Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Amazon delta, where muddy waters from the Andean foothills can be distinguished as
they gradually mix with the clean sea water.
Plate 28.1
Ground level in the rain
forest. Some recent leaf litter survives
on the forest floor but the amount is
small compared with the annual fall.
Photo: Peter Smithson.
In calcareous regions, solution is a highly significant and rapid process which produces
unusual landform types such as the cockpit country in China and the Caribbean.
However, detailed studies in karst areas indicate that the principal climatic factor
affecting erosion rate is the mean annual run-off. Whilst temperature has some influence,
it appears to operate through the degree and type of soil and vegetation cover rather than
as a direct control of solution. Until the tools of process studies are powerful enough to
