Experiments as tools in geomorphology

Abstract

In this introductory article to the special issue “Experiments in geomorphology”, the fundamentals of experiments in science, and especially in earth science and geomorphology, are discussed. This is of special interest, as geomorphological sciences crosses scales and thus, different types of experiments are applied for highly variable tasks: (i) Real experiments: to test hypotheses on the process interaction of well defined landscape components; (ii) Quasi experiments: the integrated response of pre-defined morphological units is quantified here; (iii) Hybrid experiments: spatial stratification of the landscape according to statistically evaluable characteristics.A short review on different types of experiments in geomorphology is given, focusing on the processes relevant for soil erosion: splash, inter-rill and linear erosion. Finally, the contributions to the special issue are classified according to the classification of experiments given.