Research Interests

Arid/desert geomorphology, landscape evolution, fluvial and aeolian systems, paleoclimatic/paleogeographic change, granitic and volcanic landscapes, geoarcheology

Selected Publications

• Oh, J.S., Seong, Y.B., Larson, P.H., Hong, S.C., Yu, B.Y. (2019). Asymmetric hillslope retreat on Rock Peak, San Tan Mountains, Arizona, USA: Assessing caprock lithology control on landscape evolution. Annals of the American Association of Geographers. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2019.1624421
• Donovan, M., Belmont, P., Notebaert, B., Coombs, T., Larson, P.H., Souffront, M. (2019). Accounting for uncertainty in measurements of river channel migration. Earth Science Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.04.009
• Schaetzl, R., Larson, P.H., Faulkner, D.J., Running, G.L., Jol, H.M., and Rittenour T. (2017). Eolian sand and loess deposits indicate west-northwest paleowinds during the Late Pleistocene in western Wisconsin, USA. Quaternary Research. 89: 769-785. DOI: 10.1017/qua.2017.88
• Larson, P.H., Kelley, S., Dorn, R.I., Seong Y.B. (2016). Pace of Landscape Change in the northeastern Sonoran Desert, United States. Annals of the American Association of Geographers. DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2016.1201420
• Faulkner, D., Larson, P.H., Jol, H.M., Running, G.L., Loope, H.M., and Goble, R.J. (2016). Episodic Incision and Terrace Formation Resulting from Abrupt Late-Glacial Base-Level Fall, Lower Chippewa River, Wisconsin, USA. Geomorphology. 266: 75-95. DOI:10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.04.016
• Larson, P.H. and Dorn, R.I. (2014). Strath Development in Small Arid Watersheds: Case Study of South Mountain, Sonoran Desert, Arizona. American Journal of Science. 314: 1202-1223.

Current Research

1. Basin integration and the establishment of through-flowing rivers in extensional tectonic landscapes: Salt and Verde Rivers, Basin and Range, Arizona, USA
2. Post-glacial natural and cultural landscape evolution of the upper Mississippi River basin: Chippewa (Wisconsin), Cannon (Minnesota), Whitewater (Minnesota), Zumbro (Minnesota) River drainage basins.
3. Geomorphology and paleoenvironmental significance of late Pleistocene and Holocene aeolian deposition in the upper Mississippi River basin (western Wisconsin, eastern Minnesota).
4. Piedmont landform (pediments, alluvial fans, talus flat irons) and hillslope evolution in the southwestern USA (Arizona, Utah).
5. Sandur geomorphology and evolution, Iceland.
6. Late Quaternary geology and geomorphology of the Minnesota River basin: Geomorphic evolution of the Minnesota River valley.