This commentary focusses on a pedagogy of fluvial geomorphology that uses a number of education psychology theories in practice. A worked example for a 3rd year undergraduate course and microcredential units is used to demonstrate how scaffolding and active learning techniques can be integrated and applied in practice. Some personal reflections and recommendations are then provided that others may find useful in developing their own pedagogy in tertiary education, irrespective of career stage.

• This special issue collects 26 papers as a representative sample of current geomorphological research associated with the German Society for Geomorphology.• Besides short summaries of papers, we analyse the diversity of contributors, topics, geomorphic processes, methods, spatial and temporal scales.• This special issue celebrates the transition from the former German Working Group on Geomorphology to the German Society for Geomorphology.

Wind speed inside the notch (line A) and at the depositional lobe (line B) increases, but wind speed at the swale behind the notch (line D) decreases when incident winds shift from 60° to 80° relative to the shoreline. This implies there are trade-offs in the relationship between quantity and landward distance of sand transport behind notch C.

Heterogeneous slowdown in Eastern Himalayan glaciers.

• Earthworm eaten leaf litter and exposed soil surface to raindrops.
• Earthworm casts changed the microtopography, and provided sediment source.
• Earthworm tunnels promoted water infiltration and increased soil water storage.
• Earthworm activities complicated the runoff and erosion processes.

Soil erosion and sediment yields are forecasted, during the most catastrophic flash flood in recent Greek history, at 250 m and 1-h spatial and temporal resolutions. It was found that 2195.4 tons and 1435.1 tons of sediment were detached from the soil surface and transported to the stream networks of the two under-study basins. This study constitutes the first evaluation of the soil erosion and sediment yields of the flash flood of Mandra (2017), even set up in forecast mode.

We present a new conceptual model that integrates topography and moisture availability into wildfire progression, and its effect on damage to rocks. Using rock weathering measurements and GIS analysis of the study site topography and watershed, we identified three distinct zones of damage, which show that evidence of fire intensity and soot deposition vary across a slope. We therefore propose that topography should be integrated into wildfire-driven rock weathering studies, in light of enhanced wildfire occurrence associated with climate-driven droughts.

Image correlation can be used as an alternative method to estimate thresholds of motion of sedimentary beds. Initiation of nascent motion, bedload and bedform stages can be estimated with the proposed method. Validation of the method under unidirectional flow conditions with well sorted sediments and comparison to other estimation methods.

Dredging and channel erosion in the Atchafalaya River likely changed the river/floodplain connectivity since 1960. We examined: (1) stage/discharge relationships; (2) hydroperiods; (3) discharge distribution; and (4) channel cross-sections and floodplain elevations. The floodplain now receives too little discharge to alleviate stagnancy and hypoxia. Low water is controlled by channel geomorphology and sea-level resulting in extended inundation contributing to hypoxia and reduced nutrient retention. Discharge confinement to the river compromises this system's ability to respond to sea-level rise and subsidence.

Grainflow shape was classified based on five representative morphometric attributes: average length, average width, rectangularity, triangularity, and elongation. Cluster analysis suggested three recognizable grainflow types: elongated, narrow grainflows (Type 1); long, triangular grainflows (Type 2); and short, rectangular grainflows (Type 3). The distinctly different distributions of grainflow types on our smaller, larger dune and other studies point to dune (slipface) size controls.

Dryland fluvial systems respond to hydroclimate changes on Quaternary timescales, yet deciphering the palaeoenvironmental histories they preserve is often complex. This paper presents an integrated study of textural, compositional, and stratigraphic features from a Namibian fluvial archive. Combing petrography, heavy minerals, and lithostratigraphy with an OSL chronology, we reconstruct provenance, changes in river style, and fluvial response to Holocene climate. We identify humid periods that supported more sustained river flow, contrasting with the flashy ephemeral river seen today.

We present and successfully apply a fetch-based model to predict coastal foredune growth at monthly to multi-annual scales. Through various scenario runs we find that rain, surface moisture dynamics induced by the ocean tide as well as beach width reduction by storm surges are important factors that limit aeolian supply to the foredune below the potential maximum. We also illustrate that moderately strong, shore-oblique winds contribute most to foredune growth.

Strontium-neodymium (Sr-Nd) isotopic signatures of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) surface sediments show wide regional variation related to local parent rock. Sediments on the southern TP are mainly sourced locally due to self-circulation processes. Compared with the Taklimakan and northern China deserts, the TP is more likely to be the main dust source for the Japan Sea/North Pacific Ocean; dust emission in spring is carried into the upper-level westerly jet and carried fat to the east, thus contributing to global dust.

A time-series based integrated wetland assessment approach encompassing various wetlandscape elements (wetland fragments, rivers, wetland catchment) and their inter-scale processes such as changing connectivity and land-use and responses such as wetland fragmentation and shrinkage.