Publisher's Synopsis
The original version of this book was written in response to appeals for a book that deals with geomorphology, explaining landforms and landscapes, in an Australian context. In this revised edition the authors are still concerned with general theories as they apply to the problems posed by the Australian landscape, which they attempt to interpret in terms of Structure, Process and Time. Recent conceptual advances are taken into account, but our intellectual inheritance is not neglected, and basic ideas, whether of recent derivation or older, are subject to critical appraisal. The book is divided into five major sections. The first four of these are devoted to major factors: Structure, Process and Time. The fifth is devoted to the shortest and most recent geological period, the Quaternary. Within these sections, chapters deal with structural impacts of landform development, the work of water and rivers, of wind, ice and waves, the time factor and the events and resultant forms associated with the climatic aberrations of the last two million years. To each chapter is appended a case study. The book is intended for students at upper Secondary and Tertiary levels. It will interest those concerned with the physical landscapes in the context of geology, geography, botany, zoology, ecology, environmental studies and agricultural science, as well as travellers and other curious about the origins of the Australian landscape.
