UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE MAR DEL PLATA

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS EXACTAS Y NATURALES

CENTRO DE GEOLOGA DE COSTAS Y CARRERA: LIC. EN BIOLOGA
DEL CUATERNARIO
B57
PROGRAMA DE:
CDIGO:
GEOMORFOLOGA AMBIENTAL
DOCENCIA
REA:
PLAN AO: 2012
HORAS DE CLASE
TERICAS

PROFESOR RESPONSABLE
PRCTICAS

POR SEMANA

POR CUAT./AO

POR SEMANA

POR CUAT./AO

96

48

DR. GUSTAVO A. MARTNEZ

ASIGNATURAS CORRELATIVAS PRECEDENTES

FINAL APROBADO

CURSADA APROBADA

CONTENIDOS MNIMOS:

Estudio de las formas de la superficie terrestre en sus aspectos descriptivos, genticos y

ambientales. Anlisis del relieve como parte del ecosistema. Las actividades humanas como
transformadoras del relieve.

VIGENCIA DE ESTE PROGRAMA

AO

PROFESOR RESPONSABLE

AO

PROFESOR RESPONSABLE

VISADO
DIRECTOR DEPARTAMENTO

FECHA:

SECRETARIO ACADMICO

FECHA:

DECANO

FECHA:

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE MAR DEL PLATA

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS EXACTAS Y NATURALES

CENTRO DE GEOLOGA DE COSTAS Y CARRERA: LIC. EN BIOLOGA
DEL CUATERNARIO
B57
PROGRAMA DE:
CDIGO:
GEOMORFOLOGA AMBIENTAL
DOCENCIA
REA:
PLAN AO: 2012
O.C.S.:
PROGRAMA ANALITICO
CLASES TERICAS
BLOQUE 1: INTRODUCCIN, MARCO TEORICO, ASPECTOS GENERALES
Teora 1. Introduccin. Geomorfologa, concepto y definicin. Disciplinas auxiliares. Marco
terico y metodolgico del anlisis geomorfolgico. Desarrollo de las ideas sobre
geomorfologa. Influencia de las teoras biolgicas y ecolgicas en Geomorfologa. El ciclo
de Davis. Geomorfologa cuantitativa. Geomorfologa climtica. El hombre como agente
geomorfolgico. Geomorfologa Ambiental.
Teora 2. Procesos endgenos (tectonismo, vulcanismo). La tectnica de placas. Relieves
estructurales. Formas de Plegamiento simples y complejas. Formas de fracturacin. Horst,
Grabens, Escarpas. Los procesos volcnicos y las formas de relieve resultante: mesetas
volcnicas, calderas, conos volcnicos. Tipos de erupciones. Riesgos volcnico. Mtodos
de monitoreo y predicciones. Aspectos socio-econmicos.
Teora 3. Procesos exgenos. Fuentes de energa en el sistema terrestre. Meteorizacin,
pedognesis, erosin, transporte y sedimentacin. Balance energtico del ciclo exgeno. El
ciclo hidrolgico. El ciclo del agua. Escurrimiento superficial y subterrneo. Cuencas de
drenaje. Carcter efluente-influente de los cuerpos de agua. Balance hdrico. El rol de la
fretica en los procesos geomorfolgicos. Procesos geomorfolgicos y sustrato. Agentes
biolgicos.
BLOQUE 2: AMBIENTES GEOMORFOLOGICOS
Teora 4. Ambiente Fluvial. Cuenca de drenaje. Definicin, formas y componentes. La
cuenca de drenaje como unidad de paisaje. Tipos de escurrimiento. Geoformas de erosin y
depositacin. Procesos de gravitacionales. Remocin en masa. Formacin de valles.

