Mountain Environments : An Examination of the Physical Geography of Mountains

Thought to be the first book to consider mountains as special environments, and to identify the inter-relation between the physical processes of geomorphology, climate, hydrology, vulcanism and ecology that combine to produce distinctive mountain landscapes.

It is a "state of the art" review that brings together work from several different disciplines to demonstrate that mountains, no matter their origin or location, share common characteristics and undergo similar processes. The book opens by identifying the special nature of mountains, and then identifies the elements of mountain ecosystems.

This introduces a systematic discussion of the landscape-forming processes a weathering, mass movement, the action of running water and the features of mountain drainage, slope evolution processes, and the effects of freezing and glaciation.

The distinctive processs and forms of volcanic mountains are also treated. The book concludes with an examination of the particular problems and opportunities mountains pose for human societies, including communciations, avalanches, soil erosion, as well as hydro-electric generation and reservoir construction.

The prospects for the integrated development of mountain regions are also considered.