Sunday, March 13, 2011

INTRODUCTION TO GEOMORPHOLOGY

Geomorphology comes from three Greek words-"geo" means the earth,"morpho" means form and "discourse" means discuss.Geomorphology is therefore a discourse on earth forms.

The terms geomorphology developed by geologist,probably WJ Mc Gee and Powell in the United States in the 1880.According to Mc Gee(1880)"Geomorphology originally defined as the genetic study of topographic forms.It investigates landforms and thye processes that fashion them.
Forces that works earth surface forms
  1. Endogenous
  2. Exogenous
Endogenous
It originates in the earth interiors.For example-volcanic activities,earthquake etc.It is very fast process

Exogenous
Exogenous force is originated from outer side of the earth.It is very slow process.For example weathering process.

Subject matter 
The subject matter of geomorphology are the earth's physical land surface,its landforms-rivers,hills,plain lands,beach,sand dunes etc.Some workers include submarine landforms,someone would add the landforms of others terrestrial type planets and satellites in the solar system-Mars,The Moon,Venus etc.

Branch of Geomorphology
  1. Qualitative or Descriptive
  2. Quantitative
Again,

Branch of Geomorphology
  1. Climatic Geomorphology
  2. Applied Geomorphology
  3. Environmental Geomorphology
Activities of Applied Geomorphology
  • Coustral erosion and beach management
  • Soil erosion protection
  • River management
  • Floodplain process management
  • The weathering of building
  • River channel restoration 
  • Environmental planing 
  • Environmental management
  • Land management
Geomorphometry is the another branch of geomorphology.It's activities are-
  • Measuring the morphometry of continental ice surface
  • Characterizing glacial troughts
  • Mapping sea floor terrian types
  • Guiding missiles
  • Assesing soil erosion
It also contributes to engineering,transportation,public works and military operation.

Instruments used in Geomorphometry
  • GIS-Geographical Information System
  • EDM-Electronic Distance Measurment
  • DEMs-Digital Elevation Models
  • DTMs-Digital Terrian Models
BOOK REFERENCE
  • Fundamental of Geomorphology-Richard hugget 
  • The Study of Landforms-A Text Book Geomorphology-R.J Smaall
  • Geomorphology Pure and Applied
  • Principles of Physical Geography-A.Das Gopta and A.N. Kapoor
  • Internet 
INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH
greenearthbd.blogspot.com