Geomorphology GLG362/598

• Instructor: Kelin X. Whipple, kxw@asu.edu, ISTB4-777 (5-9508)

• TA: Andrew Darling, aldarlin@asu.edu, ISTB4-603

• 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 ConcentrationStolar et al, 2006 Penrose

Volume

DESERT JUNGLE

~12m Annual RainfallDeflected Rivers

TRMM Rainfall Map

Willett, 1999 JGR

Beaumont et al., 2001 Nature

Numerical Simulations: Strong Climate-Tectonics Coupling

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)