Earth Surface Processes

The field of Earth Surface Processes considers the physical and chemical fluxes across the Earth’s surface, the processes that determine these fluxes, and the resulting landscapes. The Earth’s surface is a dynamic boundary at the interface of the atmosphere and lithosphere, where global topography develops by the interaction of tectonic and climate processes. At the surface, rock is transformed to sediment, then transported and deposited, primarily from the continents to the oceans. The controls on this transfer of material and how it has evolved through Earth history is a major question that links many different disciplines, including geomorphology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, tectonics, geochemistry, and geobiology.