Geomorphology is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth's surface. Geomorphologists seek to understand why landscapes look the way they do, to understand landform and terrain history and dynamics and to predict changes through a combination of field observations, physical experiments and numerical modeling. Geomorphologists work within disciplines such as physical geography, geology, geodesy, engineering geology, archaeology, climatology, and geotechnical engineering. This broad base of interests contributes to many research styles and interests within the field.
A landform is a natural or anthropogenic land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, mountains, canyons, and valleys, as well as shoreline features such as bays, peninsulas, and seas, including submerged features such as mid-ocean ridges, volcanoes, and the great ocean basins.
Pyrénées National Park is a French national park located within the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The park is located along the border of France and Spain along the Pyrenees Mountains, with a scenic landscape offering a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, skiing, mountain climbing and observing wildlife.
A bioindicator is any species or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example, copepods and other small water crustaceans that are present in many water bodies can be monitored for changes that may indicate a problem within their ecosystem. Bioindicators can tell us about the cumulative effects of different pollutants in the ecosystem and about how long a problem may have been present, which physical and chemical testing cannot.
Geodiversity is the variety of earth materials, forms and processes that constitute and shape the Earth, either the whole or a specific part of it. Relevant materials include minerals, rocks, sediments, fossils, soils and water. Forms may comprise folds, faults, landforms and other expressions of morphology or relations between units of earth material. Any natural process that continues to act upon, maintain or modify either material or form represents another aspect of geodiversity. However geodiversity is not normally defined to include the likes of landscaping, concrete or other significant human influence.
The Lesvos Petrified Forest is a petrified wood forest on the island of Lesbos, Greece.
Geotourism is tourism associated with geological attractions and destinations. Geotourism deals with the abiotic natural and built environments. Geotourism was first defined in England by Thomas Alfred Hose in 1995.
A riffle is a shallow landform in a flowing channel. Colloquially, it is a shallow place in a river where water flows quickly past rocks. However, in geology a riffle has specific characteristics.
Jebel Irhoud or Adrar n Ighoud, is an archaeological site located just north of the town of Tlet Ighoud in Youssoufia Province, approximately 50 km (30 mi) south-east of the city of Safi in Morocco. It is noted for the hominin fossils that have been found there since the discovery of the site in 1961. Originally thought to be Neanderthals, the specimens have since been assigned to Homo sapiens and, as reported in 2017, have been dated to roughly 300,000 years ago.
The Patrick Burn Formation is a Silurian aged geologic formation outcropping near Lesmahagow in Lanarkshire in the Scottish Lowlands. Fossils are known from the formation, including from the Birk Knowes locality.
Geoheritage is the geological aspect of natural and cultural heritage. A geosite is a particular geological heritage asset. It is a heritage category comparable to other forms of natural heritage, such as biodiversity.
The Andagua volcanic field is a volcanic field in southern Peru which includes a number of cinder cones, lava domes and lava flows which have filled the Andagua Valley. The volcanic field is part of a larger volcanic province that clusters around the Colca River and is mostly of Pleistocene age, although the Andagua sector also features volcanic cones with historical activity, with the last eruption about 370 years ago. Eruptions were mostly effusive, generating lava flows, cones and small eruption columns. Future eruptions are possible, and there is ongoing fumarolic activity. Volcanic activity in the field has flooded the Andahua valley with lava flows, damming local watersheds in the Laguna de Chachas, Laguna Mamacocha and Laguna Pumajallo lakes and burying the course of the Andagua River. The Andahua valley segment of the larger volcanic province was declared a geopark in 2015.
Miñiques is the name of a lake and a volcano in Chile. It lies south of Laguna Miscanti and at the foot of the Cerro Miscanti volcano. The lake is fed from Laguna Miscanti by seepage and its waters are brackish.
The Church and Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a 17th-century Roman Catholic church and former convent in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The complex is adjacent to the Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel. The Church and Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was listed as a historic structure by National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) in 1938 and is part of the Historic Center of Salvador UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Lioz, also known as Royal Stone, is a type of limestone, originating in Portugal, from the Lisbon region. It is famed for its use as an ornamental stone, resulting in its proliferation in palaces, cathedrals, and important civic buildings throughout Portugal and the former Portuguese Empire. Owing to its historical relevance, lioz was designated a Global Heritage Stone Resource.
Vespersaurus is a genus of noasaurid theropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous Rio Paraná Formation in the Paraná Basin, Brazil. The type and only species is V. paranaensis, which would have lived in the giant prehistoric Botucatu Desert.
May Hib’o is an exclosure located in the Dogu'a Tembien woreda of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia. The exclosure holds a 70-metre long cave.
Geoconservation is the practice of recognising, protecting and managing sites and landscapes which have value for their geology or geomorphology. The conservation of these geological sites is through government agencies and local geological societies in areas such as Europe and Africa. The designation of these sites is done through an analysis of the site, and the production of proper management infrastructure. The principles of geoconservation are to create a means of protection for the sites, and assess their value to the geological community. Typically the conservation of geodiversity at a site or within a landscape takes place alongside that of biodiversity.
The Brymbo Fossil Forest is a palaeobotanical site near Brymbo, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is known as a significant area of Early Carboniferous fossils, and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
