KEY CONCEPTS IN GEOMORPHOLOGY – EDITION 2 OF A COMMUNITY-BASED TEXTBOOK

It’s time for a new edition! In 2019, we extensively revised Key Concepts in Geomorphology, the 2013 Geomorphology textbook supported by the US National Science Foundation to serve as a model for extensive community involvement and vetting at all stages from initial outlining through chapter development and revision to final review. Our revision was based in large part of nearly 60 pages of comments submitted to our public revision blog by students and faculty around the world. Comments from the community identified organizational improvements, recent advances that should be included, and images and figures that could be clarified, added, or omitted.

The new, second edition differs from the initial edition in several important ways. The textbook now has 16 chapters organized into four sections. Each chapter still includes 8 to 16 revised full-color figures designed specifically for novice learners. The previous section on the history of geomorphology has been expanded into a stand-alone chapter, and the previous chapter on soils and weathering has been expanded and split into a chapter on each. We have swapped out many of the 20 to 30 color photographs that illustrate each of the chapters and added more callouts to guide novice readers. We have added a Case Study to each chapter which applies geomorphology skills and techniques to a current-day problem important to society. At the start of each chapter, we articulate Learning Objectives and have organized the end-of-chapter questions in the order in which material is presented and in line with the Learning Objectives. The text is updated with new, important changes to the field of Geomorphology including such revolutionary data collection techniques such as LiDAR. At the end of each chapter, revised Digging Deeper sections continue to present an in-depth look at the development of scientific thought on a problem relevant to the chapter. Come by the poster and have a look at proofs of the new edition.

Key Concepts in Geomorphology is designed to serve undergraduate students in their first course about Earth Surface Processes, Physical Geography, and Quaternary Geology. It is also designed to be useful for students in related fields such as forestry, agriculture, and civil engineering.