Eroding Landscapes: Hill Slope Processes (U04302)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : GEO-3-ERODEHILL

Hills and mountains are continuously being denuded and dissected by erosional processes. In non-glaciated landscapes sediment is produced on hillslopes, delivered to channels, and eventually transported to basins. In this course, students will be introduced to the processes that sculpt these upland regions. The processes and their feedbacks will be analyzed at different scales, from particles to mountain ranges and from single transport events (e.g. landslides, storms) to geological time scales. Theoretical, experimental (analogical and numerical) and field studies constitute the basis of this 10-point course. Lectures, practicals, numerical modeling exercises and field work will allow students to understand and quantify hillslope processes and to gain knowledge on the interactions between these processes and on their relative importance in driving landscape evolution.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : None.

? Costs : None.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Geography, (School of GeoSciences, Schedule N)

Other subject areas

Earth Science, (School of GeoSciences, Schedule N)

Environmental Courses, (School of GeoSciences, Schedule N)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Block 3 only

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 5 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
15/01/2009	14:00	15:50	Room 2.05, Old Infirmary (Geography)	Central

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Thursday	14:00	15:50	Central

? Additional Class Information : Practicals, computer exercises, field trip

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

This course aims to provide students with a fundamental knowledge of the physics and dynamics of erosion and landscape evolution in non-glaciated landscapes. At the end of the course students should have acquired the following:

Subject specific learning objectives
* An understanding of the physical processes involved in hillslope erosion.
* An understanding of how local erosional processes act and interact to sculpt landscapes at catchment, mountain range, and continental scales.
* An ability to quantify hillslope processes in terms of mass conservation, and use this ability to make predictions about future behavior of landscapes.
* A knowledge of the tools that modern geomorphologists use to analyze hillslope processes (e.g., topographic analysis, numerical modeling).

Transferable skill-learning objectives:
* Have developed their skills of critical analysis.
* Have further developed their ability to produce a written report based on field measurements, applied models, and library research.
* Have acquired the ability to apply theoretical and numerical techniques to real world research questions.