Transporte, erosin y depositacin fluvial (depsitos aluviales). Las planicies de

inundacin. La erosin y depositacin fluvial en funcin de la cubierta vegetal. Riesgo de
inundaciones.
Teora 5. Ambientes ridos y semiridos. Erosin, transporte y acumulacin elica. Cubetas
de deflacin. Geoformas de acumulacin. Tipos de dunas. Polvos elicos. El loess;
caractersticas litolgicas, gnesis e importancia ambiental. Erosin y depositacin elica
en funcin de la cubierta vegetal. Reactivacin de los procesos elicos por el agente
antrpico. Riesgos ambientales.
Teora 6. Ambiente litoral. Zonas costeras. Olas, Corrientes y Mareas. Formas de erosin y
formas de acumulacin costeras. Estuarios, deltas y lagunas costeras. Marismas y planicies
mareales. Procesos antrpicos. La costa como recurso urbano, terrestre, minero y
energtico.
Teora 7. Procesos pedogenticos. La formacin de suelos; factores formadores (clima,
relieve, roca madre, biota, tiempo). Perfil de suelo y perfil de meteorizacin. Significado
geomorfolgico y ambiental de los suelos. El suelo como interfase bisfera-gesfera. El
suelo como recurso natural renovable y no renovable, manejo y conservacin. Los suelos
urbanos. La minera de suelos.
Teora 8. Procesos de Remocin en Masa. Tipos de movimientos: Movimientos lentos:
reptacin y solifluxin reptacin, cadas, desprendimientos, flujos, avalanchas. Lahares.
Deslizamientos. Factores que favorecen los procesos de pendiente. Rol del agua, la
pendiente y la vegetacin. Pendientes como componentes del paisaje. Parmetros:
geometra, longitud, gradiente. Clasificacin de pendientes. Disparadores naturales y
antrpicos. Desastres naturales. Casos de estudio en a regin.
Teora 9. Clima y procesos geomorfolgicos. Sistemas morfoclimticos. Clasificaciones y
principales tipos climticos. Clima-procesos. Reconstrucciones paleoclimticas, paisajes
heredados. Clima y vegetacin. Cambios climticos y respuesta geomorfolgica. Escalas
temporales. Causas del cambio climatico. Ciclos de milankovich. El hombre como
modificador del clima.
Teora 10. Ambiente Glacial. Los procesos glaciarios principales. Dinmica de un glaciar.
Erosin, transporte y depositacin. Caractersticas del drenaje y relieve. Formas de erosin
y acumulacin. Lagos glaciarios. Ambientes periglaciarios. Aspectos socio-econmicos.
Teoria 11. El Cuaternario. Subdivisiones. Historia del paisaje. Tcnicas de reconstruccin.
Estratigrafa y Geomorfologa. Cronologa de geoformas. El marco temporal Cuaternario en
la evolucin de los ambientes actuales. Edad del paisaje. Mtodos de datacin para el
Cuaternario Fluctuaciones durante el Cuaternario. Procesos geomorfolgicos en la escala
de tiempo geolgico. Tiempo geolgico y evolucin biolgica. Las glaciaciones cuaternarias
y su impacto en los ecosistemas.
Teora 12. Teledeteccin. Campos de aplicacin. Procesamiento digital de imgenes
satelitales. Los formatos digitales. El espectro electromagntico. Resolucin espacial,
espectral y temporal. Tipos de satlites y diferentes aplicaciones en el dominio continental,
marino y atmosfrico. Correcciones de una imagen, procesamiento, realces, filtros.
Clasificacin de una imagen. Generacin de mapas temticos.

