Geomorphology

FaculteitFaculty of Geosciences

NiveauBachelor

Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

Please note: the information in the course manual is binding.

After a successful course the student:

has acquired systemic understanding of geomorphic processes and how these processes make landforms.
has acquired good understanding of available techniques to measure and quantify geomorphic processes and landforms.
can apply their understanding to analyse geomorphic data, simulate geomorphic processes, and identify resulting landforms.
can visually explain quantitative findings about geomorphic processes, material properties, and landforms.
can write a short report in Dutch or English with graphs and other illustrations up to the standard of scientific literature.

Content

Geomorphology is the study of Earth’s surface and its evolution. It is an important component within Earth’s rock cycle and Earth’s hydrological cycle. Processes that shape Earth’s surface include water, wind, ice, and fire, along with (bio)chemical reactions that form soils and alter material properties. They determine the stability and rate of change of topography under the force of gravity, and other factors, such as human alteration. Many of these factors are strongly mediated by climate and will be affected by our changing climate.

This course aims to give you a solid understanding of Earth’s surface, it helps you gain insight in the process dynamics that drive landform evolution, and the physics behind these processes that enable modelling and prediction. We will discuss the feedback between geomorphic processes and landforms: processes shape the landforms, but the landforms also modulate the processes. This enables us to use material properties and landform characteristics to reconstruct and quantify past geomorphic change and past environmental conditions. In addition, a thorough understanding of geomorphic systems is a key requirement for recognizing and minimizing geomorphic hazards, such as rock falls, landslides, and floods. The geomorphic understanding will be set in a framework of system theory and will be applied in exercises quantifying process dynamics and/or landform evolution.

This course takes you through a wide range of landscapes, including rock walls, hillslopes, drainage basins, fluvial channels, coastal landscapes, and submarine environments. It discusses glacial, periglacial, aeolian, and planetary environments. Moreover, it introduces you to the wide range of techniques used by geomorphologists, such as dating techniques, field data collection, remotely sensed data, and laboratory and numerical modelling.

The course content consists of three elements:

1) Key concepts and tools in geomorphology
In the first block, we will give an overview about geomorphic systems, the relationship between process, material, and landform, and feedbacks between these components. Furthermore, we will introduce tools used to quantify geomorphic processes, materials, and landforms across space and time.

2) From source to sink – A journey down the sediment cascade
The second block focuses on the sediment cascade and reviews how rocks are broken down to regolith/soil, transported by water and gravity from the hillslopes (source) along the rivers, making their way to the coast and sea (sink).

3) Climate-driven geomorphic processes
In the third block, we will give an overview about climatic-driven processes as glacial, periglacial and aeolian processes and landforms. We will link geomorphic processes and landform evolution to past climates and investigate future process and hazards in the light of climate change.

The course will be taught as lectures that provide geomorphic knowledge and concepts. In computer practicals, you will apply this knowledge to answer key geomorphic questions using data analysis or computer simulations. There will be two lectures and one practical per week, culminating in one graded exercise. In week 8, students will present a scientific paper. The course grade will be a weighted average of the exercises, the oral presentation, a Mid-term and an end-term exam.

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