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Planetary landscape systems: a limitless frontier
Author(s) -
Baker Victor R.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
earth surface processes and landforms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.294
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9837
pISSN - 0197-9337
DOI - 10.1002/esp.1713
Subject(s) - landform , reductionism , context (archaeology) , astrobiology , generative grammar , frontier , extraterrestrial life , planet , earth science , ecology , epistemology , environmental ethics , geology , geography , computer science , geomorphology , philosophy , biology , paleontology , archaeology , artificial intelligence , physics , astrophysics
If it is to be a complete science of landforms and landscapes, geomorphology is not appropriately limited geographically to the terrestrial portions of Earth's surface. Various systems of landforms and their generative processes are best understood in a full planetary context. Moreover, by extending its purview to include the nature of landscapes on Earth‐like planets, geomorphological inquiry is not appropriately limited in its philosophical presumptions to the reductionist views that have so successfully guided much of physics. Holistic thinking, exemplified by some aspects of evolutionary biology, and a systems framework may prove to be particularly fruitful for understanding future extraterrestrial discoveries and the general nature of landforms and landscapes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.