BLOQUE 3: GEOMORFOLOGIA Y SOCIEDAD

Teora 13. Perspectiva geoarqueolgica en la evolucin del ambiente. Las sociedades de
cazadores-recolectores. Las sociedades productoras de alimentos; domesticacin de
animales y vegetales. La agricultura. El proceso de poblamiento mundial y americano.
Ejemplos de procesos histricos (migraciones, conquistas) vinculados con el manejo y
evolucin del ambiente.
Teora 14. El hombre como agente geomorfolgico. Estilos de desarrollo. La dominancia de
procesos culturales y las externalidades de los procesos econmicos. El Desarrollo
Sustentable Funciones ambientales. Recursos y reservas: Conceptos. Recursos
consumibles y no consumibles Paisaje. Recursos renovables y no renovables.
Teora 15. Los ambientes urbanos y periurbanos. El anlisis geomorfolgico en la
ordenacin territorial y el diseo urbano, escalas de intervencin Relieves antrpicos:
Negativos o extractivos, Positivos o acumulativos. La geomorfologa y el manejo de los
diferentes tipos de residuos. Riesgos ambientales.
Teora 16. Impacto Ambiental; tcnicas de evaluacin. El Impacto ambiental desde una
perspectiva geomorfolgica. El uso de Geoindicadores e indicadores ambientales. La
legislacin ambiental Argentina. Evaluacin y perspectiva futura. Los acuerdos
internacionales.
Teora 17. Geomorfologa y Riesgos Naturales. Los conceptos de impacto y riesgo
ambiental. Peligrosidad: caracterizacin y evaluacin en diferentes ambientes geomrficos.
Vulnerabilidad: aspectos que la definen. Percepcin y comunicacin del riesgo. Elementos
bsicos de evaluacin y gestin de riesgos naturales

VIAJES DE CAMPO
Viaje 1. Arroyo Chapadmalal. Anlisis del sistema fluvial. Cuenca de drenaje. Diseos de
drenaje y factores condicionantes. Divisorias de aguas. Perfiles de cauce. Medicin de
caudales y parmetros qumicos. Modificaciones antrpicas. Reconocimiento del ambiente
costero. reas de erosin: acantilados y depositacin (playas). Reconocimiento de las
secuencias sedimentarias del Cuaternario en los acantilados costeros. Identificacin de
depsitos losicos, paleosuelos y horizontes de tosca. Relacin con los cambios climticos.
Viaje 2. Ambientes sedimentarios continentales. Procesos de formacin de los sistemas
serranos, evolucin de las pendientes, reconocimiento procesos de remocin en masa:
cadas, deslizamientos, reptacin y solifluxin. Relacin geomorfologa-suelos-vegetacin
en los depsitos de pendiente. Elaboracin de un perfil topogrfico de una vertiente
serrana. Toma de parmetros biticos y abiticos. Anlisis de los depsitos de loess:
interpretacin paleoambiental, toscas, paleosuelos. Importancia de los depsitos de loess y
geoformas asociadas en la distribucin y uso de suelos.
Presentacin de los datos (TP 7).

Viaje 3. Laguna Nahuel Ruc Laguna Mar Chiquita. Reconocimiento las principales
geoformas continentales, elicas y fluviales, de la Cuenca del Salado. Identificacin de los
ambientes mixtos y litorales de la costa bonaerense en relacin con los procesos y
geoformas tanto fsiles como actuales y su relacin con las distintas comunidades de
vegetacin. Lla importancia cambios climticos y de las fluctuaciones del nivel del mar,
ocurridos durante el Pleistoceno Tardo y el Holoceno, en la configuracin de los ambientes
fsiles y actuales de la llanura pampeana y del litoral atlntico.
Viaje 4. Sectores periurbanos. rea de Batn-Chapadmalal. Actividades econmicas
transformadoras del paisaje: agricultura, ladrilleras. Sitios de deposicin final de residuos
slidos. Problemas ambientales derivados. Anlisis de la relacin sociedad-naturaleza.
Viaje 5. Viaje largo integrador (Viaje 3 incluido en caso de Opcin 2) con presentacin de
monografa final (TP 8)
Opcin 1: Sur de la provincia de Buenos Aires, entre los ros Colorado y Negro.
Ambientes desrticos: planicies estructurales, valles fluviales fsiles y actuales, dunas
continentales y costeras. Relacin con la vegetacin y contexto de sitios arqueolgicos.
Opcin 2: Planicie costera Bonaerense (Magdalena). Reconocimiento de las
principales geoformas continentales, elicas y fluviales, de la Cuenca del Salado y las
diferentes unidades biogeogrficas de la Estepa Pampeana. Importancia de las
fluctuaciones del nivel del mar, ocurridas durante el Pleistoceno Tardo y el Holoceno, en la
configuracin de los ambientes. Identificar la estructura de la vegetacin y los ambientes
mixtos y litorales en relacin con los procesos, las geoformas y el impacto antrpico.

