Overview

Geomorphology
Course Information
Resources
Textbook: Huggett, R.J., 2011. Fundamentals of
Geomorphology, 3rd edition. Routledge, New York,
516 pp.
Course website: facultyweb.kpu.ca/~jkoch/geog2320.htm
ME!: in class OR during office hours
Office: R2215
Email: [email protected]
Yours truely
Research interests are climate change and
glacier history.
Have taught numerous courses, including this
one, before.
Worked on an icebreaker as staff geologist
along the westcoast of South America,
in Antarctica, and the North Atlantic.
Want to make this your course, so I listen to
constructive criticism and suggestions.
Everything’s possible, but cheating and
plagiarism are where the fun ends!
I try to be laid-back, but you will have to do
the work to get a good grade!
What do you expect?
Why did you sign up for this course?
What do you want to learn?
Have you background in geology/geography?
To make my life easier, I’d like each of you to come to my office and
introduce yourself during office hours.
Course Information
Course Information
Geomorphology Log
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Throughout the semester (September 6 - December 5, 2016), students will be
asked to collect information about earth science that is reported in the news. The log
should include stories related to earth science as covered in class (e.g., new
research findings, earthquakes, volcanic eruption, floods, etc.). You should probably
have one entry per week, and make it a story that resonates with or interests you.
The typewritten log will be handed in the day of the last class (Dec 1), and should
be submitted by email as electronic file.
Geomorphology Log
The final typewritten geomorphology log should include the following information:
–  Topic (glacier fluctuations, flood, hurricane, etc.)
–  Date (be specific; if there is a start and end date, list both; if there is a time,
mention it)
–  Location (be specific; countries like ours are big, so a country name may not be
a sufficient location)
–  Why was it reported in the news? (impact on ecology, economy, humans, etc.;
provide specific information, such as total economic loss due to property damage,
casualties; or for topics not related to hazards, think of events like climate change
talks, policy decisions on tar sand exploration, etc.)
–  Sources of information (newspaper/magazine articles, television/radio reports,
internet URLs; they need to be reliable, so someone’s twitter, blog, instagram, etc.
should not be your source of information; be specific here, cbc.ca is not enough)
Geomorphology Log
Entries in the log should be in chronological order and part of the grade will be based
on its organisation. Make the instructor's life easy...appearance does count!
While teamwork is encouraged, the log must be yours, written in your own words.
Logs that are exact copies will not be marked.
Cutting and pasting information straight from the Web is not acceptable!!!
Grading the Geomorphology log
In order to grade the logs, I will go through each log and identify all entries. Every entry
will count if there was enough information for me to reasonably assume that the entry is
valid, or if you provided a source that I can go to verify the information. Up to 70% will be
awarded for selecting relevant events, up to 20% will be awarded for the description for
each entry, and up to 10% for the presentation and appearance of your log.
Term project - presentations
Each student has to give a 15 minutes presentation during the semester. You can
choose from any topic we cover in class. The individual topic is up to you but you need
to consult me when choosing a topic. If you have a hard time finding a topic, come see
me. I want to know your topic no later than two weeks before the presentation is due.
Term project - posters
Prepare posters in PowerPoint and provide the original file as well as a pdf file. Easiest
to send them by email, or, if they are too big, by using a free service like yousendit.com
or sendspace.com. Do not include a reference list on the poster, but provide a separate
word document with the list. You can find information on using PowerPoint for posters
here:
http://www.apsnet.org/meetings/annual/callpapers/Documents/
CreatePosterPowerPoint.pdf
http://sph.washington.edu/practicum/ppposter.asp
Term project - posters
Figures and tables are necessary as the poster should be visually appealing, but there
also needs to be enough text to give me the impression that you understand the
background. The content of the poster will make up 85%, the presentation the remaining
15%, so the visual presentation, clarity, but also syntax and expression are important.
For your research on your term project use the Library resources such as CGRG
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology, EBSCO, and JSTOR to get you started. The
poster/presentation must be your own work. Be aware of the contents of KPU’s policy on
academic honesty and the consequences for its violation (see below).
Fieldtrip
There is a mandatory fieldtrip on October 29. We will leave at 9am and return sometime
around 7pm. Our destination is the Sea-to-Sky Highway to discuss most of the lanscape
processes we will discuss during the semester.. This will be a great experience to
actually see several aspects of what we will have talked about in class. If you cannot
partake in this fieldtrip due to other obligations, please inform me within the first two
weeks of the semester. There will be more information as we approach the date.
