Abstract
This is one of a large series of handbooks of a diverse range of disciplines published by SAGE, available in hardback. They are aimed primarily at academics, researchers and postgraduate students, and the price tag aims the sales essentially at libraries. The handbook considered here comprises 33 chapters written and co-written by 49 contributors from around the world, but predominantly from North America, the UK and Australia. It is edited by two eminent and committed British geomorphologists with long careers and impeccable credentials for the task. The book has line drawings and a sprinkling of half tones throughout, together with a small section of colour plates at the end.
The chapters are subdivided into five parts. Part 1 (Foundation and Relevance) has chapters on the development of the topic, its theoretical underpinnings and relevance. Part 2 (Techniques and Approaches) comprises nine chapters, ranging from observations and experiments in geomorphology to mapping, models, process–form relationships, dating, remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems, the human influence in geomorphology, and biogeomorphology. Part 3 (Process and Environments) considers regolith development, rock surface weathering, fluids, flows and fluxes, sediment transport and deposition, and hillslopes, followed by an examination of different environments (riverine, glacial (geomorphology, rather than environment), periglacial, coastal, aeolian, tropical and karst (‘geomorphology underground’)). The title of Part 4, Environmental Change, suggests content directly relevant to the interests of readers of The Holocene. This certainly is the case with two chapters, one concerned with interpreting Quaternary environments written by Anne Mather, which gives an impressively concise overview of the wide range of laboratory-based proxy evidence used in reconstruction with a useful up-to-date reading list. Another chapter by Martin Williams is entitled ‘Environmental change’ and considers more the application of knowledge on environmental change to interpreting geomorphological change, but in so doing does overlap a little as regards outlining techniques that are also covered in the previous chapter. Examples are presented of the last glacial maximum environments of Australia and India, which have been research foci of the author. Two other chapters in this part deal with landscape evolution in relation to tectonics and disturbance to geomorphic systems. The latter two deal with the long-term perspective on geomorphological change, and the responses of the geomorphic system to drivers of change and feedback mechanisms. The final part (Conclusion) comprises a chapter on challenges and perspectives. In this chapter, four eminent geomorphologists, currently serving in, or having recently served in high positions within, various national and international geomorphological groups and societies, give their particular slants on the future of the subject. In the final chapter, the editors reflect on the topics in the book, drawing out various themes and the consequences for the future of the discipline.
This book will interest readers of The Holocene as many of them will also have a background in, or more than a passing concern for understanding landforms and geomorphological processes. The fact that most chapters do not directly address the Holocene timescale or methods used in reconstructing millennial-scale environmental change is, therefore, not likely to be off-putting. The SAGE Handbook of Geomorphology overall provides excellent up-to-date summaries of the current state of knowledge and reading lists for different areas of the subject, as well as succinct reviews of different stages of the historical development of the discipline. The reader is made aware of the changing emphases since the late 18th century up to the present day. The switch during the second half of the 20th century from focusing dominantly on form, to an interest in processes is described. In addition, the more recent focus on integration, helped by advances in data collection, handling and modelling together with environmental reconstruction and dating techniques, is also reviewed.
Both in their introduction and the last chapter, the editors refer to concerns no doubt felt by many within and outside the subject, that rejuvenation of the subject is desirable. Although not stated, this situation has probably been precipitated to an extent in recent decades by the rise and perceived growing relevance of Quaternary science (particularly where it is taught in the same department). It has perhaps also been caused by geomorphology increasingly finding itself drawn into other subject areas (e.g. engineering, geophysics) to the detriment of ‘geographical’ geomorphology. Apart from brief references, only in the final chapter are future climatic change and its expected impacts on geomorphology tackled at any length. That the topic is discussed here in terms of future rather than current research reinforces the impression that geomorphology has reached ‘old age’, to use the editors’ own description. Examples of a number of past geomorphological studies dealing specifically with this topic are listed, but it is a pity that a chapter was not devoted to it. The important topic of soil erosion, in which geomorphologists have been heavily involved, is dealt with in less than one page in the chapter on anthropogeomorphology. In addition, planetary geomorphology is seen as an extension of the topic for future study, despite orbiting and landing spacecraft having already given such fascinating revelations about past and present landforms processes on other planetary bodies, and the presence of a geomorphologist amongst the contributors who has publications in this field.