Geomorphic consequences of urban development and mining activities; an analysis of study areas in Spain and Argentina

An analysis is presented on the contribution of urban and infrastructure development, mining and quarrying to direct and indirect modifications of landforms and transfer of earth materials. The analysis has been carried out in four study areas in Spain and Argentina and is based on data collection on the amounts of materials excavated for those activities and related sediment production. Results obtained show that human activity is presently the main contributor to landform modification and earth material transport in the study areas; mobilisation rates due to construction and mining seem to be 2–4 orders of magnitude greater than natural denudation rates. The ‘human geomorphic footprint”, expressed in terms of new landform creation rate and mobilisation rate is calculated for the study areas. Extrapolation to the global level is made on the basis of data obtained and mineral production data. Comparison with data on erosion rates and world sediment transport indicates that the latter is an order of magnitude less than construction plus mining mobilisation. It is suggested that geomorphic and related changes observed may represent manifestations of a global geomorphic change.