Editing Geomorphology (section)

=== Ancient geomorphology ===
The study of landforms and the evolution of the Earth's surface can be dated back to scholars of [[Classical Greece]]. In the 5th century BC, [[Greek historiography|Greek historian]] [[Herodotus]] argued from observations of soils that the [[Nile delta]] was actively growing into the [[Mediterranean Sea]], and estimated its age.<ref name='Bierman'>Bierman, Paul R., and David R. Montgomery. ''Key Concepts in Geomorphology''. Macmillan Higher Education, 2014.</ref><ref name="Rafferty 2012 pp 8-9">Rafferty, John P. (2012). ''Geological Sciences; Geology: Landforms, Minerals, and Rocks''. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing, pp. 8–9. {{ISBN|9781615305445}}</ref> In the 4th century BC, [[List of Greek philosophers|Greek philosopher]] [[Aristotle]] [[Meteorology (Aristotle)|speculated]] that due to [[sediment transport]] into the sea, eventually those seas would fill while the land lowered. He claimed that this would mean that land and water would eventually swap places, whereupon the process would begin again in an endless cycle.<ref name='Bierman' /><ref name="Rafferty 2012 p. 9"/> The ''[[Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity]]'' published in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] at [[Basra]] during the 10th century also discussed the cyclical changing positions of land and sea with rocks breaking down and being washed into the sea, their sediment eventually rising to form new continents.<ref name="Rafferty 2012 p. 9"/> The medieval [[Persian people|Persian]] [[Muslim]] scholar [[Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī]] (973–1048), after observing rock formations at the mouths of rivers, hypothesized that the [[Indian Ocean]] once covered all of [[Indian subcontinent|India]].<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.1142/9789814503204_0018 |chapter=Islam and Science |title=Ideals and Realities — Selected Essays of Abdus Salam |pages=179–213 |year=1987 |last1=Salam |first1=Abdus |isbn=978-9971-5-0315-4}}</ref> In his ''[[De Natura Fossilium]]'' of 1546, German [[metallurgist]] and [[mineralogist]] [[Georgius Agricola]] (1494–1555) wrote about erosion and natural [[weathering]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Needham |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Needham |date=1959 |title=Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=604 |isbn=9780521058018}}</ref>

Another early theory of geomorphology was devised by [[Song dynasty]] [[History of China|Chinese]] scientist and statesman [[Shen Kuo]] (1031–1095). This was based on [[Dream Pool Essays|his observation]] of [[Ocean|marine]] [[fossil]] shells in a [[stratum|geological stratum]] of a mountain hundreds of miles from the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Noticing [[bivalvia|bivalve]] shells running in a horizontal span along the cut section of a cliffside, he theorized that the cliff was once the pre-historic location of a seashore that had shifted hundreds of miles over the centuries. He inferred that the land was reshaped and formed by [[soil erosion]] of the mountains and by deposition of [[silt]], after observing strange natural erosions of the [[Taihang Mountains]] and the [[Yandangshan|Yandang Mountain]] near [[Wenzhou]].<ref>Sivin, Nathan (1995). ''Science in Ancient China: Researches and Reflections''. Brookfield, Vermont: VARIORUM, Ashgate Publishing. III, p. 23</ref><ref name=nj>Needham, Joseph. (1959). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth''. [[Cambridge University Press]]. pp. 603–618.</ref><ref name="Rafferty 2012 p. 6-8">Rafferty, John P. (2012). ''Geological Sciences; Geology: Landforms, Minerals, and Rocks''. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing, pp. 6–8. {{ISBN|9781615305445}}</ref> Furthermore, he promoted the theory of gradual [[climate change (general concept)|climate change]] over centuries of time once ancient [[petrified]] [[bamboo]]s were found to be preserved underground in the dry, northern climate zone of ''Yanzhou'', which is now modern day [[Yan'an]], [[Shaanxi]] province.<ref name=nj/><ref>Chan, Alan Kam-leung and Gregory K. Clancey, Hui-Chieh Loy (2002). ''Historical Perspectives on East Asian Science, Technology and Medicine''. Singapore: [[Singapore University Press]]. p. 15. {{ISBN|9971-69-259-7}}.</ref><ref name="Rafferty 2012 p. 6">Rafferty, John P. (2012). ''Geological Sciences; Geology: Landforms, Minerals, and Rocks''. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing, p. 6. {{ISBN|9781615305445}}</ref> Previous [[Chinese literature|Chinese authors]] also presented ideas about changing landforms. [[Scholar-official]] [[Du Yu]] (222–285) of the [[Western Jin dynasty]] predicted that two monumental stelae recording his achievements, one buried at the foot of a mountain and the other erected at the top, would eventually change their relative positions over time as would hills and valleys.<ref name="Rafferty 2012 p. 9">Rafferty, John P. (2012). ''Geological Sciences; Geology: Landforms, Minerals, and Rocks''. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing, p. 9. {{ISBN|9781615305445}}</ref> [[Chinese alchemy|Daoist alchemist]] [[Ge Hong]] (284–364) created a fictional dialogue where the [[Magu (deity)|immortal Magu]] explained that the territory of the [[East China Sea]] was once a land filled with [[Morus (plant)|mulberry trees]].<ref>Schottenhammer, Angela. "The 'China Seas' in world history: A general outline of the role of Chinese and East Asian maritime space from its origins to c. 1800", ''Journal of Marine and Island Cultures'', (Volume 1, Issue 2, 2012): 63-86. ISSN 2212-6821, p. 72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imic.2012.11.002.</ref>