New approaches to analysing landscape development: Some contributions from Edinburgh

Abstract

The Institute (formerly Department) of Geography of the University of Edinburgh has been active in the rejuvenation of the sub-discipline of geomorphology over the past two decades with its emphasis on addressing macroscale questions of long-term landscape development. In addition to interdisciplinary collaborations in the fields of low-temperature thermochronology and numerical landscape modelling, researchers there have played a key role both nationally and, more recently, internationally in applying cosmogenic isotope analysis to landform dating and the estimation of denudation rates. Some examples of research are discussed from the passive margin setting of southern Africa, the active tectonic setting of southern California, and the arid environments of Chile and Namibia.