Martin Williams

My research is concerned with the interaction between geology, landforms, soils and geomorphic processes both past and present.

I have studied these interactions in terrain ranging from recently glaciated to totally arid, over a time span varying from a few years to several million years, in Africa, Australia, India, China, Europe and the Middle East.

Initial interest was in the relationship between climatic change and landscape evolution in the eastern Sahara. This was followed by detailed study of the depositional history and physico-chemical properties of the soils of the central Sudan.

A lasting interest in alluvial history and Quaternary environmental fluctuations arose out of this research.

Subsequently the focus of my research shifted from soils, land capability and Quaternary geology to a long-term study of comparative rates of hillslope erosion in tropical and temperate Australia, the subject of my doctoral thesis.

Arising from these investigations of current geomorphic processes were several specific projects, one dealing with termites and soil development; another with the origin of laterite; and a third with the age and origin of the coastal plains.

All three topics embrace the disciplines of geology, pedology, and geomorphology.