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LANDFORMS


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OVERVIEW

Human involvement in the geomorphic system is extensive, with huge amounts of sediment
derived from human activities being delivered to the oceans. Humans affect weathering, limestone
landscapes, glacial and periglacial landscapes, fluvial landscapes, aeolian landscapes and
coastal landscapes. This chapter examines these human impacts on landforms and land forming
processes.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Human activities have substantial effects on landforms and land-forming processes. This
chapter will help you to understand:

• Why historical buildings in many cites are succumbing to accelerated weathering
• Why limestone landscapes suffer accelerated soil erosion and cave degradation
• How humans alter river regimes and why they need to manage rivers
• How frozen areas of the world are susceptible to direct human impacts and climatic
  warming
• How humans disturb beach sediment supply and what will happen to coastal landscapes if
  the sea level should rise.
  

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SUMMARY

Humans have a great impact on the geomorphic system. Rocks weather faster in cities, causing severe damage to some historic buildings. Limestone landscapes suffer from soil erosion in areas where agricultural practices lead to overgrazing and caves and cave features (stalagmites and so on) may be damaged by the direct (physical damage) and indirect (changing cave atmosphere) effects of cave tourists.

Humans dam, divert and canalize rivers. They may be contributing to the melting of the world’s ice, which is causing severe problems in periglacial regions where the permafrost is thawing. Along coastlines, humans disrupt erosion and deposition regimes directly, by increasing or decreasing the sediment load of rivers and building protective structures, and indirectly by inadvertently driving climatic change in a direction leading to rising sea levels.

QUESTIONS

1. Discuss the problem of accelerated    weathering in cities. 4. Examine the problems of building houses,    roads and railways in permafrost regions. 2. Explain why cave tourism may lead to    cave degradation, and describe remedial    measures. 5. Outline the major changes likely to occur    along coasts if the sea level rises over the    next century and beyond. 3. To what extent do human activities affect     river regimes?

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FURTHER READING

• Bird, E. C. F. (2000) Coastal Geomorphology: An Introduction. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
  A highly readable and excellent text on coastal forms and processes, with information on management problems.
  
• Ford, D. C. and Williams, P. W. (1989) Karst Geomorphology and Hydrology. London: Chapman & Hall.
  An excellent book on karst.
  
• French, H. M. (1996) The Periglacial Environment, 2nd edn. Harlow: Addison-Wesley Longman.
  The best recent account of periglacial landforms and processes.
  
• Gillieson, D. (1996) Caves: Processes, Development and Management. Oxford: Blackwell
  Publishers.
  A superb book on subterranean karst with chapters on management.
  
• Huggett, R. J. (2003) Fundamentals of Geomorphology. London: Routledge.
  An introduction to all aspects of geomorphology.
  
• Thorne, C. R., Hey, R. D. and Newson, M. D. (1997) Applied Fluvial Geomorphology for
  River Engineering and Management. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
  Not a starting text but worth a look.