Geomorphology Syllabus

Why Study Geomorphology?

Geomorphology involves study of the characteristics, origin and development of landforms.

Have you ever seen a breath-taking landscape and wondered how something that beautiful came to exist? Or perhaps you've seen several very different, but equally inspiring landscapes, and wondered why it is that not all places look the same? The landscape in Wisconsin is very unlike the landscape in Hawaii or the landscape in Alaska. Why? In fact, we don't need to travel that far to see differences in the landscape - the steep hills and valleys of southwestern Wisconsin looks quite different from the flat landscape of central Wisconsin, which is quite different from the pocked, irregular landscape of northern Wisconsin. One reason for studying geomorphology is to satisfy our innate curiosity about the natural world around us, in particular the surface forms of the earth, our home.

Another reason for studying geomorphology is more practical. We live on and in a particular landscape. The characteristics of that landscape impact the way we go about living in that place. For example, the flat landscape of central Wisconsin is covered by a porous layer of sand, that although good for growing potatoes and beans, requires irrigation despite the fact that natural precipitation should be sufficient for growing these crops. How water drains from the landscape is an important aspect of geomorphology. How soils form is an important aspect of geomorphology. Both water and soil are important for our survival; we need water to drink and soils in which to grow our food. The west coast of North America is an area people move to in part for the scenery, and in addition to water and soil, people living there also need to worry about whether their homes may some day either be covered with mud and rocks from landslides or whether their home may end up in the Pacific Ocean due to landslides. The stability of the land surface is an important aspect of geomorphology. These are examples of applied geomorphology - the use of geomorphological knowledge for planning, engineering, and safety concerns related to human settlements.

Another reason for studying geomorphology is to help us understand not only about the earth as it is today, during our lifetime, but also as it may have been in the past long before we were here. Climate change and global warming is a hot issue in current events these days. How do we know for sure that the climate is changing? If we can figure out whether the climate of the earth has always been like it is today or whether it's changed over time, that knowledge can help us predict how the climate might change (or not) in the future. If global warming and cooling has happened before, then we shouldn't be surprised to find it happening again. One way to determine past climatic conditions is to study the landscape. What types of landforms are associated with different climatic conditions? Wisconsin again provides a good example. Every time you walk or drive around central Wisconsin, the landscape you see is a glacial landscape; the landforms are glacial landforms, but we certainly don't have a glacial climate here today. Without a knowledge of geomorphology, you might not realize that some landforms we see today are the result of processes no longer at work on the landscape due to things such as climate change.

These are only a few reasons for studying geomorphology. There are plenty more: ecologists may need to know something about geomorphology in order to understand why certain plants or animals thrive where they do; river restoration efforts requires an understanding of the natural processes that shape river channels and how those processes interact with aquatic ecosystems; environmental engineers studying pollution sources and sinks may need to understand the processes shaping the landscape if they want to understand how pollutants got to be where they are or if they want to predict where pollutants might potentially end up in the future. So whether you simply want to know how that beautiful mountain landscape was created or whether you're more interested in how we live on and in the land, the study of geomorphology is important.

Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of the semester you should be able to:

explain the processes that create fluvial, weathering, karst, and glacial landforms;

explain the impact of gravity, water, and ice on the appearance of the landscape;

discuss the driving and resisting forces at work in shaping the landscape;

describe different examples of fluvial, weathering, karst, glacial, and mass wasting landforms, and recognize examples of these landforms in photos, on maps, and on the landscape;

interpret landform characteristics such as height, slope, and width from topographic maps and stereo air photos;

draw topographic profiles at a given vertical exaggeration;

use appropriate field and laboratory methods and instruments to measure stream hydraulic characteristics, stream channel geometry, and stream bed texture;

calculate stream hydraulic and flow conditions, glacial mass balance, slope gradient, and slope stability, and explain the meaning and significance of your calculated values;

use Excel for basic data entry and analysis;

apply the scientific method for solving geomorphological problems or testing geomorphological hypotheses; and,

write papers and give oral presentations in a manner appropriate for communicating scientific information to the scientific community.

Office hours

Tuesday and Thursday 1:00-2:30 and by appointment.

Office hours are time set aside for help outside of class. Please use them! If you have conflicts with my office hours but need help, please let me know and I’ll arrange a time to meet that works for both of us.

Format and Policies

Attendance

There are two hours of lecture each week and two hours of laboratory. You are expected to attend lecture since the material covered in lecture will not necessarily duplicate material presented in the textbook. You are responsible for all material covered in class. If you miss a class, even for a legitimate reason, you are still responsible for the material covered in that class and should get notes from a fellow student.

You are required to attend lab. Some of the materials necessary to complete lab assignments may be available only during the lab period, and if you are not present you may not be able to complete the assignment. In addition, several of the lab activities are group projects and your absence will negatively impact the ability of your group to complete assignments successfully.

There are two required field trips (the UWSP Catalog states that field trips may be required). Failure to attend these field trips will result in a grade of zero for any assignments related to these field activities.

