Geology and Landscape Evolution: General Principles Applied to the United StatesGeology and Landscape Evolution: General Principles Applied to the United States, Second Edition, is an accessible text that balances interdisciplinary theory and applications within the physical geography, geology, geomorphology and climatology of the United States. The vast diversity of terrain and landscape across the United States makes this an ideal tool for geoscientists worldwide who research the country's geological and landscape evolution. The book provides an explanation of how landscape forms, how it evolves and why it looks the way it does. This new edition is fully updated with greater detail throughout and additional figures, maps, drawings and photographs. Rather than limiting the coverage specifically to tectonics or to the origin and evolution of rocks with little regard for the actual landscape beyond general desert, river and glacial features, this book concentrates specifically on the origin of the landscape itself, with specific and exhaustive reference to examples from across the United States. The book begins with a discussion of how rock type and rock structure combine with tectonic activity, climate, isostasy and sea level change to produce landscape and then explores predicting how landscape will evolve. The book goes on to apply those concepts to specific examples throughout the United States, making it a valuable resource for understanding theoretical geological concepts through a practical lens. - Presents the complexities of physical geography, geology, geomorphology and climatology of the United States through an interdisciplinary, highly accessible approach - Offers hundreds of full-color figures, maps and photographs that capture the systematic interaction of land, rock, rivers, glaciers, global wind patterns and climate, including Google Earth images - Provides a thorough assessment of the logic, rationale, and tools required to understand how to interpret landscape and the geological history of the Earth - Features exercises that conclude each chapter, aiding in the retention of key concepts - Updated with greater detail throughout and additional figures, maps, drawings and photographs - Includes additional subheadings so that material is easier to find and digest - Includes an all-new chapter on glaciation and expanded exercises using Google Earth images to enhance understanding |
Other editions - View all
Geology and Landscape Evolution: General Principles Applied to the United States Joseph A. DiPietro No preview available - 2018 |
Common terms and phrases
accreted terranes anticlinal Appalachian basalt Basin and Range bedrock Blue Ridge boundary caldera California Cascade central Coastal Plain Colorado Plateau Colorado River continental Cordillera creating cross-section crystalline rock crystalline shield deformation deposition dome Earth image looking east eastern elevation eroded erosion erosional escarpment exhumation feet FIGURE flows fold and thrust foreland Formation glacial glaciers Google Earth image Grand Canyon granitic highland incision interior platform intrusive isostatic Lake landform lava limestone lithosphere located lowland magma metamorphic miles million years ago million years old miogeocline monocline nearly flat-lying normal faults North American plate northern northward ocean orogeny peaks physiographic present-day rates region rift river system rock succession rock units Rocky Mountains San Andreas Fault sandstone sea level sediment sedimentary rocks shield rocks shown in Fig side Sierra Nevada southern strike-slip fault subduction syncline Taconic tectonic thrust belt thrust faults topography unconformity uplift Valley and Ridge volcanic rocks western zone