#geomorphology

[grainelevator]

Faraway views (right lens of my binoculars)

[expressions-of-nature]

Danxia landform, China by Melinda Chan

[lake-lady]

[amethysthands]

Went on my first geomorph lab. Here are awesome examples of honeycomb weathering and natural pillars. I thoroughly enjoyed it !

[loxare]

do i.. WANT to know about the drumlins?

YES YOU DO

Drumlins are glacial landforms, which means you find them only in places that have been glaciated. And they're very distinct when you know what you're looking for.

A hill with one steep side, one looooong sloping side, and you've (most likely) got yourself a drumlin. (Unless it's small. Drumlins are tens of meters high and hundreds of meters long, so if you've got a short one with way more elongation, you've got a drumlinoid.) They're all over Canada,the north eastern US, and northern Europe. The one pictured above is in Ireland. The ones in Canada and the US formed as the Laurentide Ice Sheet, a kilometers thick mass of glacial ice, was spreading across North America during the Last Glacial Maximum

There are lots of really cool glacial landforms (eskers and kames and lakes (Glacial Lake Agassiz my beloved) and like a dozen types of moraine), but drumlins are my favourite because they're so incredibly easy to identify, they occur in swarms, and they're kinda weird as hell

There's still some debate among geomorphologists about how, exactly, they form but I was told that the (mindbogglingly huge mass of) ice catches on a sticky uppy bit of bedrock and instead of mowing it down like a child kicking over a stack of blocks, moves around it instead. And because there's now a place behind the bedrock where there's less ice, the ice drops a whole bunch of glacial till (all the bits of sediment that did get mowed down like a child kicking over a stack of blocks) on the other side of the bedrock bit

(This is a constructional theory, where the drumlin is built up. the other main one is the erosional theory, where everything but the drumlin is eroded. There's also a theory that drumlins are deposited by subglacial meltwater, but that one is highly controversial)

"Now wait," I hear you say, "go back a bit. What the fuck was that about swarms?"

They occur in swarms.

If you've got one drumlin, good chances you've got a lot of drumlins. Which is actually amazing, because the steep side of the drumlin faces the direction of flow, which means we know exactly how the ice sheet moved. In this image, for example, the ice started at the top, near Lake Ontario, and then moved south. From looking at drumlins (and other glacial landforms, we do like to have multiple reference points), we know that the Laurentide Ice Sheet started in the Hudson Bay and crept out from there

And because they're so distinct (tear drop shaped, made of till, occur in swarms), and because drumlins can only have been made by glacial activity, we can look all over the world and find these things and know that this place was once under several thousand tonnes of ice

Not during the Last Glacial Maximum, but definitely ones before it. And I just think that's neat

[lowcountry-gothic]

Flame Azalea flashing their bright orange coloring against a lush green backdrop of North Carolina mountains underneath a blue sky of building clouds. Roan Highlands, Southern Appalachian Mountains. Carter, Tennessee. Photo by Mark van Dyke.

[mesetacadre]

this massive fault in Spain's Central System is gorgeous and underdiscussed. They even have a road running through the middle...

[eopederson]

Cirques, Central Colorado Rockies from IAD-LAX Flight, 2023.

The evidence for extensive glaciation is ample in the Colorado Rockies.

[grainelevator]

The aeolian processes of katabatic winds in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys shape boulders into surreal formations

[noosphe-re]

Geomorphology is the study of the form of the earth. Coastal geomorphologists study the way that the coastal zone, one of the most dynamic and changeable parts of the earth, evolves, including its profile, plan-form, and the architecture of foreshore, backshore, and nearshore rock and sediment bodies. To understand these it is necessary to examine wave processes and current action, but it may also involve drainage basins that feed to the coast, and the shallow continental shelves which modify oceanographic processes before they impinge upon the shore. Morphodynamics, study of the mutual co-adjustment of form and process, leads to development of conceptual, physical, mathematical, and simulation models, which may help explain the changes that are experienced on the coast.

