Category Archives: geomorphology

Scenic Saturday: Mammoth Cave, where surface water and groundwater meet

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

It’s that wonderful time of year, as one semester finally gives up the fight and a new one waits in the shadows, pouncing on unsuspecting students and faculty just as they breathe a sigh of that they’ve won the first … Continue reading →

Categories: by Anne, geomorphology, hydrology

Scenic Saturday: Wood in Streams

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

One of our field trips in my Fluvial Processes class takes the students to the lower reaches of Mallard Creek, the urban stream that drains the northern portion of Charlotte, including our campus. For most of its length, Mallard Creek … Continue reading →

Categories: by Anne, environment, geomorphology, photos, publication, science education

Scenic Saturday: Whitewater rafting in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

This semester I am teaching a class on fluvial (river) processes that encompasses aspects of both hydrology and geomorphology. One of my goals is to take my students to as many of sizes and shapes of river as possible over … Continue reading →

Categories: by Anne, geomorphology, hydrology, science education

Scenic Saturday: Minnesota, Land of Lakes

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

In Minnesota, two Saturdays ago, the weather was ridiculously warm, but the trees knew it was autumn and were well into their fall foliage fireworks. It was the perfect afternoon to enjoy a walk around one of Minnesota’s most famous … Continue reading →

Categories: by Anne, geomorphology, photos, Pleistocene

Scenic Saturday: Waterfalls need the right rocks as well as water

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Chris Rowan

Earlier this year, I spent a pleasant day hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. One of the places I visited was Grotto Falls; not the world’s tallest waterfall, but rather handsome all the same. Being an unabashed geonerd, … Continue reading →

Categories: geomorphology, outcrops, photos, rocks & minerals

One recipe for flooding: Take a tropical cyclone and add steep topography

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

The past few weeks have brought two tropical cyclones* to the eastern seaboard of the United States. They serve nicely to illustrate the topographic controls on flood generation that we were been talking about in my Fluvial Processes class recently. … Continue reading →

Categories: by Anne, geohazards, geomorphology, hydrology

Scenic Saturday: Ropy pahoehoe on a biogenic beach

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

In this inaugural Scenic Saturday post, I offer up very happy volcano/landscape nerd enjoying the stunning geologic scenery on Isabella, Galápagos Islands, July 2011. I was there as a participant in the Chapman Conference on the Galápagos as a Laboratory … Continue reading →

Categories: by Anne, geomorphology, hydrology, photos, volcanoes

Simulating river processes…ooh shiny, stream table!

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

I’ve got a shiny new Emriver Em2 river processes simulator (i.e., stream table), thanks to departmental equipment funds and enthusiastic colleagues. I’ve been on sabbatical this semester and away from campus, so I haven’t had a chance to play with … Continue reading →

Categories: by Anne, geomorphology, public science, science education

Flooding around the world

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

Based on information from The Flood Observatory and other news sources, here are some tidbits about on-going and recent flood events around the world. Every one of these floods is having significant local and regional impacts, even if they don’t … Continue reading →

Categories: by Anne, geohazards, geomorphology, hydrology

Edible debris flow

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Anne Jefferson

Steep hillslopes with loose sediment are at risk from debris flows triggered by heavy rain or rapid snowmelt. As water is added to the hillslope, surface runoff or positive pore water pressure catastrophically destabilizes a portion of the slope. I decided to undertake my own research and investigate the possibilities for an edible analog for debris flows. Continue reading →

Categories: by Anne, geohazards, geomorphology