Time and Landscape Geochemistry

Abstract

It is noted in Chap. 3 that landscape processes occur in technological, ecological, pedological, or geological time—concurrently in most cases. Together, these processes result in the formation and evolution of natural landscapes and the gradual modification of man-made landscapes. This chapter considers some examples of the role of time taken fron environmental geology and geochemistry.

“In many geological applications, geological observations in a stratigraphic succession correspond to changes taking place through time. Where deposition was continuous and the rate of the deposition was relatively constant, stratigraphic thickness can be considered directly proportional to time. Therefore, time trend curves can be plotted with stratigraphic thickness corresponding to time as the independent variable and the parameter being studied as the dependent variable. The dependent variables can include such things as grain size, carbonate content, color, or fossil distribution. In modern sedimentary studies where processes are being studied through time, absolute time can be plotted as the independent variable and the dependent variables can include such things as barometric pressure, wind velocity, wave height, or current velocity.”

William T. Fox, “Some Practical Aspects of Time Series,” in Concepts in Geostatics , R. B. McCammon, ed. (Berlin: Springer Verlag, 1975), p. 70.