More shameless self-promotion: The online first version of my new article in Progress in Physical Geography is now available: Biogeomorphology and Contingent Ecosystem Engineering in Karst Landscapes. It is not uncommon to acknowledge anonymous reviewers in an article, and I do so here, but it does not do justice to the breadth, depth, and insight of comments I received on an earlier version from three reviewers (which ran to 14 pages!). Whatever the flaws of the final product, it is a heck of a lot better as a consequence of their efforts. Thanks, whoever you are!

When we (scientists) talk and write about complexity in recent years, the focus is on complex nonlinear dynamics, and related phenomena such as deterministic chaos, dynamical instability, some forms of self-organization, fractal geometry, etc.  These are forms or sources of complexity that are intrinsic to the structure of dynamical systems, but these are hardly the only things that make systems complex. So, to make sure we don’t forget the elements of complexity that transcend so-called “complexity science,” I present the Top 10 Forms of Complexity in Earth Surface Systems (ESS). ESS is a blanket term that includes geomorphic systems, landscapes, ecosystems, soil systems, etc.  Even though the items are numbered, they are actually in no particular order. Many ESS may exhibit only a few of these forms, and still be quite complex!

The list I was gonna do has already been done (http://grogsmovieblogs.com/). 

Forms of Complexity in Earth Surface Systems

Hot off the press--more fun with graph theory!

Phillips, J.D. 2016. Identifying sources of soil landscape complexity with spatial adjacency graphs. Geoderma 267: 58-64.

In many of my writings I advocate an alternative to reductionist approaches to science. By alternative, I mean a complementary, different way of doing things, not a replacement for reductionism. Many excellent reviews of scientific approaches, viewpoints, and methodological stances exist by historians, philosophers and sociologists of science, and by scientists themselves. I do not intend to review or critique these various approaches here. Further, I have no intent to deny the value or necessity of reductionist science. The crux of my argument is that a reductionist approach, by itself, is inadequate or incomplete for understanding Earth.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines reductionism as an attempt or tendency to explain a complex set of facts, entities, phenomena, or structures by another, simpler set, and provides a quote from John Holland:

For the last 400 years science has advanced by reductionism ... The idea is that you could understand the world, all of nature, by examining smaller and smaller pieces of it. When assembled, the small pieces would explain the whole.

Flows of mass and energy occur along the steepest gradients of potentials or concentrations.  The principle of gradient selection is simply that features associated with these gradients persist and grow. Take, for instance, the redistribution of excess (i.e., more than the ground can absorb or retain) surface water. Hydraulic selection principles favor the most efficient paths, which we can generally interpret as the fastest pathways. Thus the steepest slopes and/or the routes with the lowest resistance to flow attract more water. The most efficient paths persist and prevail; less efficient options dry up.  For example:

Standard flow resistance equations are of the general form

V = f(R^aS^bf^-c)

where R is hydraulic radius (cross-sectional area divided by wetted perimeter; typically roughly equal to mean depth), S is slope (hydraulic gradient), and f is a roughness or frictional resistance factor. The exponents a, b, c < 1. For example, the D’Arcy Weisbach equation is

V = 8g R^0.5 S^0.5 f^-0.5

Threshold modulation

Upper and lower limits

In terms of mass balances or budgets, geomorphic systems have three fundamental states, whereby losses or removals are either greater than, less than, or roughly equal to inputs or gains (i.e., steady-state). Thus a regolith cover, for instance, is either thinning, thickening, or maintaining steady-state relative to the rates of mass losses and inputs, and weathering and regolith formation.

The principle of threshold-mediated modulation holds that thresholds limit development on both ends (negative or positive mass balance), and that exceeding the thresholds may initiate development in the opposite direction. For instance, vertical accretion on alluvial floodplains is limited by an elevation at which regular flooding no longer occurs, thus limiting further accretion. In addition, confinement of flows within the channel may increase stream power and shear stress, thus ultimately resulting in stripping of the alluvium.

If Mother Nature has plans, those plans are flexible. She keeps her options open, allows for more than one route to a given location, and we cannot assume that the same circumstances will always produce the same outcome. To digress for a moment: accepting this need not challenge religious or philosophical beliefs about a creator. Nothing in the bible, for instance, specifies exactly how the Judeo-Christian God goes about his/her business, or specifies any single pathways or mechanisms. As a protestant minister I knew well used to say: “Religion is concerned with the ‘why’ questions, and science addresses the ‘how.’”

Indeed. 35 years in the geoscience research business has shown me that that there is no single “right” or “natural” way for the world to be. Any human notions of singular, immanent norms or optima are tied to needs, goals, or perceptions, not scientific laws or relationships. And—again—there is nothing wrong with having such goals, desires, or expectations for nature, any more than there is anything wrong with a farm or a garden. The key is to realize that there is not much point in expecting Earth surface systems to evolve toward and maintain a single specific condition, any more than we would expect a garden to maintain itself without some guidance and intervention.

In 1997, world leaders met in Kyoto, Japan to discuss how to confront, combat, and adapt to climate change. Eighteen increasingly warmer (on average) years later, a new set of climate talks start in Paris (France, not Kentucky) today (30 November), and continue for 12 days.

Some U.S. politicians have already courageously declared that the U.S. will do nothing, no matter how compelling the evidence, how severe the problems, or what the rest of the world thinks. As we get a new round of public commentary during and after the Paris talks, two recent studies—one journalistic and one academic—are worth considering.

Texas A&M University Press has recently published Texas Riparian Areas. According to TAMU Press's blurb: 

Riparian areas—transitional zones between the aquatic environments of streams, rivers and lakes and the terrestrial environments on and alongside their banks—are special places. They provide almost 200,000 miles of connections through which the waters of Texas flow. Keeping the water flowing, in as natural a way as possible, is key to the careful and wise management of the state’s water resources.