A geographic feature is a generic term used to refer to any alteration or transformation that occurs on the earth's surface. Therefore, depending on the point of view, any form of relief or structural composition can be considered as an example of geographic accident.
Geographic accidents are usually divided into two types: natural accidents and the artificial accidents. The first expression refers to the phenomena of nature, such as the formation of rivers and lakes, the constitution of canyons or the occurrence of volcanism and earthquakes. The second term is applied to human activities and constructions, such as the formation of cities, the devastation or reconstruction of forests, among other elements.
To understand geographic accidents is to understand, therefore, all the variations that exist on the surface, as well as the systematic processes of transformation of the Earth's dynamics.
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It is also interesting to see how the relationship between natural and artificial accidents occurs.
The construction of a city, which is an artificial accident, can lead to accidents natural, such as the occurrence of erosive processes in areas of high slope or the siltation of rivers. In addition, natural accidents can also intervene directly on how human beings build their space. The rise of the Nile River can be considered as a natural geographic feature that provided conditions for the occurrence of an artificial geographic accident, which was the formation of civilization Egyptian.
Geographical accidents are evidence of the dynamism of the planet, which, since its emergence, more than 4.5 billion years ago, has always been in constant transformation.
By Rodolfo Alves Pena
Graduated in Geography
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PENA, Rodolfo F. Alves. "Geographical Accidents"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/acidentes-geograficos.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.