Required Material

Ritter, D.F., R.C. Kochel and J.R. Miller (2002) Process Geomorphology, 4th edition. McGraw Hill, NY. Rental text.

Regular and colored pencils, eraser, calculator.

Readings

Readings are listed on the Course Calendar. You should do assigned readings before coming to class. You should read these pages critically, asking questions as you go – What does this mean (do I understand it)? Why is it important to the study of geomorphology? When and how, in a geomorphological investigation, would I use this information? How does this information relate to other information I’ve read or to information we’ve discussed in class? As you do the assigned readings, ask yourself the following questions: What did I learn that I didn’t know before? What did I already know, but gained a better understanding of? What am I still confused about?

Class Participation

You are always encouraged to participate in class by asking questions and contributing observations and comments. Your active participation in class will improve the quality and quantity of the material you learn. You must take responsibility for your own learning; participating in class is one way to do this. The more you participate, the more you learn.

Occasionally, we will have discussions in class. On these occasions, you are expected to come to class prepared, and you are expected to participate. Failure to participate in class discussions will affect your final course grade.

Email

Please feel free to use email to ask me questions or get information from me related to the class. You can email me questions any time. I usually check my email twice a day – first thing in the morning when I get to work, and last thing in the afternoon before I go home. I try to respond to all emails within 12 hours except on weekends. I do not check my email on weekends. Please use your university email account for all email to me regarding this class. Email from other providers (e.g. Hotmail) may not reach me due to the University’s spam filter.

Tests

Exams should be taken at the scheduled time. Make up exams are allowed only for extreme cause and with a verified excuse.

Always bring your calculator to a test. You are not allowed to share calculators during tests. Palm-top computers, PDAs, cell phones or other electronic devices with mathematical capabilities may not be used during exams; they must be put away.

Cell Phones

Cell phones should be turned off during class (lecture and lab). Cell phones must be turned off and put away during tests. Talking on cell phones or text-messaging during class is not allowed.

Student rights and responsibilities

UWSP has specific guidelines regarding student rights and responsibilities in class and on campus. You can access this document at http://www.uwsp.edu/centers/rights/RRBOOKLET8-2005-06.pdf. Pages 2-4 explain the responsibilities of both faculty and students, and pages 5-10 explain what constitutes student misconduct and subsequent proceedings.

Evaluation and Grading

Your grade in this class is based on a variety of short assignments, laboratory exercises, exams, and class participation. These activities are weighted as follows:

Assignments

10%

Lab Exercises
45%

Exam 1
20%

Exam 2
20%

Class Participation
5%

Total
100%

The following cutoffs will be used as a guide for letter grades:

A 90%-100%
B 80%-89%
C 70%-79%
D 60%-69%
F below 60%

Short assignments may involve activities such as answering questions on required readings, developing testable geomorphological hypotheses, addressing questions that arise in class, and mathematical calculations.

Some lab activities involve group work. Group assignments are graded based on the quality of the work submitted. The grade assigned to the finished project, however, may not necessarily be the grade that each individual member of the group receives. Each member of the group will receive an individual grade based in part on the quality of the submitted assignment and in part on their individual contribution to the finished assignment. After completing a group assignment, everyone must fill out an evaluation form. This form requires you to assess the quality and quantity of contributions from each member of your group, including yourself; you must assess your own contributions in addition to assessing the contributions of others. It is important to recognize that everyone has something to contribute to a group project, even you. It is also important to recognize that others may depend on you for certain information, and failure to provide this information affects both you and the other group members. Your peers should not be punished for your failure to do an equal share of the work, and you should not be punished for the failure of other group members to do their share of the work. You should be rewarded for whatever work you actually do. As a result, all members of a particular group may not receive the same grade for a particular group assignment.

Although the content of your assignments and lab exercises is critical, your writing skills (grammar, organization, clarity and spelling) do count. Poor writing will negatively impact your grade.

Due dates will be announced when assignments or exercises are distributed. Failure to hand in assignments or lab exercises on time may result in a grade penalty. Late assignments will not be accepted once an assignment or exercise has been returned (i.e. I will not accept Assignment 2 from you after I have handed it back to everyone else, which means you get a zero for that assignment).

There will be two exams. Both exams are 2-hours long. Exams consist primarily of short answer or essay type questions. Although the content of your answers is the primary concern, your writing skills do count. There may also be questions which involve labeling or identifying landform features on diagrams, maps or air photos. You may be asked to do some mathematical calculations so make sure you bring a calculator. All exams are graded as a percentage. The number of points each question is worth is stated on the exam. Generally speaking, mathematical formulas will be provided as part of the exam. It is more important that you understand when and how to use a formula, and how to interpret the results, than it is to memorize the formula.

Please note, exams should be taken at the scheduled time. Make-up exams are only allowed for extreme cause and with a verified excuse.

course calendar, readings, lecture notes

The course calendar, assigned readings and lecture notes are contained on the class web site:
http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/lemke/geomorphology/. You should access this web site on a regular basis.