Course Description
Arid landscapes can be some of the most hostile environments on Earth, yet people have found ways to adapt to these conditions for thousands of years. What is the role of weathering, erosion, and deposition in forming arid landscapes, and how do we reconstruct the impact of these processes over time?
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Additional readings, assignments, and questions on tests.
Athena Title
Environ Change Arid Land
Prerequisite
GEOG 1113 or GEOG 1113E or permission of department
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will learn the identification and analysis of basic geomorphic processes operating in arid landscapes.
- Students will have an appreciation and understanding of the analytical methods of scientific inquiry and observation, and how these have laid the groundwork for technological advances in reconstructing environmental change.
- Students will understand and be able to critically evaluate the linkage between geomorphic process and spatial patterns of landforms.
- Students will develop critical thinking skills through homework assignments, lecture, classroom discussion, and inquiry-based learning efforts.
- Students will develop effective communication through writing. This is met by a series of writing assignments associated with supplemental reading and data analysis.
- Students will develop effective communication through speech. This is met by oral presentations, discussion leading, and classroom participation.
- Students will develop computer literacy skills through course administration, student-faculty electronic interaction, and data analysis activities and assignments.
Topical Outline
- Arid landscapes
- Classic pediment-bajada-playa sequences in Basin and Range settings
- The counter-intuitive importance of water as an agent of erosion
- Arroyos, climatic change, and land-use
- Wind erosion and deposition
- Sand dunes: morphology and genesis
- Records of geomorphic and climatic change
- Human adaptation and landscape alteration
- Regional case studies
- Unifying Themes
Institutional Competencies
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Communication
The ability to effectively develop, express, and exchange ideas in written, oral, or visual form.
