Undergraduate Course: Landscape Dynamics - techniques and applications (GEGR10108)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Geography |
Other subject area | Environmental Courses |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The form of terrestrial landscapes results primarily from the competition between tectonic and erosion forces. These forces operate over a variety of spatial and temporal scales. For example, plate tectonics dictate where mountain belts are created but their overall form is controlled by interactions with processes at the Earth¿s surface e.g. erosion processes. Exploring how and at what scale these interactions occur is at the centre of understanding key characteristics of Earth¿s landscape. The course describes specific techniques widely used to determine rates of change in the landscape and examines specific case studies where they have been applied.
The focus is primarily on active mountain belts where the interactions of tectonic activity and climate are well documented.
REPLACES: GEGR10034 Macrogeomorphology
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed
Earth Dynamics (EASC08001)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: 35 |
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Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
13/01/2014 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Additional Notes |
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. 1. To develop a detailed, integrated understanding of the interactions between tectonic and erosion forces at a variety of scales.
2. 2. To assess, critically analyse and understand the temporal and spatial variation of key processes that sculpt the landscape.
3. 3. To obtain a detailed, critical understanding of key techniques (some of which are relatively specialised) used to obtain rate information and be able to analyse and interpret results.
4. 4. To explore feedbacks in the Earth system. |
Assessment Information
Class assessment: 1 practical (date to be arranged), student presentations (week 5)
Degree assessment: One 2000 word essay ¿ 40%; One 2 hour examination ¿ 60%
Overall mark for the course (ie degree coursework and examinations) of at least 40
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Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
This course provides an introduction to key topics in macrogeomorphology and explores specific research issues primarily in tectonic geomorphology in more depth by first investigating common dating techniques and then looking at specific applications. Case studies will be used throughout. Course reading for each lecture is important to your successful participation in this course.
Each lecture will require reading of one scientific paper in preparation for a class discussion. The paper will be assigned at the end of the preceding lecture.
Note the following journals should be looked at for articles relevant to this option:
Basin Research; Earth and Planetary Science Letters; Earth Surface Processes and Landforms; Geology; Geomorphology; Journal of Geophysical Research (Solid Earth and Earth Surface); Nature; Nature Geoscience; Science; Terra Nova.
Lecture 1: Introduction: tools, approaches, concepts and controversies
¿ Brocklehurst S.H. (2010) Tectonics and geomorphology. Progress in Physical Geography, 34 (3), pp. 357-383.
¿ Dadson, S.J., (2010). Geomorphology and Earth system science. Progress in Physical Geography, 34(3) 385¿398.
¿ Reiners, P.W. & Brandon, M.T. (2006) Using thermochronology to understand orogenic erosion, Annual Reviews of Earth & Planetary Sciences, 34, 419-466.
¿ Molnar, P., England, P. (1990) Late Cenozoic uplift of mountain ranges and global climatic change: Chicken or Egg? Nature, 346, 29-34.
Lecture 2: Long term denudation rates: thermochronology
¿ Low temperature thermochronology: Techniques, interpretations, and applications. Reviews in Mineralogy & Geochemistry, v. 58, 2005.
¿ Farley et al., 2002. Post-10Ma uplift and exhumation of the northern Coast Mountains, British Columbia. Geology, v.29, p. 99-102.
¿ Kirstein et al., 2009. Cenozoic unroofing of the Ladakh batholith, western Himalaya constrained by thermochronology and numerical modelling. Journal of the Geological Society, London, v.166, p.667-678.
¿ Reiners et al., 2003. Post-orogenic evolution of the Dabie Shan, eastern China, from U-Th/He and fission track thermochronology. American Journal of Science, v. 303, p. 489-518.
Lecture 3: Intermediate to modern denudation rates: cosmogenic isotope analysis, sediment load
¿ Cockburn, H.A.P. & Summerfield, M.A. 2004. Geomorphological applications of cosmogenic isotope analysis. Progress in Physical Geography, 28, 1-42.
¿ Granger et al. 1996. Spatially averaged long-term erosion rates measured from in situ produced cosmogenic nuclides in alluvial sediments. Journal of Geology, 104, 249-257.
