals ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 67 Natural decay ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 68 Soils ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 73 Further reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 76 Chapter 7: Gravity and slopes ………………………………………………………………………………………… 77 Forces on a clast(s), or rock slope ……………………………………………………………………………… 77 Mass movement ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 79 Further reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 82 Chapter 8: Flowing water ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 83 All about rain ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 83 Water on hillslopes ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 88 Surface hydrology ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 92 Channel flow …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 94 Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 100 Further reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 100 Chapter 9: Flowing Ice …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 102 Physics of glaciers ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 103 Glacial erosion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 106 Glacier transport …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 109 Depositional landsystems ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 109 Further reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 113 Chapter 10: Coastal processes ……………………………………………………………………………………… 115 Importance of tides …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 116 Making waves ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 117 Dancing beaches ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 120 Cliffs, Shore Platforms and Erosion ………………………………………………………………………….. 123 Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 126 Further reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 126 Chapter 11: Landscapes around us ……………………………………………………………………………… 128 British Landscapes …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 128 6 Amazonia …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 135 Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 136 Figure Sources ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 138
