The word geomorphology is derived from three words geo and morphi and logy where geo means earth and morphi means form and logy means study
Evolution of geomorphology
There were many school of thoughts which tried to explain the subject matter of geography.
Greeks documented a lot of events which can be associated with geomorphology. Greeks were not the only people who were interested in geography but through out the human history most societies have sought to understand the people, place and all other elements surrounding them. Indeed map making probably came before the writings in most of the places. Greek geographers have great contribution in map making and they raised questions about how and why different humans and natural patterns came into being on the earth surface.
Greeks
-> Earth is round
-> Calculated the circumference of earth
-> Explained seasonal flooding
-> Difference in population density of different area
Initial Contributions
Herodotus(Historian and geographer - 5th Century - Turkey(Asia Minor))
-> Briefed about silt deposits in Nile rived : Took years and years to get deposited beneath the river.
Aristotle(Greek philosopher and polymath - 5th Century - Greece)
-> Observed that some places may have been under sea at certain point of time which are visible now.
Strabo(Geographer - First Century - Greece)
-> Observed the rise and fall in the volume of river water and also made comments on catchment areas of the rivers.
Most of the explanations related to physical features during this time were catastrophic in nature ie, there were some sudden cause of their formations
During the middle ages geography ceased to be a major academic pursuits in Europe but advances were being made by Muslim world based around Arabian peninsula and North America.
Around 1500CE China was most prosperous civilization and were scientifically advanced. In 13th century Europeans learnt about riches of China and India which culminated into ages of exploitation (15-17th Century). This quest led to a lot more discoveries and geomorphological understanding
Classical Period
In 1780's James Hutton questioned the catastrophic ideas. He came up with the principle of Uniformitarianism.
Principle of Uniformitarianism:- This principle believes that all the processes and laws operating today have been operating in the geological past. Thus the principle emphasised to understand and reconstruct the process of the past one can understand through present processes. It was the phase when every academic subject seems to have connection with geography.
For Example,
Chemists :Where certain chemical elements gold, silver can be found
Economists :Resources which can be exploited from certain mountain, plateau area to get economic benefits.
Philosophers :Connection with earth
This was also a period when people started writing about certain landforms
Examples
JW Powell :Gave classification of river basin
GK Gilbert :Talked about dynamic equilibrium
Dynamic Equilibrium: This idea suggested that land form is the function of interplay between resisting forces and producing forces and the final shape of the landform will be achieved when two forces will become equal. The geographical research help to understand why and where?
Modern Period(late 1880's)
The geographical studies comparing physical features of continents of Atlantic ocean gave rise to the idea the earth surface is comprised of large slow moving plates
Post Modern(1930's and beyond)
Geography integrated with AI
Personalities
Initial Contributions
Strabo - Aristotle - Herodotus
Classical Contributions
James Hutton - JW Powel - GK Gilbert
Modern Contributions
Davis - Penck