On the «relief» notion definition

Abstract

The paper considers the principal f actors of relief formation and their causal relationship as the basis for the development of the «relief» notion. The article reveals the contradictory essence of relief, which is conditioned by its dualistic nature (surface-volume).

The following definition of the «relief» notion is presented on the basis of the analysis of existing definitions as well as most significant features: «Relief of the solid Earth is a geomorphic body, existing in the four-dimensional geologic space-time and formed as the result of interaction between space factors and planetary exogenic and endogenic processes which take place in continuously changing gravitational field of the planet, the body is restricted by the external surface of the Earth's crust, its lower limit coincides with the Mohorovicic discontinuity.