Natural Sciences

DANIELA PIACENTINI

Expected learning outcomes

To promote the awareness that Earth relief results from the opponent action of endogeneous and exogeneous agents.
To allow comprehending the way the exogenous agents act and the processes they are responsible for, also relating them to climate and to the geo-structural characteristics of the territory.
To generate the awareness that the interpretation of present landforms allow reconstructing the territory geomorphological evolution and predicting its future modifications.




Dublin Descriptors
Knowledge and understanding
Successful students will have acquired knowledge and comprehension of:
- the mode of action of the main elements of marine and continental hydrosphere and of cryosphere;
- the agents and mechanisms of the exogenous morphogenetic processes and of their relationships with climate and structural conditions;
- the different relief landforms deriving from exogenous morphogenetic processes.

Applying knowledge and understanding
Successful students will have acquired:
-skill in the elaboration and interpretation of hydrological, glaciological and meteomarine data;
-skill in interpreting landforms on the basis of topographic maps examination;
- skill in reconstructing the morphological evolution of relief also on the basis of morphological maps interpretation;
- skill in doing interpretative morphological profiles;
-skill in reconstructing the past morphological evolution of Earth relief and in predicting its future evolution

Making judgements
Successful students will be able to:
- evaluate the stability or instability conditions of relief slopes in different morphoclimatic contexts;
- evaluate the hydrological and geomorphological conditions that help flood occurrences;
-recognize human activities that are responsible for soil accelerated erosion and beach erosion.

Communication skills
Successful students will be able to:
- communicate information, ideas, problems and solution concerning the phenomena of geomorphological instability and the deriving risks:
-discuss about environmental impact with knowledge of the facts;
-to write simple reports on the Geomorphology of a territory, based on the interpretation of geothematic maps.

Learning skills
Successful students will have acquired the necessary skills to tackle the more complex studies, concerning Applied Geomorphology and Environmental Geology in an independent and critical way.

Knowledge of geomorphological processes acting on the earth's surface and related recognition of landforms both on the field and with remote sensing and GIS

Geography and Cartography

INTRODUCTION
Definition and purpose of Physical Geography and relations with Geomorphology. Geomorphology and Earth sciences. Endogenic and exogenic processes. The time factor in the evolution of the earth surface. Climate controls on morphogenesis.

WEATHERING
The weathering processes. Physical and chemical weathering. Weathering products. Landforms due to weathering.

HILLSLOPES
Hillslope processes. Gravitational hillslope processes. Landforms due to gravity. Mass movements: general concepts, predisposing and triggering factors, types, state of activity and velocity. Flowing water action. Landforms due to flowing waters.

FLUVIAL LANDSCAPE
River channel networks and fluvial systems. Stream discharge, velocity, and energy. Stream longitudinal profile and baselevel. Fluvial processes of erosion, transport, and deposition. Fluvial landforms and deposits. Fluvial channels, valleys, and terraces. Relations between rivers and slopes.

COASTAL LANDSCAPE
Sea movements and coastal environment. Coastal processes. Classification of coasts. Cliffs, beaches, platforms, marine deltas, estuaries, tidal flats, mangals, volcanic coast, and coral reefs.

AEOLIAN LANDSCAPE
Wind processes and aeolian environment. Aeolian erosion, transport and deposition. Aeolian erosional landforms. Aeolian depositional landforms.

KARST LANDSCAPE
Karst processes and environment. The nature of soluble rocks. Surface karst landforms. Subterranean karst landforms. Climate and karst morphogenesis.

PERIGLACIAL LANDSCAPE
Periglacial environments. Permafrost. Periglacial landforms. Snow action.

GLACIAL LANDSCAPE
Glaciers and glacial environment. Ice sheets. Present glaciers and Quaternary glaciations. Main classification of glaciers. Glaciers mass balance. Ice flow. Glacier erosion, transport and deposition. Erosional glacial landforms. Depositional glacial landforms. Glacio-fluvial landforms.

ANTHROPIC LANDSCAPE
Interactions of human activities on landscape modelling

STRUCTURAL GEOMORPHOLOGY
Relation between geologic structure and landforms. Selective erosion process. Structural landforms. Connection between stream network and geologic bedrock.

VOLCANIC GEOMORPHOLOGY
Volcanism and volcanic products. Volcanic landforms.


GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Introduction to GIS and application in geomorphology.
GIS data. Temporal and spatial resolution in GIS. Introduction to most popular GIS software. Geomorphological application of Digital Elevation Model.
Google Earth and its application in Physical geography and geomorphology.

GEOMORPHOLOGICAL MAPS
Base maps: review of the essential notions relating to the creation, use and reading of topographic maps.
Geomorphological mapping: Introduction to the realization of geomorphological maps. Detailed description of the characteristics of the Italian geomorphological legend.
Reading, interpretation and creation of thematic maps, both traditional and digital.

GEOMORPHOLOGICAL FIELD SURVEY
Principles and procedures for digital field surveys. Introduction to QGIS and its Plugin QField.
Principles and procedures for geomorphological field survey: gathering of bibliographic data, remote sensing, field activity, laboratory analyses, data managing and output.
Field survey experience, using both traditional and digital approach.

Ciccacci S., Le forme del rilievo - Atlante illustrato di Geomorfologia - III EDIZIONE, Mondadori Università, 2020;
Hugget R.J., Fundamentals of Geomorphology – Fourth Edition, Routledge, 2017.

Hugget R.J., Fundamentals of Geomorphology – Fourth Edition, Routledge, 2017.
D'Orefice M. e Graciotti R., Rilevamento geomorfologico e cartografia: Realizzazione-Lettura–Interpretazione, Flaccovio Editore, 2015.
Pesaresi C., Applicazioni GIS. UTET, 2021.

Classroom lessons and exercises

Attendance is recommended but not mandatory.

The exam will be a written test with open answers and an oral test aimed at verifying knowledge.