The ultimate goals of geomorphology are to understand the way in which landforms are created and to document the evolution of landforms through time.
All land surfaces are subject to diverse processes that operate at greatly varying rates.
The active processes also change through time, so that every landscape is subject to continual evolution. The processes that shape landforms can be categorized as endogenetic or exogenetic. Endogenetic processes are related to plate tectonics and to the surface effects of plate movements, both horizontally and vertically, as well as to other processes originating from the Earth's interior. Exogenetic processes develop at or above the surface in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, or biosphere. They involve wind, water, ice, mass movements, or living organisms that modify landforms.