The human-landscape system: challenges for geomorphologists

Deliberately or indirectly, most of the terrestrial surface has been affected by the actions of human beings. For that reason, geomorphologists have needed to broaden their scope of inquiry to encompass the human-landscape system. Four themes related to human actions emerge in recent research in geomorphology: (1) human impacts on geomorphic systems, (2) human-landscape feedbacks, (3) geomorphic hazards and (4) stratigraphic markers of anthropogenic origin. The importance of humans as geomorphic agents challenges geomorphologists and their collaborators to move beyond unidirectional cause-and-effect (human impacts), and develop new research frameworks that better integrate the ongoing interactions between people and landscapes.