The Physical Geography of the Mediterranean

by Jamie Woodward (Editor)

Overview

This volume explores the climates, landscapes, ecosystems and hazards that comprise the Mediterranean world. It traces the development of the Mediterranean landscape over very long timescales and examines modern processes and key environmental issues in a wide range of settings. The Mediterranean is the only region on Earth where three continents meet and this interaction has produced a very distinctive Physical Geography. This book examines the landscapes and processes at the margins of these continents and the distinctive marine environment between them. Catastrophic earthquakes, explosive volcanic eruptions and devastating storms and floods are intimately bound up within the history and mythology of the Mediterranean world. This is a key region for the study of natural hazards because it offers unrivalled access to long records of hazard occurrence and impact through documentary, archaeological and geological archives. The Mediterranean is also a biodiversity hotspot; it has been a meeting place for plants, animals and humans from three continents throughout much of its history. The Quaternary records of these interactions are more varied and better preserved than in any other part of the world. These records have provided important new insights into the tempo of climate, landscape and ecosystem change in the Mediterranean region and beyond. The region is unique because of the very early and widespread impact of humans in landscape and ecosystem change - and the richness of the archaeological and geological archives that chronicle this impact. This book examines this history and these interactions and places current environmental issues in long term context. Contributors : Ramadan Husain Abu-Zied Harriet Allen Jacques Blondel Maria-Carmen Llasat James Casford Marc Castellnou Andrew Goudie Andrew Harding Angela Hayes Tom Holt Babette Hoogakker Philip Hughes Jos Lelieveld John Lewin Francisco Lloret Francisco Lopez-Bermudez Mark Macklin Jean Margat Anne Mather Frédéric Médail Christophe Morhange Clive Oppenheimer Jean Palutikof Gerassimos Papadopoulos Josep Piñol David Pyle Jane Reed Neil Roberts Eelco Rohling Iain Stewart Stathis Stiros John Thornes Chronis Tzedakis John Wainwright

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191608414
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	05/07/2009
Series:	Oxford Regional Environments
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	31 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Jamie Woodward is Professor of Physical Geography at The University of Manchester. He has worked on the geomorphology and Quaternary history of the Mediterranean region for over two decades. He is especially interested in fluvial, glacial and karst sediment systems. A good deal of this research takes place in collaboration with archaeologists and Jamie is interested in human-environment interactions across a range of timescales. He is the Co-Editor of Geoarchaeology: An International Journal and he is the Quaternary Science and Geomorphology Editor for the Journal of the Geological Society of London.

Table of Contents

PART 1: THE PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
1. Tectonic setting and landscape development — Anne Mather
2. The marine environment: present and past - Eelco Rohling, Ramadan Abu-Zied, James Casford, Angela Hayes and Babette Hoogakker
3. The climate system — Andrew Harding, Jean Palutikof, and Tom Holt
4. Cenozoic climate and vegetation change — Chronis Tzedakis
5. The nature and origin of the vertebrate fauna — Jacques Blondel

PART 2: GEOMORPHOLOGY, BIOGEOGRAPHY AND ECOSYSTEMS

6. Weathering, soils and slope processes — John Wainwright
7. Vegetation and ecosystem dynamics — Harriet Allen
8. Hydrology, river regimes and sediment yield - John Thornes, Francisco Lopez-Bermudez and Jamie Woodward
9. Lakes, Wetlands and Holocene environmental change — Neil Roberts and Jane Reed
10. Karst geomorphology — John Lewin and Jamie Woodward
11. River systems and environmental change - Mark Macklin and Jamie Woodward
12. Glacial and Periglacial Environments - Philip Hughes, Jamie Woodward and Philip Gibbard
13. Coastal geomorphology and sea-level change — Iain Stewart and Christophe Morhange
14. Aeolian processes and landforms — Andrew Goudie

PART 3: NATURAL HAZARDS
15. Volcanoes — Clive Oppenheimer and David Pyle
16. Earthquakes — Stathis Stiros
17. Tsunamis — Gerassimos Papadopoulos
18. Storms and floods — Mar a-Carmen Llasat
19. Wildfires — Francisco Lloret, Josep Pi ol and Marc Castellnou

PART 4: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN THE 21ST CENTURY
20. Land degradation — John Thornes
21. Water resources — Jean Margat
22. Air pollution and climate — Jos Lelieveld
23. Biodiversity and conservation — Jacques Blondel and Fr d ric M dail

Editorial Reviews

"The two words which immediately suggest themselves when reading this volume are authoritative and comprehensive... The impressive aspect of this volume is that the authors that the editor has chosen to write the constituent chapters are exactly the people youd want to hear from on those subjects."—Proceedings of the Geologists Association

From the Publisher