Landscapes on the Edge: New Horizons for Research on Earth's Surface

This book identifies nine grand challenges in this emerging field of study and proposes four high-priority research initiatives. The book poses questions about how our planet's past can tell us about its future, how landscapes record climate and tectonics, and how Earth surface science can contribute to developing a sustainable living surface for future generations.

During geologic spans of time, Earth's shifting tectonic plates, atmosphere, freezing water, thawing ice, flowing rivers, and evolving life have shaped Earth's surface features. The resulting hills, mountains, valleys, and plains shelter ecosystems that interact with all life and provide a record of Earth surface processes that extend back through Earth's history.
Despite rapidly growing scientific knowledge of Earth surface interactions, and the increasing availability of new monitoring technologies, there is still little understanding of how these processes generate and degrade landscapes.

Contents
SUMMARY
1 THE IMPORTANCE OF EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Examples of Interconnected Earth Surface Processes
1.3 New Technologies: Monitoring Earth Surface Processes at High Resolution in Space and Time
1.4 Study Considerations and Report Structure
1.5 Closing Remarks
2 GRAND CHALLENGES IN EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES
2.1 What Does Our Planet’s Past Tell Us About Its Future?
2.2 How Do Geopatterns on Earth’s Surface Arise and What Do They Tell Us About Processes?
2.3 How Do Landscapes Influence and Record Climate and Tectonics?
2.4 How Does the Biogeochemical Reactor of the Earth’s Surface Respond to and Shape Landscapes from Local to Global Scales?
2.5 What Are the Transport Laws That Govern the Evolution of the Earth’s Surface?
2.6 How Do Ecosystems and Landscapes Coevolve?
2.7 What Controls Landscape Resilience to Change?
2.8 How Will Earth’s Surface Evolve in the “Anthropocene”?
2.9 How Can Earth Surface Science Contribute Toward a Sustainable Earth Surface?
3 FOUR HIGH-PRIORITY RESEARCH INITIATIVES IN EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES
3.1 Interacting Landscapes and Climate
3.2 Quantitative Reconstruction of Landscape Dynamics Across Time Scales
3.3 The Coevolution of Ecosystems and Landscapes
3.4 The Future of Landscapes in the “Anthropocene”
3.5 Summary
4 MECHANISMS FOR DEVELOPING INITIATIVES AND SUSTAINING GROWTH IN EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES
4.1 Federal Research Framework
4.2 Other Partnerships
4.3 Data Collection and Distribution, Modeling, Tool Development, and Community Research Facilities and Sites
4.4 Developing the High-Priority Research Initiatives
REFERENCES
APPENDIXES
A: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff
B: Community Input
C: Observing and Measuring Earth Surface Processes
D: Achievements in Earth Surface Processes
E: List of Acronyms

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