A note on the role of protection in landform development: examples from granitic terrains

Abstract

Many well-known and several less familar landforms are due to protection against water. Protection may take the form of prevention, as for instance the presence of resistant cappings, which are effectively immune to the presence of moisture and which, primary or secondary, extensive, local or at the site scale, shield the rock mass against weathering and erosion. In similar fashion, in granitic terrains, blocks and boulders act as umbrellas or shields. In addition protection may involve diversion of runoff by obstacles or stream capture. The effects of permeable covers and contrasts in exposure to moisture are also examined.