Overview
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Divergent Plate Boundaries
Transform Plate Boundaries
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One major fault or series of faults
Shallow quakes
They migrate and move terranes from one area to another
Faults can connect ridge to trench or trench to trench
Convergent Plate Boundaries
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Ocean-Continent
–  Accretionary
wedge
–  e.g. W. South
America
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Ocean-Ocean
–  Volcanic island
arcs
–  e.g. Japan,
Marianas
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Continent-Continent
–  Crust shortens or
thickens
–  e.g. Himalayas
Convergent Plate Boundaries
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Volcanoes: general features
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Crater - steep walled depression at the summit, generally <1km
Vent - opening connected to the magma chamber via a pipe
Calderas: Mt. Mazama
Physical weathering
･ physical weathering is the disintegration of
rock and soil aggregates, by physical
(mechanical) processes acting primarily on
pre-existing fractures (e.g. joints, cracks
between mineral grains); reduces size of
fragments according to rock and soil
structure (producing grains, crystals,
blocks, slabs, etc.), with no change in
composition
Chemical weathering
•  chemical weathering is the decomposition
of soil and rock (change in composition) by
biochemical processes
•  weathering pits form where water collects
and accentuates rates of chemical
weathering
Soils
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Karst processes
Carbon dioxide in water when
in contact with limestone
over time will dissolve the
rock
Often not visible at the surface
but only to the trained eye
Most famous for big cave
systems underground and
tower karst in SE Asia
Karst landforms
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Mass Wasting: Gravity at Work
•  3 main factors:
–  Nature of slope
–  Amount of water
–  Steepness &
instability of slope
Consolidated (Rock) Mass Movements
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Rockslides
Rock avalanches
Frank, 1903
36x106 m3
Location, location, location…
Cantagalo Rock
Rio de Janeiro
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Periglacial processes
Significance of permafrost
•  confines water and frost to the
active layer between the permafrost
table and the ground surface
•  descent of the freezing plane from
the surface pressurizes the soil
water, reducing the freezing
temperature and maintaining the
thawed (active) during fall freeze up
•  the growth and decay of segregated
ground ice causes heave and
subsidence
Periglacial landforms
Pingos
•  large ice-cored hills, 10s m high and
up to 1200 m in diameter
•  as the ground is heaved by the growth
of the segregated ice, the tensile
stress causes it to crack, exposing the
ice core and leading to the degradation
of the pingo; thus a crater is a common
feature
Rock glaciers
•  thick deposits of rock debris that move
as the result of an ice core or
interstitial ice
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Meanders
Meanders
Can lead to formation of
meander cutoffs, ie
oxbow lakes
meander scars
Depositional Terraces
Tread formed by uneroded
surface or valley fill
Capping alluvium of variable
thickness (thickness greater
than scouring depth of river)
Underlying surface does not
mirror tread
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Aeolian processes and landforms
In dry areas wind is a critical process for
shaping the landscape
Scales range from cm to 10s-100 km
The processes are easily observed on
windy days in snow
Aeolian processes and landforms
In some areas evidence for past
aeolian processes are preserved in
rocks
Tells us about paleoenvironment (dry,
windy)
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Types of Coasts
Difference between…
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Primary coasts
Secondary coasts
Beach Dynamics
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Natural processes
–  Waves
•  Onshore and longshore transport
•  Swash zone
Sea Level Change
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Evidence of past sea-level
Sea Level Change
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Implications of sea-level change
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PN
Deglaciation of South America
Formation of the Great Lakes
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Formed during and after the end
of the Last Glacial Maximum
(<14,000 years)
Meltwater from Laurentide
Icesheet filled depressions
carved by ice
Basic Glaciology
Glacial landforms - Erosion
Fiord
U-Valley
Glacial landforms - Deposition
Drumlin
Kettle
Deglaciation of North America
Glaciers in the 20th century
Coast Mountains
1928/29
2002
Patagonian Andes
Alps
1929
Zangl and Hamberger 2004
2000
1978
Glaciers in the future
2000
Glaciers in the tropical Andes: La Paz - Zongo Glacier
75% of electric power from hydropower plants in the Zongo Valley
During dry season (April - November [monthly precipitation: 10 - 40
mm) Zongo Glacier provides 50 to 120 l/s of water.
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