Landscape Evolution in the United States: An Introduction to the Geography, Geology, and Natural History

       This book was written for those curious about the natural wonder and beauty of the United States, for those wishing to delve into how mountains form and evolve beyond the obligatory colliding of continents, and for those who seek insight on the reasoning and methods geologists use to interpret landscape evolution and geological history. It is a textbook appropriate for first and second-year university students, a reference book for advanced geology students, and a book appropriate for a general audience or traveler who seeks a deeper understanding and appreciation of landscape. As a textbook, it shows how geology, geography, tectonics, and climate interact to shape the landscape of the United States. As a general audience book, it introduces the physical characteristics of the United States, its structural framework, and its geological history.
There are three parts. Part I is concerned with understanding how rock type and rock structure combine with tectonic activity, climate, isostasy, and sea level change to produce landscape and to predict how landscape will evolve. These chapters emphasize the reasoning and methods geologists use to interpret landscape. Part II divides the contiguous United States into nine structural provinces. The discussion is on the distribution and origin of landscape features with special emphasis on topography, rock type, rock structure, tectonic setting, climate, and recent uplift/erosion history. Part III is an excursion into the criteria and tools geologists use to understand how compressional mountain systems form and evolve. Special emphasis is on the evidence geologists find, and the rationale they use, to interpret the rock record with reference to the US Appalachian and Cordilleran Mountain systems. In a nutshell, Parts I and II deal specifically with present-day landscape, its evolution, and how the forces of nature affect it. The focus is on why the landscape looks the way it does. Part III deals with the rocks. The focus is on geological history, mountain building, and past landscapes. In this part of the book, the present-day landscape is of secondary importance. The table of contents follows.

PART 1 - KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION
Chapter 1 - The Tortoise And The Hare
Chapter 2 - Component: The Rock/Sediment Type
Chapter 3 - Component: The Structural Form
Chapter 4 - Mechanisms That Impart Change To Landscape
Chapter 5 - Forcing Variable: The Tectonic System
Chapter 6 - Forcing Variable: The Climatic System
Chapter 7 - Forcing Variables: Sea Level And Isostasy
Chapter 8 - Interaction Of Tectonics, Climate And Time
PART II - STRUCTURAL PROVINCES
Chapter 9 - Unconsolidated Sediment
Chapter 10 - Nearly Flat-Lying Sedimentary Layers
Chapter 11 - Crystalline-Cored Mid-Continent Anticlines And Domes
Chapter 12 - Foreland Fold And Thrust Belts
Chapter 13 - Crystalline Deformation Belts
Chapter 14 - Young Volcanic Rocks Of The Cordillera
Chapter 15 - Normal Fault-Dominated Landscapes
Chapter 16 - Cascadia Volcanic Arc System
Chapter 17 - California Transpressional System
Chapter 18 - The Story Of The Grand Canyon
PART III - MOUNTAIN BUILDING
Chapter 19 - Early Theories On The Origin Of Mountain Belts
Chapter 20 - Keys To The Interpretation Of Geological History
Chapter 21 -Tectonic Style, Rock Successions, And Tectonic Provinces
Chapter 22 - Formation, Collapse, And Erosonal Decay Of Mountain Systems
Chapter 23 - The Appalachian Orogenic Belt: An Example Of Compressional Mountain Building
Chapter 24 - The Cordilleran Orogenic Belt

• Shows how geology, climate, and tectonics interact to shape the landscape of the United States.

• Emphasis is on evidence geologists find, and the methods, criteria, and rationale geologists use, to interpret the physical characteristics of the United States, its structural framework, and its geological history.

• Offers more than 300 full-color drawings, photographs, and maps designed to be simple and informative. 

• Questions at the end of each chapter aid in the retention of key concepts. 

Joseph A. DiPietro is Professor of Geology at the University of Southern Indiana. His research interests are in the fields of structural geology, tectonics, and metamorphism. He has been on the faculty at University of Southern Indiana since 1991 where he teaches Physical Geology, Landscapes and Geology of North America, Mineralogy, Structural Geology, and Tectonics. Most of his research has been on the tectonics of the Pakistan Himalaya where he mapped along the suture zone that separates India from Asia. He has also worked for the New York State Geological Survey mapping in the Adirondack Mountains and for the Idaho Geological Survey mapping in the Clearwater Mountains and he has conducted mapping and research in the Green Mountains of Vermont.