4. EL CAMINO HACIA EL PRESTIGIO
4.2. Alianzas y coaliciones: el acceso a la élite del poder nacional
4.2.1. Las élites se reúnen
kind of enquiry is to provide as much information about the geomorphology
of the study area as possible for academic interest as well as practical
application.' To achieve this purpose, the availability of the necessary
material for mapping, such as aerial photographs, and geologic and
topographic maps, has to be first considered. Accordingly, the area of
study has been selected so that the medium size aerial photographs,
controlled photo-mosaics, and geologic and topographic maps for the area
are obtainable.
The selected area of study is part of Southern Najed, Central Saudi
Arabia (for location of the study area see figs. 1, 3, 4 and 5). However,
the location of the area of study as well as its geological and physiographical.?4
backgrounds is the major topic of chapter 1• .
Mapping the results of this work has involved a number of different
problems. Foremost among these is the question of scale. The aerial
photographs, are approximately 1:60,000 and the controlled photo-mosaics are
1:50,000. The landform maps presented are at a scale of approximately 1:100,000;
This scale was selected because it is close to the original mapping scale, thusr
a?.lowing representation of most of the detail, and also the convenience in
handling of the final maps. At most scales, the smaller units of the
landform/ .
landform cannot be displayed. k decision therefore had to be taken concerning' the content and character of the maps.
An attempt has been made to produce sketch maps that by means of analysis would form semi-detailed geomorphological maps based on mapping techniques discussed in chapter 2, and appendix k. From these maps
terrain units have been identified and classified and these have been separately shown at the landform system level (chapter 3)•
These documents may serve several purposes. In particular they draw attention to the diversity of the map of arid terrain patterns, and to some particular problems of interpretation. They may also be valuable in their own right as a basis for hydrologic or other resource overlays.
In this thesis the mapping programme has led to a further (fields enquiry into the nature of fans and pediments in the arid landscapej essentially concerned with the problem of definition and identification of the two forms from aerial photographs. This has been allowed to develop into a detailed analytical study of two major landform types (Part two of the thesis), extending both the range of the programme from the description to an analytical stage, and further permitting some discussion of the development of these landforms. •
The concept of descriptive landform analysis, of landform types and
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landform type regions, has received the major attention of Geographers,
Geologists, and Geomorphologists from early 1800 until recent years (see Linton, 1951)* Kesseli (1946) suggested that geographers should practice the art of Geomorphology, that is the art of terrain description, without concern/
concern for the origin of the land. The best means, according to him, to establish a true geographical geomorphology is to study the assemblage of geomorphic landscape. Kesseli’s arguments (1954 : the 5°^h anniversary meeting of the Association of American Geographers, vol. 44, PP» 220-221) about geomorphological studies for the needs of Geographers, were abstracted as follows:
"a- that this desired geomorphology need not concern itself with origin of the landforms; b- that this geographic geomorphology should divorce itself from an explanatory terminology and use a descriptive terminology instead; c- that this geomorphology could be developed by recognizing and defining landform types, a procedure which would follow the methods applied in the investigation of climate, vegetation, and soil; d- that the landforms themselves should be mapped by the use of appropriate symbols, following
methods used by European geomorphologists in constructing morphoge©graphic -A•
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maps; and e- that physical as well as human geographers could contribute to a
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the development of this desired geographic geomorphology'1.
Kesseli was supported to a great extent by Hammond (1954a-, i-954^, 19&2 -XS
& 1964), who devoted himself to establish an empirical quantitative landform
analysis, and to explain and analyse the landforms in relation to other
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physical and cultural phenomena. '
Strahler (1954, P» 7 & 6), believed that both explanatory and quantitative landform studies should be added to the geographic training; "the explanatory,^
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descriptive method should be used in introductory geography courses where ’ -/§■ cultural aims of a general education paramount... The empirical quantitative
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><£?ft. method should be used principally by the specialist investigating geographical:^^ research problems and is the only way in which the information can be handled yjr
for statistical and mathematical analysis. Rather than rejecting one method
in favour of the other, the modern geographer might well give more attention to cultivating both far more vigorously than he has thus far”.
