Status of geomorphological activity - enumeration

http://anzsoil.org/def/au/asls/landform/Geomorphology-status

identifier http://anzsoil.org/def/au/asls/landform/Geomorphology-status
definition Status of geomorphological activity
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http://anzsoil.org/def/au/asls/landform/status-of-geomorphological-activity-B original
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Geomorphology-status
http://anzsoil.org/def/au/asls/landform/status-of-geomorphological-activity-C original
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Geomorphology-status
http://anzsoil.org/def/au/asls/landform/status-of-geomorphological-activity-R original
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Geomorphology-status
http://anzsoil.org/def/au/asls/landform/status-of-geomorphological-activity-S original
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Geomorphology-status
http://anzsoil.org/def/au/asls/landform/status-of-geomorphological-activity-U original
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Geomorphology-status
note It is important for theoretical and practical purposes to distinguish, if possible, between landform patterns in which the formative geomorphological processes continue at the present time, and those in which they are no longer active, the landform features being relict. The problem in assigning activity status is that many processes are episodic, so that the observation of no activity may mean that an episodic process is in a quiescent phase. The following scale does not distinguish between processes that operate continuously but extremely slowly and those episodic processes that are very rare:

Table 11
Typical activity status of the dominant geomorphological agent in types of landform pattern
Typical activity status Landform patterns
Continuously active Mountains, hills, rises, karst, coral reef
Frequently active Pediment, sheet-flood fan, flood plain, bar plain, meander plain, covered plain, anastomotic plain, alluvial fan, tidal flat, dunefield, playa plain
Seldom active Volcano, (lower) terrace
Barely active to inactive Pediplain, peneplain, stagnant alluvial plain
Relict Caldera, meteor crater, (higher) terrace, beach ridge plain, lava plain, made land
Unspecified Plain, alluvial plain

Table 11 shows how types of landform pattern vary in their status of geomorphological activity. Note that flood plains, including bar plains, meander plains, covered plains, anastomotic plains, and deltas, are distinguished from terraces or stagnant alluvial plains by having frequently active rather than seldom active or inactive stream flow. This may have legal significance. The frequency of occurrence of inundation (see page 96) that is classed as frequently active in this Handbook is an Average Recurrence Interval of 50 years or less.
A landform pattern may change from one type to another type if the status of geomorphological activity changes for any reason, including human interference such as diverting a stream or building a dam.
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