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11 - Bedrock Landforms

from Part IV - Landforms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

Chadwick Dearing Oliver
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
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Summary

Landforms not covered with transported material have bedrocks of different ages that have weathered to produce the surface soils and underlying drainage and possibly cave patterns. Shield landforms can have bedrock over 500 million years old, while some bedrocks are newly formed. The different bedrock chemistries and amounts of weathering create different advantages for different uses. Oldest (shield) bedrocks have extremely weathered soils with most nutrients missing, while the youngest have little soil developed, with nutrients tied up in the bedrock. Large basalt flows can be found scattered throughout the world. Metamorphic and sedimentary bedrock created from past sediments can have layers of different drainage patterns, and can include karst (limestone) and coal seams. Karst landforms are metamorphic limestone and contain caves, cisterns, and sinkholes. Mountains contain many geomorphologic types but have unique features for many uses.

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