Geomorphology deals with some of the most striking patterns of nature. From mountain ranges and mid-ocean ridges, to river networks and sand dunes, there is a whole family of forms, structures, and shapes that demand rationalization as well as mathematical description. In the various chapters of this volume, many of these patterns will be explored and discussed, and attempts will be made to both unravel the reasons for their very existence and to describe their dynamics in quantitative terms. Particular focus will be on lava and mud flows, ice and snow dynamics, river and coastal morphodynamics and landscape formation. Combining a pedagogical approach with up-to-date reviews of forefront research, this volume will serve both postgraduate students and lecturers in search of advanced textbook material, and experienced researchers wishing to get acquainted with the various physical and mathematical approaches in a range of closely related research fields.

Inhalt

Fundamentals: Methods, Materials and Metaphors.- The Language of Pattern and Form.- Geophysical Aspects of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics.- to Rheology and Application to Geophysics.- Granular Material Theories Revisited.- Hot.- Earth's Surface Morphology and Convection in the Mantle.- Morphological Instabilities in Flows with Cooling, Freezing or Dissolution.- Shallow Lava Theory.- Explosive Volcanic Eruptions.- Cold.- The Dynamics of Snow and Ice Masses.- Response of Italian Glaciers to Climatic Variations.- Asymptotic Theories of Ice Sheets and Ice Shelves.- Aspects of Iceberg Deterioration and Drift.- Snow Avalanches.- Dense Granular Avalanches: Mathematical Description and Experimental Validation.- Dirty.- Patterns of Dirt.- 16 Invitation to Sediment Transport.- Types of Aeolian Sand Dunes and Their Formation.- Dunes and Drumlins.- Estuarine Patterns: An Introduction to Their Morphology and Mechanics.- Longshore Bars and Bragg Resonance.- 21 Debris Flows and Related Phenomena.- Mud Flow- Slow and Fast.