TRABAJOS PRCTICOS
TP 1. Mapa Topogrfico. La Cartografa en la Geomorfologa Ambiental. Interpretacin de
paisaje a partir de mapas topogrficos. Escalas. Representacin del relieve. Curvas de
nivel. Cota de un punto. Equidistancia. Regla de la "V".
TP 2. Pendientes y Perfiles Topogrficos. Determinacin de pendientes. Morfologa
(Cncavas, convexas y rectas). Construccin de perfiles topogrficos. Anlisis e
interpretacin de un mapa topogrfico.
TP 3. Interpretacin del paisaje a partir de mapas topogrficos e imgenes satelitarias.
TP 4. Fotointerpretacin. Fotografas areas. Escala, tono, textura. Fotolectura y
fotointerpretacin. Mosaicos. Reconocimiento de distintos ambientes geomrficos.
TP 5. Mapeo geomorfolgico. Determinacin de unidades geomrficas simples. Sistemas
de mapeo y leyendas. Elaboracin de un mapa geomorfolgico y apoyo de campo.
Aplicaciones en diferentes ambientes geomrficos.
TP 6. Teledeteccin. Procesamiento de imgenes satelitarias por computadora. Extraccin
de informacin temtica. Realces de una imagen, filtros, clasificaciones. Extraccin de
informacin temtica. Aplicaciones con imgenes Landsat, Spot y Radarsat en ambientes
de llanura, costeros y semiridos. Modelos digitales de terreno.

TP 7. Taller. Presentacin de los datos del Viaje 2 Ambiente serrano e Interserrano. Taller
integrado con alumnos de Bitogeografa: Interaccin de factores biticos y abiticos.
Control de la geomorfologa y los suelos sobre los distintos tipos de vegetacin en el
ambiente serrano. Elaboracin de un informe.
TP 8. Informe final sobre el Viaje largo Integrador Viaje 5.

PARCIALES
La evaluacin consta de tres parciales que sern tomados al finalizar cada bloque temtico
y la aprobacin de una monografa.

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eol 33 Environmental Geomorphology

J Bret Bennington
Introduction - What is Environmental Geomorphology?

First, let's try to define Geomorphology. Basically, geomorphology is the study of the present
surface of the earth - how it developed to become what it is and the processes that shaped
it. This is a branch of geology that has roots older than any other. For example, Herodotus
(485?-425 B.C.) and Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) both considered explanations for such
observations as the growth of the Nile, the elevation of marine rock above sea level, the
subsidence of land beneath the sea, and the erosion of river valleys. People have always
been interested in the topographic features of the Earth's surface - after all it is what we live
on and interact with on a daily basis.
In many ways, Geomorphology is also very much the study of the Quaternary Period of
geologic time. The Quaternary encompasses the Pleistocene and the Holocene (the last 1.6
million years of Earth history) and includes the present ice age, in which we have the good
fortune to be living during one of the periodic interglacial warming episodes. Ice ages have
had a profound effect on the modern topography, particularly in northern latitudes and in
mountainous regions that have recently hosted glaciers. Indeed, to understand the
Holocene requires that we understand what happened in the Pleistocene because the
climates and processes that produced much of our present landscape are no longer
operating there.
This is not to say that the pre-Pleistocene is not important. As we will see, geologic events
that occurred hundreds of millions and even billions of years ago still exert their control on
the landscape.
Geomorphology is also one of those sciences that seems to inhabit an intersection between
many others. To understand landscapes, landforms, and their evolution through time
requires knowledge of all of the things that impact on these features and processes climate, mineralogy, chemistry, tectonics, sedimentology, and ecology, just to name a few of
the more important ones.
The Environmental Approach
But what does geomorphology have to do with environmental science? One could say that
environmental geomorphology is applied geomorphology. In other words, using an
understanding of landforms and surface processes to better coexist with them.
Notice that I did not say control. "Nature to be Commanded" is the hubristic title of a USGS
publication on engineering geomorphology from the 1960's. We are beginning to realize that
much of the 20th century will be remembered as a time when we vastly overestimated both
our ability to control nature and the benefits of trying to do so. The last two decades have
seen unprecidented levels of expense generated by natural disasters and environmental
disruption exacerbated by our attempts to control geomorphic processes.