C. Woodroffe, Geomorphology, in Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, 2001

[historysurvivalguide]

Science Science-Fiction Movies

Not all scientists are physicists! Here are some movies that highlight different fields of study

All fully recommended, some of my personal favorites

Geomorphology and Geophysics: The Core

Geomorphology: the scientific study of the physical and chemical processes that impact how surface of a planet changes. For example, a fluvial geomorphologist is a scientist that studies how rivers (fluvial) change the surface of a planet. Not always Earth, some geomorphologist study planets like Mars and Mercury. Earth science is more than just geology and rocks! Sometimes it also about rocks moving around or being eroded 🌏

Meteorology: Twister and Twisters

Meteorology: the study of a planet’s atmosphere with a strong focus on forecasting the weather 🌪️

Linguistics: The Arrival

Linguistics: the scientific study of languages 🖋️

Seismology: Tremors

Seismology: the scientific study of earthquakes 🪇🪨

Heliophysics and Solar Physics: Sunshine

Heliophysics: the scientific study of the sun and its effects on the solar system ☀️

Paleontology: Jurassic Park

Paleontology: the scientific study of life on earth through the fossil record 🦴 🦕

Botany and Astrophysics: The Martian

This one is a bit of a mix. The book makes uses of a lot of astrophysics, but the character is a botanist

Astrophysics: the scientific study of physical and chemical processes of the cosmos (a newer field of astronomy that includes more of a focus on physics) 🛰️

Botany: the scientific study of plants 🌱

Genetics and Astronomy: Gattaca

Another mix! The main theme of the movie revolves around genetics and genetic engineering (specifically eugenics). However, the main character is an astronomer/astronaut

Genetics: a branch of biology that concerns the scientific study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity 🧬

Astronomy: the study of space, stars, planets, and other celestial objects 🪐

[laelior]

Lane's balance is a concept in geomorphology that describes the relationship between the volume of water passing through a stream and the size of the sediment in the stream bed, among other factors. If one of these factors changes, it affects the others. Increasing flow through the stream, for instance, increases the average sediment size in the stream bed as the smaller particles wash away leaving only the larger ones behind, a process call bed armoring. This process can effectively halt scouring and degradation of the stream bed, but the resulting stream is generally less rich, less hospitable to aquatic life than it was before.

Thinking about this in terms of characters who close themselves off after being hurt to avoid future hurts, but this ends up making their lives less rich, less open to good experiences and hurting them more in the long run.

[dissolveyourfilter]

Bryce hike!

[thatonebirdwrites]

I wrote this years ago about Worldbuilding

This is a repost from an old article I wrote on my ReshapingReality.org blog back in the day. This is the step-by-step process that I use in worldbuilding. You don't have to follow my process, but I figured it might be a good start for some writers.

To see my primary setting for my original science fiction stories as an example, I have imported 66% of my notes to my Elivera Wiki, and plan to finish importing my notes in the next year or two.

NOTE: To adapt these steps to Fantasy that has magic, the step for the magic system must include the rules of how the magic works, its strengths and weaknesses, its impact on the world/society/technology/people/culture, and its limitations. Technology is very similar in a way to magic as technology also has limitations, strengths, weaknesses, and impacts to world/society/environment/people/culture that needs addressed.

World-building 101 for Science Fiction

Whenever I world-build I start with the basics.  First I need a solar system.  You can take the easy way out and just use our home system, or you can build your own.  If you wish to build your own, these are the steps to follow to create a fairly scientifically accurate system:

Determine what type of star will be the sun for your system.  The star will determine where you can place your planet for it to be habital, it will also determine the color the star shows in the planet's skies, the radiation that impacts it, and other important attributes that effect the environment of the planet. See my blog entry here that discusses this in more detail: Worldbuilding Series Part One – a star

Once you have your star, you can focus on your planets.  Read this for more information: Worldbuilding Series Part Two – the planets. To help you build both your star and planet, I’ve created a template for your world-building needs. Input in the data to have the spreadsheet generate some basic attributes that you can use in the astronomical data of your system: World-building template

Part of the process in creating planets involves the planet’s geology.  The environment in which people live impact not only how they subsist but also how they build up their community, the types of buildings that would work well, what resources they have available, and how they use those resources. This post focuses more on terrestrial planets, but it does highlight some guidelines for gas giants as well: Worldbuilding Series Part Three – Planet Geology.

Now it’s important to focus in on the atmosphere of planets (if they have one) and their natural cycles.  This impacts seasons, natural disasters, storms, weather patterns, long-term climate change, etc. All of which will impact the people who live on your planet. Here is my entry on this: Worldbuilding Series Part Four – Atmospheres and Natural Cycles.

The features of the planet will play a large role in the development of the sentient species’ culture and their evolution.  This post highlights how to create features on the planet and how this process works: Worldbuilding Series Part Five – Geomorphology. It may be useful to take a look at my map-making post in order to create a map of the surface of your planet.

