If you observe a hill, it is a layered staircase rather than a simple slanting surface. Each part of this hillslope profile plays a distinct role in shaping the landscape. Let’s study its four major elements—each having unique characteristics and processes at work. 1️⃣ Summital Convexity: The Crest of the Hill Think of the summital…
Imagine you are standing on a hilltop, looking down at the valley below. The land between where you stand and the valley floor isn’t flat—it slopes downward at various angles. This angular inclination of terrain between hilltops and valley bottoms is what we call a slope. But why does this happen? What shapes these slopes?…
Imagine you are watching a cricket match. The batsman, initially full of energy, starts playing aggressively, hitting boundaries with ease. As the innings progresses, fatigue sets in, and the once-powerful strokes become slow nudges. Just when you think he is about to getting out, he drinks an energy booster and suddenly regains his power, smashing…
Imagine you are standing atop a vast plateau, looking at rivers carving their way through valleys, shaping the land ever so gradually. Now, visualize this transformation as a slow but continuous process, much like an artist chiselling a sculpture over centuries. This is the essence of the Davisian Cycle of Erosion, a concept that describes…
Denudation Chronology (DC) is a concept developed primarily by the British School of Geomorphology, with further contributions from W.M. Davis in the American School. It focuses on reconstructing the history of denudation (weathering and erosion) in a given region over geological time. Unlike theories emphasizing endogenetic processes (such as tectonics), DC prioritizes exogenic forces that…
Imagine a riverbed that remains stable for years and then suddenly experiences a major flood, causing rapid erosion and shifting sediment downstream. Unlike the classical idea that landscapes evolve gradually and continuously, S.A. Schumm proposed that denudation occurs in episodic bursts, leading to periods of rapid erosion followed by long phases of deposition. This irregular…
Imagine a river flowing through a valley. Over time, erosion wears down the hills, but if the forces acting on the landscape—like uplift, river flow, and climate—remain constant, the overall shape of the land doesn’t change significantly. J.T. Hack, an American geomorphologist, proposed this idea in his Dynamic Equilibrium Theory, arguing that landscapes are in…
Imagine Earth as a battlefield where two mighty forces constantly struggle for dominance—tectonic forces that uplift land and denudational forces that wear it down. American geomorphologist Marie Morisawa proposed a model to explain how landscapes evolve based on this continuous interaction between upliftment and erosion. To understand her model, picture the Himalayas. These mountains are…
Imagine standing in the middle of an arid South African desert. As you look around, you see steep cliffs, gently sloping plains, and isolated rocky hills standing like ancient sentinels in the vast open land. This is not just a barren landscape but a dynamic stage where the forces of nature have been sculpting the…
Imagine you are on a trek across a vast landscape, watching mountains rise, rivers carve valleys, and eventually, the entire region flatten into a plain. This is not just a sightseeing experience—it is a deep dive into the geomorphic model of Walther Penck, a German geologist who saw landforms as the result of continuous interactions…