The Environmental Ethic

Environmental Geoscience as practiced today has matured from a single-minded pursuit of
resources and solutions to engineering problems (what might be better defined as
economic geology) into an essential component of a scientifically driven environmental
ethic.

The Environmental Ethic was first articulated by Aldo Leopold in an essay called The Land
Ethic published in 1949 in his famous Sand County Almanac. What is the land ethic?
Leopold explains is thus:
"All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a
community of interdependent parts. His instincts prompt him to compete for his place in that
community, but his ethics prompt him also to co-operate (perhaps in order that there may be
a place to compete for).
The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters,
plants and animals, or collectively: the land.
This sounds simple: do we not already sing our love for an obligation to the land of the free
and the home of the brave? Yes, but just what and whom do we love? Certainly not the soil,
which we are sending helter-skelter downriver. Certainly not the waters, which we assume
have no function except to turn turbines, float barges, and carry off sewage. Certainly not
the plants, of which we exterminate whole communities without batting an eye. Certainly not
the animals, of which we have already extirpated many of the largest and most beautiful
species. A land ethic of course cannot prevent the alteration, management, and use of these
resources, but it does affirm their right to continued existence, and, at least in spots, their
continued existence in a natural state.
In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the landcommunity to plain member and citizen of it."
A major point Leopold (and other famous conservationist writers) tried to make was that the
environment in its natural state had values beyond those of simple economics. Many
environmentalist would argue (as Leopold did) that animals, plants, and the environments
they inhabit have an intrinsic right to exist and that humans should respect that right.
It is not clear that anything besides humans can have rights (an interesting and
complicated philosophical question). However, we can certainly agree that natural
environments have asthetic value that is difficult to put a price on. Anyone who has
wandered through the woods on a cool autumn day or hiked through a meadow in late
spring appreciates this.
But just as important, if not more so, ecology, biology, and geology have shown that natural
environments have many functional properties that are directly beneficial to humans. Forest
ecosystems consume CO2, produce oxygen, and ameliorate climate. Ocean ecosystems do
many of the same and produce the fish and other seafood that are major protein sources for
many of the world's societies. Estuaries trap silt and detoxify water pollution in rivers.
Forests also stabilize soil and moderate runoff from rainfall. Soils, in turn, provide the basis
for agriculture and sustain forests.
Also, failure to understand and to respect the functioning of natural geological systems
usually results in eventual property destruction and loss of life. Examples include:
Flood control structures along rivers that allow wetlands to be reclaimed and settled, but
that eventually create larger, more devestating floods.

Developments built on steep hillsides in southern California without regard for dynamics
of wildfires, rainy season, and slope stability.
Dams built with poor regard for the surrounding geology and affect of flood control on
downstream wetlands and floodplains.
Construction of nuclear reactors on both active and inactive fault lines.
A recurring theme through history is how humankinds control and overutilization of the land
and its resources for short term economic gain almost always results in the long term
destruction of the resource being exploited at a cost to society that far outweighs the initial
monetary gain.
In short, the environmental ethic can be summarized as:
The awareness that the quality of life, if not the very survival, of Homo sapiens is directly
dependent on the quality of the environment.
The awareness that the global environment, including landscapes and landforms, is a
complex, interrelated system and that human activities and exploitation of land and
resources often perturbes this system, causing changes that are often harmful to Homo
sapiens.
The awareness that there is a collective responsibility of those living today to try to limit
and reverse harmful environmental changes so that future generations will not inherit a
degraded global environment. The objective of an ethical approach to exploiting the
environment is sustainability - interacting with and exploiting the Earth at a level that allows
it to continue to rebuild and replenish itself.
This environmental ethic is nothing more or less than enlightened self interest. We are
children of the Earth and its natural systems, the result of millions of years of ecology and
evolution. Our technology , our culture, and our biology depend on the funtionality and
products of those systems. We change them, destroy them, or ignore them at our own great
risk.
Traditionally, environmental studies have been associated with biology, ecology, and
biochemical cycles. This overlooks the important physical components of environments - the
geology and physiography on which they exist - which have generally been referred to
engineers for remediation (fix it so it does what we want it to do) rather than studied to
understand how they function.
Thus, in this class we will attempt to develop three approaches to geomorphology.
an awareness of the variety of landforms and landscapes and their distribution, primarily
in the United States.
an understanding of the processes that have worked to shape those landforms and
landscapes.
an appreciation of and some practical knowledge of the environmental issues raised by
the first two points.

