Geomorphology GLG362/598
• Instructor: Kelin X. Whipple, kxw@asu.edu,
ISTB4-777 (5-9508)
• TA: Andrew Darling, aldarlin@asu.edu, ISTB4603
• Office Hours TBA
• Your Info (please jot down and hand in)
–
–
–
–
Year and Primary Interest (major/research focus)
Math/Physics/Geomorphology background
Software experience (ArcGIS, Excel, Matlab, SSH)
Own a laptop for in class use?
• If yes, prefer local install Aps, or use MyApps
online?
– Reminder LAB: 1:15-3:15 Wed in H461
Geomorphology GLG362/598
• Process-based instruction.
– Textbook is complementary. I do not survey different
landscapes (desert, coastal, permafrost, alpine, etc):
Hillslopes, Channels (glaciers), +/- Floodplains
– Teach how to think about all landscapes
– How to read a landscape, how to proceed with a
quantitative analysis
• Project-based course
– Hydrology; Hillslopes and Channel Heads; Alluvial
Fans; Fluvial Processes; Landscape Evolution
• Project Reports (no exams)
– Every other lab -- 4 page (single, 12 point) plus
figures, maps, cross-sections, calculations.
– START EARLY, STAY ON SCHEDULE
Geomorphology GLG362/598
• Field Trips
– Depart EARLY – 7:30am; We Provide Vehicles; No
Make Ups
– #1 Sept 19-20 (Camping); Flagstaff Volcanic Field
– #2 October 9,10, or 11 (Fri, Sat, or Sun); Verde River
Hydraulics
• Practical Skills
–
–
–
–
–
ArcGIS, Matlab/Excel
Airphoto Interpretation/ Mapping Surficial Units
Surveying (basics)
Stream gaging
DEM Analysis
• A Few Grads: same exercises, different
expectations
Geomorphology GLG362/598
• Textbook
– Geomorphology: The Mechanics and Chemistry of
Landscapes, Anderson and Anderson, Cambridge
University Press, 2010.
• Class Website (not Blackboard)
• http://whipple362.asu.edu/index.html
• Motivations for Study of Surface Processes
– First Wave Climate Science Completed: climate is changing, causes
known
– Second Wave Coming: what are consequences, how respond?
– Landuse Change plausibly even more dramatic
– Prediction: Need Quantitative Understanding of Processes / Record of
Past Conditions/Responses
– Earth System Response to Past Changes?
– Record of Past Conditions (Tectonics, Climate) Preserved in
Landscapes: Long Term Landscape Evolution
Geomorphology GLG362/598
• Labs
– First Lab Wednesday, Rm H461
– Topic is Landuse and Hydrology
– Learn to Use ArcGIS
• Lab 1 has 3 parts, Lab 1a deliverable due this
Friday (nothing major – just need to keep pace
with learning Arc)
• Last Weekend’s Homework
– Read Chapter 1 (pg 3-9) and Essay on “Landscapes
and Geologic History” by Allen (3p), posted on class
website (http://whipple362.asu.edu/index.html)
– Class Discussion and/or Quiz : Questions?
Taiwan Topography and Geology
Orogenic WedgeTheory:
Strong Climate-Tectonics Coupling
Mechanics of Deformation: Theory for Control of Orogen
Width; Strain Concentration Stolar et al, 2006 Penrose Volume
DESERT
Deflected Rivers
JUNGLE
~12m Annual Rainfall
TRMM Rainfall Map
Numerical Simulations:
Strong Climate-Tectonics Coupling
Willett, 1999 JGR
Beaumont et al., 2001
Nature
Overview/Guidelines (Chapter 1)
• Many interacting processes: wind, rain, runoff,
ice, heat/cool, freeze/thaw, chemical attack – all
modualted by life; all event-driven, variable
• Our Approach:
• Conservation (of mass [water, sediment, atoms],
energy, momentum)
• Transport Rules (flow of water ice, transport of
sediment, etc)
• Event Size, Frequency and Duration (storms,
floods, climate variations, etc)