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| Landscape Forms | |
|---|---|
| Name | Landscape Forms |
| Type | Concept |
| Region | Global |
Landscape Forms are the observable configurations of land surface and their assemblages of physical features that characterize terrestrial regions. They encompass mountains, valleys, plains, coasts and other physiographic elements that are studied across fields such as Geography, Geology, Geomorphology, Ecology and Environmental science. Scholars and institutions including the United States Geological Survey, British Geological Survey, International Union for Conservation of Nature, National Geographic Society and universities such as University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Oxford University and Stanford University have developed frameworks and typologies for describing these features.
Landscape forms refer to discrete landform types and their spatial patterns as recognized in works by James Hutton, Charles Lyell, William Morris Davis and later researchers from the Royal Geographical Society and the American Geophysical Union. The scope spans fluvial, glacial, aeolian, volcanic and coastal features addressed in manuals by the United States Department of Agriculture, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the European Environment Agency. It intersects with conservation programs led by World Wide Fund for Nature, Conservation International and national parks systems such as Yellowstone National Park, Banff National Park and Kruger National Park.
Natural landscape forms include mountainous systems like the Himalayas, Andes, Rocky Mountains, volcanic provinces such as Ring of Fire regions, plateau regions like the Tibetan Plateau, basins including the Amazon Basin, fluvial networks exemplified by the Mississippi River, Nile River and Ganges River, glacial landforms found in Greenland and Antarctica, desert systems like the Sahara Desert and Gobi Desert, karst terrains such as Guilin and Yucatán Peninsula, and coastal systems including the Great Barrier Reef margins, Bering Sea coasts and the Mediterranean Sea littoral. Each has been the focus of field campaigns by institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, Geological Survey of India and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Human-altered landscape forms encompass terraced landscapes like those at Longji Rice Terraces, urban morphologies typified by New York City, Tokyo, Paris and Mumbai, agricultural mosaics of the Midwestern United States, plantation systems in Brazil, irrigation landscapes of the Nile Delta, reclaimed land such as in the Netherlands, and engineered coasts including Tokyo Bay and Dubai projects. Cultural heritage landscapes recognized by UNESCO World Heritage Committee include Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat and Mont-Saint-Michel, illustrating interactions among Irrigation Systems, transportation corridors like the Silk Road, and land-use planning agencies including United States Forest Service and Natural Resources Canada.
Classification schemes derive from traditions established by William Morris Davis cycle of erosion, the typologies used by the U.S. Geological Survey and the morphotectonic frameworks promoted by the International Association of Geomorphologists. Morphological metrics employ elevation models from NASA, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency satellites and regional surveys by the Institut Géographique National and Geoscience Australia. Regions are categorized into mountain belts such as the Alps, lowlands like the Great Plains (United States), coastal plains exemplified by the Gulf Coastal Plain, canyon systems like the Grand Canyon, and deltaic fans including the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta.
Processes shaping landscape forms include plate interactions along boundaries documented in studies of the San Andreas Fault and the Alps orogeny, volcanic construction in Mount Vesuvius and Mauna Loa, glacial erosion observed in Patagonia and Alaska, fluvial incision in the Colorado River, aeolian transport in Sahara dynamics, and biotic modification examined in Amazon Rainforest research. Human-driven dynamics such as urban expansion studied in United Nations urbanization reports, land conversion assessed by Food and Agriculture Organization, and climate-driven change explored in assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also modify form development.
Landscape forms structure habitats for species cataloged by International Union for Conservation of Nature and inform conservation design of reserves such as Serengeti National Park and Galápagos Islands. They affect hydrological regimes in basins like the Mekong River Basin, regulate sediment flux to coasts including the Mississippi Delta, and host ecosystem services valued by World Bank and regional agencies. Landscape connectivity analyses employ frameworks from the Convention on Biological Diversity and inform restoration projects led by organizations like The Nature Conservancy and Wetlands International.
Study methods combine remote sensing from platforms such as Landsat, Sentinel-2, Terra (satellite), airborne LiDAR by teams at National Aeronautics and Space Administration, field geomorphology from expeditions by institutions like British Antarctic Survey, geochronology techniques using laboratories at Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and GIS workflows developed in software by Esri and research groups at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mapping products are produced by agencies including the Ordnance Survey, Geological Survey of Canada and Instituto Geográfico Nacional (Spain), and integrated into modeling platforms used by the European Commission and academic consortia.
Category:Geomorphology