Paper 314 of 383
Published June 1, 2026
Geological features influence one another unevenly.
Some structures affect only local conditions.
Others influence entire regions.
Some influence persists for millions of years.
This paper evaluates Earth as a landscape of influence gradients extending across structures, basins, margins, transitions, and corridors.
Influence is not distributed evenly across Earth.
Some regions function as major participants in Earth-system organization.
The landscape of influence may therefore differ substantially from the landscape of physical geography.