Geomorphology and Earth system science

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter surveys the history of geomorphology and Earth system science from 1965 to 2000. With roots in Enlightenment thought from Hutton, Somerville, Humboldt and Darwin, we see a preoccupation with a holistic form of Earth system science develop through the reductionist, mechanistic ideas of the nineteenth and twentieth century to be reawoken in the 1960s and 1970s environmental movements and the space age, culminating in the major research programmes set by NASA and others subsequently. At the same time the chapter charts the evolution in geomorphology to consider plate tectonics and the origins of mountain ranges, geochemistry and its links between surfaces systems and the atmosphere, to later ideas emphasizing the interplay between landforms and life. This chapter surveys changing interconnected ideas within this field and draws parallels and contrasts between the holistic depictions of Earth system science in the early part of the subject's history and the fundamental challenges facing us today as we grapple to find science-led solutions to global environmental change.