HOW DO TECTONICS AND CLIMATE INTERACT TO SHAPE THE EARTH'S SURFACE AND CREATE NATURAL HAZARDS?

In order to lessen the impact of natural hazards, we need to characterize, understand, and predict the phenomena that cause them. The land surface is the dynamic interface between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. It is where interactions represent the most direct and commonly occurring impacts of solid-Earth science on humans. Landslides, floods, tsunamis, debris flows, storm surges, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions sculpt and deform the land. The Earth's surface constitutes the geomorphic record of past tectonic–climatic interactions and is the topographic template upon which new natural hazards are generated.

The challenge presented by the land surface is three-fold: to unravel the record of past interactions embedded in this surface, to determine the relative roles of natural and human-induced change, and to understand processes that act on this surface in order to predict and mitigate natural hazards. Reconstruction of past erosion, deformation, and deposition and quantification of tectonic, climatic, and biologic inputs to the evolving landscape will underpin the ability to develop a process-based understanding of the Earth's dynamic surface.