Geomorphology involves study of the characteristics, origin and development of landforms. Have you ever seen a breath-taking landscape and wondered how something that beautiful came to exist? Or perhaps you’ve seen several very different, but equally inspiring landscapes, and wondered why it is that not all places look the same? The landscape in Wisconsin is very unlike the landscape in Hawaii or the landscape in Alaska. Why? In fact, we don’t need to travel that far to see differences in the landscape – the steep hills and valleys of southwestern Wisconsin looks quite different from the flat landscape of central Wisconsin, which is quite different from the pocked, irregular landscape of northern Wisconsin. One reason for studying geomorphology is to satisfy our innate curiosity about the natural world around us, in particular the surface forms of the earth, our home. Another reason for studying geomorphology is more practical. We live on and in a particular landscape. The characterist