¿ Binnie, S.A., Phillips, W.M., Summerfield, M.A., Fifield, L.K., and Spotila, J.A. (2008) Patterns of denudation through time in the San Bernardino Mountains, California: Implications for early-stage orogenesis: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 276, 62-72.
¿ Bierman, P.R., Nichols, K.K. (2004) Rock to sediment-slope to sea with 10Be¿rates of landscape change. Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 32, 215¿255.
¿ Hancock, G.S., Anderson, R.S., Chadwick, O.A., Finkel, R.C. (1999) Dating fluvial terraces using 10Be and 26Al profiles: application to the Wind River, Wyoming. Geomorphology 27, 41¿60.
¿ Schaller, M., von Blanckenburg, F., Hovius, N., Kubik, P.W. (2001) Large-scale erosion rates from in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides in European river sediments. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 188, 441¿458.
Lecture 4: Landscape evolution in active orogens case study Taiwan
¿ Fuller, C.W., Willett, S.D., Fisher, D. & Lu, C.Y. (2006) A thermomechanical wedge model of Taiwan constrained by fission-track thermochronometry: Tectonophysics, 425, 1-24.
¿ Dadson, S.J., Hovius, N., Chen, H., Dade, B., Hsieh, M.-L., Willett, S.D., Hu, J.-C., Horng, M.-J., Chen, M.-C., Stark, C.P., Lague, D. & Lin, J.-C. (2003) Links between erosion, runoff variability and seismicity in the Taiwan orogen. Nature, 426, 648-651.
¿ Dadson, S. J., Hovius, N., Chen, H., Dade, B., Lin, J.C., Hsu, M.L., Lin, C.W., Horng, M.J., Chen, T.C., Milliman, J. & Stark, C.P. (2004). Earthquake-triggered increase in sediment delivery from an active mountain belt. Geology 32, 733-736.;
¿ Lee, Y.-H., Chen, C.-C., Liu, T.-K., Ho, H.-C., Lu, H.-Y. & Lo, W. (2006) Mountain building mechanisms in the Southern Central Range of the Taiwan Orogenic Belt ¿ From accretionary wedge deformation to arc¿continental collision. Earth Planetary. Science. Letters, 252, 413-422.
¿ Schaller, M., Hovius, N., Wilett, S.D., Ivy-Ochs, S., Synal, H.-A. & Chen, M.-C. (2005) Fluvial bedrock incision in the active mountain belt of Taiwan from in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides. Earth Surfure Processes & Landforms 30, 955-971.
¿ Willett, S.D., Fisher, D., Fuller, C., En-Chao, Y. & YU, L. (2003) Erosion rates and orogenic-wedge kinematics in Taiwan inferred from fission-track thermochronometry. Geology 31, 945-948
Lecture 6: Erosion in mountains, isostasy, mountain roots, steady state concept
¿ Willett, S.D., Brandon, M (2002) On steady state in mountain belts. Geology 30, 175-178.
¿ Whipple, K. X., Kirby, E. & Brocklehurst, S. H. (1999) Geomorphic limits to climate induced increases in topographic relief. Nature 401, 39¿43.
¿ Whipple, K. X. (2009) The influence of climate on the tectonic evolution of mountain belts. Nature Geosci. 2, 97¿104.
¿ Brozovic, N., Burbank, D. & Meigs, A. Climatic limits on landscape development in the northwestern Himalaya. Science 276, 571¿574 (1997).
¿ Mitchell, S. G. & Montgomery, D. R. (2006) Influence of a glacial buzzsaw on the height and morphology of the Cascade Range in central Washington State, USA. Quat. Res. 65, 96¿107.
¿ Berger, A. L. & Spotila, J. A. (2008) Denudation and deformation in a glaciated orogenic wedge: the St. Elias orogen, Alaska. Geology 36, 523¿526.
Lecture 7: Detrital record of orogenesis ¿ reconstructing the past
¿ Carter, A. & Moss, S.J. (1999) Combined detrital-zircon fission-track and U-Pb dating: A new approach to understanding hinterland evolution. Geology 27, 235-238.
¿ Garver, J.I., Brandon, M.T., Roden-Tice, M. & Kamp, P.J.J. (1999) Exhumation history of the orogenic highlands determined by detrital fission-track thermochcronology. In: Exhumation Processes: Normal faulting, ductile flow and erosion. Edited by Ring, U., Brandon, M.T., Lister, G.S. & Willett, S.D., Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Pub. 154, 283-304.
