Latest Geomorphology Stories
University of Oregon-led study in the Umpqua River Valley provides a pointer for river conservation efforts A study of the Umpqua River basin in the Oregon Coast Range helps explain natural processes behind the width of valleys and provides potentially useful details for river restoration efforts designed to improve habitats for coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Coho salmon thrive in broad, flat valleys that contain multiple auxiliary channels to the main river. These valleys formed...
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Several bodies of water around the world are known for their salty content. Among the most well-known are the Great Salt Lake in Utah and the Dead Sea. But these bodies of water pale in comparison to Don Juan Pond in Antarctica, known as the saltiest body of water on Earth. The pond, situated in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of the harsh, icy continent, keeps from freezing because of its salt-rich composition. But why this landlocked...
Berkeley Lab research could lead to a better understanding of the Arctic ecosystem’s impact on the planet's climate What does pulling a radar-equipped sled across the Arctic tundra have to do with improving our understanding of climate change? It’s part of a new way to explore the little-known world of permafrost soils, which store almost as much carbon as the rest of the world’s soils and about twice as much as is in the atmosphere. The new approach combines several...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Researchers wrote in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that they have used math to explain different characteristics of river and valley networks. Rivers and valleys form intricate branching patterns, which have inspired some scientists to develop a theoretical understanding of river-network geometry. MIT scientists have created a mathematical theory to discover a common angle...
University of Alaska Fairbanks University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Vladimir Romanovsky is one of four scientists who authored a report released today by the United Nations Environmental Programme. The report, "Policy Implications of Warming Permafrost," seeks to highlight the potential hazards of carbon dioxide and methane emissions from warming permafrost, which have not thus far been included in climate-prediction modeling. The report notes that permafrost covers almost a...
[ Watch the Video: What Is Mercury ] April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online MESSENGER, in orbit around Mercury since March of last year, has discovered assemblages of tectonic landforms unlike any previously found on Mercury or elsewhere in the Solar System. Smithsonian scientist Thomas Watters published the findings in the December issue of Geology. Mercury's surface is covered with deformational landforms, formed by faulting in response to horizontal contraction or...
Rapid advances in the new and developing field of restoration sedimentology will be needed to protect the world's river deltas from an array of threats, Indiana University Bloomington geologist Douglas A. Edmonds writes in the journal Nature Geoscience. The commentary, published this week in the November issue, addresses the fact that land is disappearing from river deltas at alarming rates. And deltas are extraordinarily important: They are ecologically rich and productive, and they are...
Geological Society of America GSA Annual Meeting Technical Session: "Geomorphology of the Anthropocene" How have humans influenced Earth? Can geoscientists measure when human impacts began overtaking those of Earth's other inhabitants and that of the natural Earth system? Responding to increasing scientific recognition that humans have become the foremost agent of change at Earth's surface, organizers of this GSA technical session have brought together speakers and poster presentations...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online As global warming extends its balmy fingers further into the Arctic regions, defrosting permafrost could release up to 44 billion tons of nitrogen and 850 tons of carbon into the atmosphere, according to a new study from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The doubling of atmospheric carbon that would result from such an unprecedented thaw figures to impact ecosystems, the atmosphere, the Earth’s lakes and rivers, the researchers said...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online One of the most awe-inspiring sights on the planet Earth is the Grand Canyon. The Colorado River has cut through 2 billion years of geologic history, carving out a canyon that is 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide. However, next to Valles Marineris on Mars, the Grand Canyon is a mere scratch in the ground. Valles Marineris stretches over 4000 kilometers in length and is 200 kilometers wide, with a maximum depth of 10 kilometers....
Latest Geomorphology Reference Libraries
Desert greening is made up of any number of methods used to revitalize deserts. So far, only arid and semi-arid desert are meant when using this expression. The icy deserts and other types are considered to be unsuitable. The different methods include landscaping methods to reduce evaporation, erosion, consolidation of topsoil, temperature, sandstorms and more, permaculture in general, planting trees, regeneration of salty, polluted, or degenerated soils, floodwater retention and...
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is located in western North Dakota in the United States. The park contains 70,446 acres of land that is separated into three distinct badland areas known as the Elkhorn Ranch Unit, the South Unit, and the North Unit. Roosevelt first visited the area in 1883, while hunting for bison, and is said to have “fallen in love” with the badlands. After investing a large sum of money into the Maltese Cross Ranch, Roosevelt had his own cabin built, which he later...
Badlands national Park is located in the southwest region of South Dakota. It holds 242,756 acres of land, with 64,144 acres comprising a protected wilderness area. The park was designated as a national monument in 1929 and established in 1939, but attained national park status in 1978. The Stronghold Unit area of the park is managed by the National Park Service and the Oglala Lakota tribe and holds many sights including those used for Ghost Dances in the 1890’s, a bomb and gunnery range...
A drainage divide, water divide, divide, or watershed is the line that separates neighboring drainage basins. In flat country the divide may be invisible (just a notional line on the ground either side of which water starts its journey to different waterways). While, in hilly country, the divide lies along peaks and ridges. Drainage divides are important geographical, and sometimes political boundaries. Roads and railways often follow divides to minimize slopes and marshes and rivers....
