Note: Cover page -- Halftitle page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Dedication -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- List of tables -- List of contributors -- Part A INTRODUCTION -- 1 The history of geomorphology in low latitudes -- 2 The significance of environmental change: diversity, disturbance and tropical ecosystems -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Rainforest structure and change -- 2.3 Coral reef response to environmental stress -- 2.4 Variability in extreme events -- 2.5 The temporal and spatial distribution of hurricanes and tropical cyclones in the Caribbean basin -- Part Β ENVIRONMENT AND PROCESS -- Process and time -- 3 Present-day processes as a ke yto the effects of environmental change -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Nutrient cycling in tropical forests -- 3.3 Movement of water in tropical rainforest -- 3.4 Sediment and solute transport -- 3.5 Specific environments: New Guinea and Malaysia -- 3.6 Response of geomorphic processes to environmental change -- 4 Aspects of present-day processes of in the seasonally wet Tropics of West Africa -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Morphoclimatic conditions -- 4.3 Processes and their effects on slopes -- 4.4 Fluvial processes -- 5 The influence of climate, lithology and time on drainage density and relief development in the tropical volcanic terrain of the Windward Islands -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Measurement of drainage density and relief development -- 5.3 Analysis and interpretation of drainage density -- 5.4 Factors affecting drainage density and relief evolution -- 5.5 Conclusions -- 6 Surface and underground fluvial activity in the Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 The study area -- 6.3 The development of the regional and limestone drainage -- 6.4 The clastic cave sediments -- 6.5 Fluvial terraces -- 6.6 Discussion -- 6.7 Conclusions. , Part C ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE -- Evidence for environmental change -- 7 Relevance of Quaternary palynology to geomorphology in the tropics and subtropics -- 8 Geomorphic implications of late Quaternary hydrological and climatic changes in the Northern Hemisphere tropics -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 The water balance of closed lakes -- 8.3 Methods used in this study -- 8.4 Fluctuations in lake level in Africa and Arabia -- 8.5 Variations in moisture conditions in Central America -- 8.6 Geomorphic implications -- 9 Evidence from lake sediments for recent erosion rates in the highlands of Papua New Guinea -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 Aims and requirements -- 9.3 Previous results -- 9.4 Erosion rates -- 9.5 Sediment sources -- 9.6 Conclusions and prospects -- 10 Evidence of Upper Pleistocene dry climates in northern South America -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Evidence of climatic change in central Amazonia -- 10.3 Climatic changes on and around the margins of Amazonia -- 10.4 Conclusion -- 11 Pleistocene aridity in tropical Africa, Australia and Asia -- 11.1 The humid tropics: stable or dynamic? -- 11.2 The duration and amplitude of the Quaternary climatic fluctuations -- 11.3 Intertropical ice-age aridity -- 11.4 The evidence of Quaternary climatic change -- 11.5 The late Quaternary climates -- 11.6 Future palaeoclimatic research in the tropics -- Part D LANDFORM EVOLUTION -- Tectonic style and tropical landforms -- 12 Environmental change and episodic etchplanation in the humid tropics of Sierra Leone: the Koidu etchplain -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 Geological and geomorphological background -- 12.3 Landform elements and deposits -- 12.4 Episodic etchplanation and environmental change -- 12.5 Continuous versus episodic etchplanation -- 12.6 Some questions of geomorphic theory -- 13 A provisional world map of duricrust -- 13.1 Introduction. , 13.2 Critical review of previous work -- 13.3 Mapping of the duricrusted areas at the 1:20 000 000 scale -- 13.4 Conclusion -- 14 Tectonic background to long-term landform development in tropical Africa -- 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 Domal uplifts and rift systems -- 14.3 Mechanisms of uplift and rifting -- 14.4 Morphotectonics of continental margin development -- 14.5 Some more general implications -- 14.6 Conclusions -- 15 Soil and slope development in the wet zone of Sri Lanka -- 15.1 Introduction -- 15.2 Steep slopes and caves -- 15.3 Moderate slopes and regolith -- 15.4 Shallow slopes -- 15.5 Slope development -- 15.6 Conclusion -- 16 Relief generation and soil in the dry zone of Sri Lanka -- 16.1 Climatic characteristics -- 16.2 Geological overview -- 16.3 The oldest relief generations -- 16.4 Landform development in the Upper Tertiary -- 16.5 The youngest planation surface -- 16.6 Fossil sediments and palaeosols and their implications for landform evolution -- 16.7 Discussion -- Part E CONCLUSION -- 17 Findings, answers to questions and implications for the future -- 17.1 Typical tropical landforms -- 17.2 The effects of climatic contrasts on geomorphic processes -- 17.3 The role of plate tectonics and other tectonic events -- 17.4 Parallel sequences of landform evolution in different continents -- 17.5 The effect of sea-level changes -- 17.6 Ecosystem dynamics and landform development -- 17.7 Geomorphic events and scales of change -- References and bibliography -- Index.