Course Schedule

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Previous Courses

Rivers and the Environment

GEOL194

Water is a fascinating ribbon woven into the fabric of all societies. It is the primary force (in the form of water and ice) that shapes the Earth’s surface, and is one of the few ingredients necessary for life. Learning how water moves across, through, and over the land surface is important for understanding the ever-changing, thin surface of our planet that we exist upon. Hydrology and fluvial geomorphology are critical to our understanding of how the natural water supply, storage, and distribution systems change through time. In the last 200+ years, civilization has bent the natural water supply and distribution systems to serve our needs, and in the process has altered these systems dramatically, with occasionally dramatic consequences. We will examine three North American river basins and the environmental issues that are a direct result of humans-as-geomorphic-agents: the Mississippi River, the Columbia River, and the Colorado River.