GOVINDA PRASAD (2008) Environmental Geomorphology. Discovery Publishing House

PVT LTD
Geomrofologia es el studio de la ciencia de las formas de tierra. Las formas de tierra
son el producto de los procesos que operan en ella. As la geomorfologa aborda el
anlisis crtico de los procesos geomorfolgicos y sus productos; el conjunto de las
formas de tierra o accidentes terrestres. La materia relaciona principalmente con las
caractersticas fsicas de la historia de la tierra. Los procesos y accidentes y as
llamados en balance natural han sido profundamente influenciados por las interacciones
humanas
Los elementos fsicos( espacio, formas de tierra, cuerpos de agua, clima, suelo, rocas y
minerales) determinan el carcter variable del hbitat humano, sus oportunidades y sus
limitaciones. Los elementos biticos (plantas, animales, microorganismos y hombre)
constituyen la biosfera. Los elementos culturales (econmico, social y poltico).

CANADAIAN ENCyCLOPEDIA
Geomorphology
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Geomorphology is primarily concerned with the scientific study of landscapes and landforms
on Earth's surface, and the processes acting on them, although geomorphic principles are
also applied to the study of planetary bodies with solid crusts, such as the moon and Mars.
Geomorphologists seek to explain variations in surface form and evolution, and the impact
of geomorphological processes on human populations, including hazardous events such as
LANDSLIDES and river flooding, which may intensify in the future with CLIMATE CHANGE.
Modern geomorphologists usually align themselves with a specialized branch of the subject,
such as GLACIERS, RIVERS or COASTS. In Canada, which was covered by several large
ice sheets and still has PERMAFROST underlying half its land mass, many
geomorphologists are concerned with the Quaternary (last 2.6 million years) or with
prevailing cold conditions.
Geomorphology is related to GEOLOGY because of the importance of long timescales,
tectonic deformation of Earth's crust (see PLATE TECTONICS), and rock and sediment
properties; and to physical geography through its association with CLIMATE,
BIOGEOGRAPHY, SOIL SCIENCE, and HYDROLOGY. Despite fundamental changes in the
subject in the last few decades, 2 main streams can still be identified: the historical
approach concerned with long-term landscape evolution, often with changing climatic,
biological, sea-level, tectonic, human and other conditions; and process geomorphology
concerned with understanding essentially recent processes and their effect on different
geological materials.
Geomorphological forces are driven by energy from the SUN, gravity, and Earth's internal
heat. Landscapes are sculptured by processes that weather, erode, transport and deposit
earth materials (see also EROSION; WEATHERING). Changes to the landscape may occur
during infrequent, high energy events, such as river floods (high intensity, low frequency), or
during more normal periods of low energy, such as daily river flow (high frequency, low
intensity). Landscapes are constantly changing. The types of landscape, and the smaller
landforms of which they are composed, reflect the nature, power and frequency of the
processes acting on the land and the resistance of the materials on which these processes
are operating. Ripples on sand dunes are an example of small features that can form very

quickly under fairly strong wind conditions (see also AEOLIAN LANDFORM), whereas
continental SHIELDS and mountain chains are very large landforms that evolve very slowly,
over millions of years.
In addition to specialized equipment to measure and record changing conditions in the field
(including river velocity and discharge, sediment transport, waves and winds, soil and rock
temperature and moisture, and rates of erosion) researchers use a variety of dating
methods and technologies (including laser radar, REMOTE SENSING, ground-penetrating
radar and global positioning systems), and advanced computational methods (including
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS and digital elevation models). Data collected
from the field and laboratory are often used in mathematical models to help researchers
study how geomorphic systems operate and evolve over time