Robinson (1963), stressed both the study of geomorphic processes and the the statistical descriptive analysis. The debates on whether descriptive geomorphology should be empirical or explanatory have attracted the
attention of many other authors such as Bryan (1950), Mather (l95O)> Leighly (1955)» Ward (1955) and .Weaver (1965).
The search for geographical geomorphology has revealed no clear
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; feS * .',70 '/?! ; ft® KS • 7-r •••agreement as to the nature of the subject among the American geomorphologistsvW^
geographers or geologists. But as an objective description of the landforms, ■;/•>=£ /.j I believe it should be at least the first task in any landform analysis.
If the first step taken in any regional study of the landforms was to
tell us what, where,, and how much, we can then utilise the information obtained for genetic analysis; regional and/or geomorphic process on one hand, and'fox* functional analysis on the other hand. This type of framework for landform studies fits well into the geographic studies of areal
differentiation and can offer the type of information which most workers
seek. .
Large-scale morphological analysis is usually based on the natural units; environmental as introduced by Bourne (l93l)> or morphological as introduced by Linton (1951) ana adapted and modified by Waters (195$) and Savigear/ '5 •v ' i®?-1 •s'.r^sfc' ’"'c'j VS® ••’■T ••.’ft'iX
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Savigear (l%5)» (see also Louder, 1959, for landform unit definition, and Thomas, 1969)*
In most recent morphological analyses of the land units, the drainage basin has been most frequently used as the natural unit. The relationships that can be established between the properties of a unit are between
quantities such as stream length, stream order, and the slope. These
variables can then be related to one another quantitatively or dimensionally, but the major problem is the great complexity of nearly all units of the
landscape which have been formed as the result of the interaction of
different variables. To keep these variables, as far as possible, under control, however, it is more reasonable to deal with only one element of a particular/unit at a time under one condition; that is to say slope on one rock type or under one climatic environment.
Mapping the landforms is the first basic requirement for any
geomorphological purpose specially in areas such as the central part of Saudi Arabia. The problems here appear to be typical of those of many parts of the arid land countries. Saudi Arabia, as many other developing countries, is only making progress on the national task of constructing good large scale maps. Some of the work has been completed during the last few years, but the attention here has been only paid to those parts scheduled for immediate development. Thus the rest of the country is only covered by generalized small scale maps such as the geographical and
geological maps of 1:500,000. Under such circumstances, and due to the availability of aerial photographs, morphological mapping from these photographs/
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photographs is the only alternative left to any geomorphologist, geologist,
or geographer working in this part of Saudi Arabia.
Aerial photographs are also of importance as they can give an overall idea of the general appearance and characteristics of the landforms. Thus they could be used to plan more detailed fieldwork from the office. Further more, they enable many features that are not shown or could not be drawn on topographical maps to be recognised easily even though they are not available maps• '
If stereoscopic pairs of photographs are available as well as some *' suitable instruments for measuring parallax values, then these photographs can be used to obtain the heights and the slopes of the desired landform unit and/or facet.
The photographs, by showing much larger areas than can be appreciated from the ground, are the best companion in the field in the absence of adequate maps. They can also allow one to map in the office, with limited effort
and minimum costs, a much larger area in a shorter period,than would be needed by other methods of mapping. It should be repeated here that the photographs are the best method to use to obtain the necessary information in many fields of investigation where there are no other equivalent source materials available.
Although not all geomorphological problems can be solved by using aerial photographs, (such problems as dynamic or morphogenetic), they can be used successfully for mapping the landform units, and the interpretation based on such method provides an objective description of the arid landforms.
The major steps which have been taken towards mapping and aerial photographic/
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