Finally, the sentient species themselves.  If they are humans, this simplifies matters, and you mostly have to worry about how humanity adapts to the planet you created. This post discusses the effects of environment on a culture: Effects of Environment.  You’d also have to consider the dynamics of diversity, which I highlight in this blog post (focusing more on a future earth dynamic but can be applied to humans migrating to new worlds as well): Diversity – Race.  If you are creating a new aliens species, this blog post discusses some of the factors to keep in mind and offers some suggestions on how this can be done: The Science of Aliens.

Another important factor to consider is how language can influence a culture and its development.  I discuss how language intersects world-building in this article: Languages and World-building.  To help you create your language, examine these posts: How I craft a Language part 1 and How I craft a Language part 2.

Now remember each step above doesn't require indepth analysis and a million words of worldbuilding to complete. Sometimes all you need is some basic descriptions and ideas. From those you can then fine-tune what areas need more development so it can fit the needs of the stories you wish to write.

For example, you'll eventually need to write more about the following topics below, but focusing on which needs extensive development and which need only a brief primer can be difficult to decide! But the best way forward is to think about the stories you wish to write, and focus on the details you need to create a story that will immerse the reader in your world. Then develop those details.

Politics and Government

Diplomacy and Espionage

Economics

Education

Daily Life

Technology and Research

Cities and their infrastructure

Philosophy and Cultural Values (See this post: Thoughts on Philosophy within World building )

For some creative questions to delve deeper see: fantasy world-building question list compiled by Patricia C. Wrede.  The above list compiled by Patricia C. Wrede is very much usable for science fiction writers — just focus on the questions that deal with creating a world and a culture and when you encounter the magic questions alter them to technology.

Maps

Another important aspect of worldbuilding is maps. Creating maps of your world and of your cities can be incredibly helpful with visualizing your world. It also helps track the character(s) journey across a region, the distances involved, the time needed, the environments crossed, etc.

For an example, I often create a zone map for my cities. Here is a detailed post on how to create a map: World-build: Maps

Character Design

This is just a placeholder for any primers I wrote for character design:

Primer for writing trans characters Character Template

Resources

Books:

Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer

Worldbuilding by Stephen Gillett

Body Trauma: A Writer’s Guide to wounds and injuries by David W. Page, MD, FACS

The Writer’s Guide to Weapons by Benjamin Sobieck

Forensics for Writers by D.P. Lyle, M.D.

The Science of Aliens by Clifford Pickover

The Writer’s Guide to Psychology by Carolyn Kaufman, Psy.D

Space Travel by Ben Bova with Anthony R. Lewis

The Starflight Handbook: A Pioneer’s Guide to Interstellar Travel by Eugene F. Mallove and Gregory L. Matloff

The Language Construction Kit by Mark Rosenfelder

Advanced Language Construction by Mark Rosenfelder

Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by David Gerrold

The Planet Construction Book by Mark Rosenfelder

Building Imaginary Worlds by Mark Wolf

Revisiting Imaginary Worlds by Mark Wolf

The Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding by Wolfgang Bauer

On Writing and Worldbuilding by Tim Hickson

Classes/Podcasts

N.K. Jemisen's Masterclass on Writing and Worldbuilding

Roxanne Gay's Masterclass on Writing

Neil Gaiman's Masterclass on Writing and Storytelling

Levar Burton's Masterclass on Storytelling

WorldAnvil Worldbuilding Podcast

Writing Excuses Podcast

Worldbuilding Magazines Podcast

Brandon Sanderson's Writing Class

Worldbuilding Tips by Jenna Moreci

Common Worldbuilding Mistakes by Yinka

Overly Sarcastic Productions' Trope Talks

Feminist Frequency

Feel free to ask questions and share more resources or tips!

[lowcountry-gothic]

Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.

[happy-little-letters]

Quaternary Geomorphology

I became a surficial mapper this summer, following the step-cuts of proglacial shorelines across farm fields and verdant aspen stands, until the ghost of water took form. There lies the joy of geomorphology, vivid and visible, screaming out a story once you learn how to look for its traces.

I think love leaves traces.

This fall, I am taking dance lessons in the basement of my students' union. My instructor has the same cupid's bow smile of someone I once kissed, who talked me through the top surgery referral process one spring-green evening. I am wearing hand-me-down flannel from a friend half a continent away. Oh, friendly ghosts, hello -- I dance with a girl with field-rough hands and recognize the heat blooming beneath my ribs as my constant. We are caught in the process of becoming, all. Nothing, love nor learning, is ever wasted. It is only transformed, lakeshore clay to loam.

Look, you can see it still.