The role of roadcuts, quarries, and other artificial exposures in geomorphology education

Quarries and roadcuts are time-honored stopping points on geoscience field trips. Artificial exposures are good field sites for learning because of their accessibility, and the potential range of features they present for first-hand examination. On undergraduate-level field excursions, site discussions typically center on stratigraphic unit identification, correlation, depositional environments, paleontology, facies relationships, lithology, mineralogy, and/or structural features. It is rare (in my experience) for geomorphologic features and relationships to be the focus of attention, or even to receive more than passing mention. Yet, roadcuts and quarries offer much potential for learning about basic landform features, forms, and processes. This paper, with illustrated examples, discusses five general characteristics, present in artificial exposures, that offer opportunities for learning about geomorphology. (1) Roadcuts and quarries expose cross sections, not only of structure, but also of landforms, illustrating relationships between subsurface geology and the surface landscape. (2) The faces of roadcuts and quarries are anthropomorphic landforms of relatively well-known age and original form, two qualities that provide opportunities for discussing erosional modification over time. (3) These sites are generally nodes of intense geomorphic activity, useful for directly observing landform processes and their effects. The intensity of degradational and depositional processes at artificial exposures often produces (4) landform miniatures, and (5) landform analogs, both providing instructional examples or illustrations of geomorphic features. In addition to their utility to other geoscience sub-disciplines, roadcuts and quarries also offer important opportunities for students to learn about basic geomorphologic concepts, processes, and forms.