¿ Kirstein, LA, Fellin, MG, Willett, SD, Carter, A, Chen, YG, Lee, DC. (2010) Pliocene onset of rapid exhumation in Taiwan during arc-continent collision: new insights from detrital thermochronometry. Basin Research, 22, 270-285. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2009.00426.x.
¿ Najman, Y. (2006) The sediment record of orogenesis: a review of approaches and techniques used in the Himalaya. Earth Science Reviews, 74, 1-72.
Lecture 8: Fluvial erosion and sediment dynamics in mountain rivers
¿ Cowie, P.A., Whittaker, A.C., Attal, M., Roberts, G.P., Tucker G.E., and Ganas, A. (2008) New constraints on sediment-flux-dependent river incision: Implications for extracting tectonic signals from river profiles. Geology, 36 (7), 535-538, doi: 10.1130/G24681A.1.
¿ Lavé, J. & Avouac, J.-P. (2001) Fluvial incision and tectonic uplift across the Himalayas of central Nepal. Journal of Geophysical Research, 106, 26,561¿26,591.
¿ Sklar, L. S., and W. E. Dietrich (2001) Sediment and rock strength controls on river incision into bedrock. Geology, 29, 1087¿1090.
¿ Sklar, L. S., and W. E. Dietrich (2004) A mechanistic model for river incision into bedrock by saltating bed load. Water Resour. Res., 40, W06301, doi:10.1029/2003WR002496.
Lecture 9: Weathering and hillslope processes
¿ Berner, R.A., Lasaga, A.C. and Garrels, R.M., 1983. The Carbonate-Silicate Geochemical Cycle and Its Effect on Atmospheric Carbon-Dioxide over the Past 100 Million Years. American Journal of Science, 283(7): 641-683.
¿ Raymo, M.E. and Ruddiman, W.F., 1992. Tectonic Forcing of Late Cenozoic Climate. Nature, 359(6391): 117-122.
¿ West, A.J., Galy, A. and Bickle, M., 2005. Tectonic and climatic controls on silicate weathering. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 235(1-2): 211-228.
¿ Molnar, P., England, P., 1990, LATE CENOZOIC UPLIFT OF MOUNTAIN-RANGES AND GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE - CHICKEN OR EGG Nature, 346(6279), 29-34.
¿ Gabet EJ, Mudd SM., 2009, A theoretical model coupling chemical weathering rates with denudation rates. Geology, 37, 2, 151-154.
Lecture 10: Tectonics from topography
¿ Kirby, E., and K. Whipple (2001) Quantifying differential rock-uplift rates via stream profile analysis. Geology, 29, 415-418.
¿ Kirby, E., K.X. Whipple, W.Q. Tang, and Z.L. Chen (2003) Distribution of active rock uplift along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: Inferences from bedrock channel longitudinal profiles. J. Geophys. Res., 108, 2217, doi:10.1029/2001JB000861.
¿ Whittaker, A. C., M. Attal, P. A. Cowie, G. E. Tucker, and G. P. Roberts (2008) Decoding temporal and spatial patterns of fault uplift using transient river long profiles. Geomorphology, 100, 506¿526, doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.01.018.
¿ Wobus, C., K. X. Whipple, E. Kirby, N. Snyder, J. Johnson, K. Spyropolou, B. Crosby, and D. Sheehan (2006) Tectonics from topography: procedures, promise, and pitfalls. Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Pap. 398, 55¿74.
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| Transferable skills |
1. To develop skills of data analysis and critical analysis
2. To improve presentation skills so students are comfortable presenting on a specialised topic to an informed audience
3. To develop the skills needed to produce a coherent, logical written report based on background reading and library based research
4. To develop the skill of making judgements when information comes from a range of sources
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| Reading list |
See syllabus above.
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Geomorphology; thermochronology; cosmogenic nuclides; tectonics; climate; erosion. |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Linda Kirstein
Tel:
Email: linda.kirstein@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Beth Muir
Tel: (0131 6)50 9847
Email: beth.muir@ed.ac.uk |
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