User:Amorse3522/Wiki HW 1

Wiki Start-Up Homework

The topic I have chosen is Erosion and tectonics which is currently a stub on Wikipedia.

Part 1

1.) Post-glacial rebound- This page describes the effects of isostatic uplift as a result of the removal of large ice sheets that previously depressed land masses under their immense weight. It could use a figure showing the actual process of isostatic uplift from a cross section view comparing glacial and post-glacial periods. The page is very descriptive covering many aspects of glacial rebound, but it could be structured better while also condensing some of the less important, text-heavy sections. The figures in this article are useful and relevant to the topic, but, as previously mentioned, a simple cross section figure comparing glacial and post-glacial periods is needed. Additionally, a few of the figures seem out of place or nearly irrelevant.

2.) Isostasy- This page defines isostasy while also providing various isostatic models and isostatic effects of erosion, plate tectonics, ice sheets, and relative sea level change. It could afford to go into more detail on the differences between the isostatic models and their uses in a geological sense. This article is good in that it packs a large amount of information into a short article, but expansion on the different models and their usefulness could be practical. The figures in the article a very descriptive and useful, but they are specific to only one isostatic model. It should have a figure for each model while also including a simpler figure describing isostatic processes from a cross section view.

3.) River anticlines- This page describes the formation of river anticlines as a result of erosional and tectonic forces. Needs a more descriptive evidence section or possibly not one at all considering the editor is claiming these feature will form in response to stream power and flexural rigidity of the crust. This article covers the main points regarding river anticlines, but it could afford to go into greater detail on how and why these structures form. The simple figure on the page is useful, but it needs to be more descriptive with labels and a more descriptive caption, or possibly more than one figure.

Part 2

My topic of choice is "Erosion and Tectonics", which may or may not be too broad

[A] Outline- Introduction to erosion and tectonics, history of the debate, current theories, erosional effects on tectonics, tectonic effects on erosion, how landscapes record evidence for tectonics and climate, evidence/case studies.

[B] Value- This article will provide detailed information not covered in the current stub to help a wide audience understand the correlation between erosion and tectonics while including detailed information such as case studies explaining various equilibrium profiles, erosional induced isostatic uplift, and tectonically induced erosion catering to a more specialized audience.

[C] Structure- The article will start with a general description of the topic with progressively detailed subsections following. I plan to include a variety of figures ranging from simple to rather complicated as I believe good visualizations are important to understanding a topic. One original figure I plan on creating is a cross section view of active tectonics in an erosional landscape possibly more than one to show progression through time, also I would probably include some sort of simple figure explaining isostasy. This figure would encompass the general understanding of my topic and help the audience to grasp exactly what is going on from a more 3 dimensional perspective.