试论地貌学的新进展和趋势

地貌变化有内在的规律,对环境保育、资源利用和自然灾害防治有重要影响。作为交叉学科和地理学的重要分支学科,地貌学具有重要理论价值和实际意义。过去10多年来,随着遥感、地理信息技术和沉积物定年、地球物理和地球化学探测以及数值模拟等新技术和新方法的应用,地貌学家的研究视野和深度不断扩大与加深,在构造地貌、气候地貌和人类活动与地貌过程等传统领域有很多新进展,揭示了不同地貌单元的变化规律和机理,极大地推动了地貌学的发展。在新时代,除了继续加强传统地貌单元的深入研究外,地貌学的发展应与全球环境变化和未来地球等重大科学问题(计划)紧密结合;地貌学家要关心人类活动对地貌过程的影响及适应,并利用新技术开展地貌过程的定量重建和数值模拟。同时加强地理学专业学生的地质学基础学习、发展定量地貌学和行星地貌学、系统开展人类活动对地貌过程的影响和适应研究,是提升中国地貌学水平的途径,也可为推动国际地貌学发展做出贡献。

Progress in geomorphology and future study:A brief review

The formation and evolution of landform and landscape on Earth follow unique rules with specific forcing mechanisms. Earth surface processes have affected human environment, resource exploitation, and natural hazards and disasters. As an important branch of geography, geomorphology is an interdisciplinary field with important theoretical and practical values. With the application of remote sensing, geographical information system, digital elevation models, and sediment dating techniques, detection and tracing techniques of geophysics and geochemistry, and numerical simulation, the scope of geomorphology has been expanded and deepened over the past 10 years. Study on geomorphological process modulated by tectonic movement, climatic changes, gravity forcing, and human activities has greatly moved forward. New geomorphological processes and forcing mechanisms have been unraveled, and these recent achievements have significantly improved our understanding of Earth surface processes. In this new era of research, in addition to strengthening the study in traditional areas such as investigating different geomorphological processes at various temporal and spatial scales, bridging geomorphological research with global environment change and Future Earth programs is recommended. In particular, geomorphologists should pay much more attention to human activities, which is a vital agent that modulates Earth surface in the Anthropocene. Quantitatively reconstructing and modeling geomorphological processes are also an important area to explore. In China, to train geography students with more extensive and in-depth geological knowledge and practices, develop quantitative geomorphology and planetary geomorphology, and strengthen research on human impact on landform and topography will improve the quality of research, and promote geomorphology as a key discipline in Earth system science.