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About one-third of the Earth's land surface experiences a desert climate, and this area supports approximately 15% of the planet's population. This percentage continues to grow, and with this growth comes the need to acquire and apply an understanding of desert geomorphology. Such an understanding is vital in managing scarce and fragile resources and in mitigating natural hazards.
This authoritative reference book is comprehensive in its coverage of the geomorphology of desert environments, and is arranged thematically. It begins with an overview of global deserts, proceeds through treatments of weathering, hillslopes, rivers, piedmonts, lake basins, and aeolian surfaces, and concludes with a discussion of the role of climatic change. Written by a team of international authors, all of whom are active in the field, the chapters cover the spectrum of desert geomorphology.
List of contents
Geomorphology of Desert Environments.- Global Deserts and Their Geomorphological Diversity.- Desert Ecogeomorphology.- Weathering.- Weathering Processes and Forms.- Aridic Soils, Patterned Ground, and Desert Pavements.- Duricrusts.- Desert Rock Coatings.- Hillslopes.- Rock Slopes.- Rock-Mantled Slopes.- Badlands and Gullying.- Rivers.- Catchment and Channel Hydrology.- Dryland Rivers: Processes and Forms.- Piedmonts.- Pediments in Arid Environments.- Processes and Forms of Alluvial Fans.- Lake Basins.- Hemiarid Lake Basins: Hydrographic Patterns.- Hemiarid Lake Basins: Geomorphic Patterns.- Aeolian Surfaces.- Aeolian Sediment Transport.- Dune Morphology and Dynamics.- Landforms, Landscapes, and Processes of Aeolian Erosion.- Dust.- Climatic Change.- Rock Varnish and its Use to Study Climatic Change in Geomorphic Settings.- Hillslopes as Evidence of Climatic Change.- River Landforms and Sediments: Evidence of Climatic Change.- The Role of Climatic Change in Alluvial Fan Development.- Evidence for Climate Change From Desert Basin Palaeolakes.- Palaeoclimatic Interpretations From Desert Dunes and Sediments.- Early Humans in Dryland Environments: A Geoarchaeological Perspective.- Cenozoic Climates in Deserts.
Summary
About one-third of the Earth’s land surface experiences a desert climate, and this area supports approximately 15% of the planet’s population. This percentage continues to grow, and with this growth comes the need to acquire and apply an understanding of desert geomorphology. Such an understanding is vital in managing scarce and fragile resources and in mitigating natural hazards.
This authoritative reference book is comprehensive in its coverage of the geomorphology of desert environments, and is arranged thematically. It begins with an overview of global deserts, proceeds through treatments of weathering, hillslopes, rivers, piedmonts, lake basins, and aeolian surfaces, and concludes with a discussion of the role of climatic change. Written by a team of international authors, all of whom are active in the field, the chapters cover the spectrum of desert geomorphology.
