期刊名称：Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skodowska. Sectio B, Geographia, Geologia, Mineralogia et Petrographia
印刷版ISSN：0137-2025
出版年度：2002
卷号：LVII
出版社：Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin
摘要：Climatic geomorphology developed as a separate line of geomorphology about 100 years ago. A question can be put about the authorship of this specialization. Some people (e.g. Tinkler 1985) think that the paper published by Albrecht Penck in 1910 was a regular origin of climatic geomorphology. However, eleven years earlier, i.e. in 1899, two equally eminent geographers published their studies, which could also pretend to the palm. There was William M. Davis with his paper about geographical cycles (Davis 1899), and Eugeniusz Romer who published his lecture (qualifying for assistant-professorship) about the effect of climate on the Earth's landforms in Polish journal "Kosmos" (Romer 1899).
Eugeniusz Romer (1871-1954), a world-famous Polish geographer, eminent cartographer, climatologist, and geomorphologist, author of impressive scientific achievements (over 500 publications) published the above-mentioned study about the effect of climate on relief at the very beginning of his scientific activity. This paper is of special importance in the history of geomorphology though it was not adequately appreciated in world literature because it was published only in Polish. Still this work of Romer was then and is now worth to note at least for two reasons. Firstly, it was written when climatic geomorphology just started to develop, and it was something new; secondly, it brought many original ideas.
Main ideas of Romer were as follows:
- Morphoclimatic zonality exists: "main morphologic zones overlap climatic zones, and have been conditioned by them." Among other things, Romer was the first who distinguished the landscape with permafrost on the face of the Earth: "these are regions with permafrost in the extensive areas of Siberia and America." Some soil types have also zonal nature, dependent on climate.
- Climatic factor transforms the Earth's landforms much faster than tectonic factor.
- Erosion and denudation are the main morphologic factors, which model the Earth's surface, and they are purely climatic manifestations. Climate conditions the origin of deserts and influences their morphology. Asymmetry of valleys is conditioned mainly by climate. Morphoclimatic differentiation of mountain slopes attracts notice.
- Romer wrote about the "cycle of relief transformation." Therefore, he introduced the conception of cycle simultaneously with Davis but independently of him.
- Romer introduced the term "planation of summit surfaces," the origin of which he explained by erosion and denudation activity. His idea, especially as for the origin of these surfaces, resembled that of Davis's peneplain.
These theses clearly set forth by E. Romer are a synthetic theory of climatic geomorphology. Most of them have been positively verified by the subsequent investigations.
It is difficult to univocally decide who was the creator of climatic geomorphology. Perhaps this question is unjustified as too formalistic. However, one should state that E. Romer belonged to the precursors of this specialization, together with A. Penck and W.M. Davis. He was an out-standing researcher who must not be neglected in the history of geomorphology.
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