anthropogeomorphology

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anthropogeomorphology Anthropogeomorphology is the study of the human role in creating landforms and modifying the operation of geomorphological processes such as weathering, erosion, and deposition. The range of the human impact on both forms and process is considerable, and there are very few spheres of human activity which do not, even indirectly, create landforms. It is useful, however, to recognize that some features are produced by direct anthropogenic processes. They tend to be relatively obvious in form and are frequently created deliberately and knowingly. They include landforms produced by construction (e.g. spoil tips, embankments), landforms produced by excavation (e.g. open-cast mines etc.), landforms produced by hydrological interference (e.g. canals) and landforms produced by farming (e.g. terraces). Table1 lists some of the major anthropogeomorphic processes.

Landforms produced by indirect anthropogenic processes are often less easy to recognize, not least because they tend to involve, not the operation of a new process or processes, but the acceleration of natural processes. They are the result of environmental changes brought about inadvertently by human technology. None the less, it is probably this indirect and inadvertent modification of process and form which is the most crucial aspect of anthropogeomorphology. By removing natural vegetation cover—through the agency of cutting, burning and grazing—humans have accelerated erosion and sedimentation. Sometimes the results will be obvious; for example when major gully systems rapidly develop. Other results may have less immediate effect on landforms but are, nevertheless, of great importance. By other indirect means humans can create subsidence features, trigger mass movements such as landslides, and even influence the occurrence of phenomena such as earthquakes.

Table 1 Major anthropogeomorphic processes

Table 2 Some geomorphological consequences of global warming

Andrew S. Goudie

Bibliography

Goudie, A. S. (1999) The human impact on the natural environment (5th edn). Blackwell, Oxford.

anthropogeomorphology The study of those land-forms and processes that are a direct result of human activity, including accelerated erosion, channelized river channels (i.e. rivers made to flow along fixed, sometimes concrete-lined channels), the melting of permafrost, and ground subsidence caused by the extraction of water or minerals. Particular examples include the Norfolk Broads, England, which are essentially flooded peat quarries, and the Zuider Zee, whose damming has had a major impact on the coastal morphology of the Netherlands.

anthropogeomorphology The study of those land-forms and processes that are a direct result of human activity, including accelerated erosion, channelized river channels (i.e. rivers made to flow along fixed, sometimes concrete-lined, channels), the melting of permafrost, and ground subsidence due to the extraction of water or minerals. Particular examples include the Norfolk Broads, England, which are essentially flooded peat quarries, and the Zuider Zee, whose damming has had a major impact on the coastal morphology of the Netherlands.