Lineage As a Factor in Landscape Analysis

Abstract

The reasons for the initiation of many landforms can in many instances be traced to various magmatic, thermal, tectonic, and sedimentological events, some of which took place in distant geological time. Though it is convenient to think of etch forms as of two-stage origin, insofar as they are a result of differential alteration at the weathering front, followed by exposure of the front, the reasons for weathering being preferential frequently are to be found in geological events of long ago. Thus many landforms are in reality multistage and have causative chronologies dating well back into time and even into the Precambrian. An analysis of such lineage can provide a new perspective to landscape studies.

Keywords:

• lineage
• multistage
• magmatic
• thermal
• tectonic
• sedimentological factors