The change in, or evolution of, terrain, can be due to: glacial or fluvial erosion, sediment transport and deposition, regolith production, the slow movement of material on hillslopes, more intermittent events such as rockfalls, debris flows, landslides, and other surface processes.
A typical landscape evolution model takes many of these factors into account.
As they improve, they are beginning to be consulted by land managers to aid in decision making, most recently in the area of degraded landscapes.
In those models, flow of water across a mesh was simulated, and cell elevations were changed in response to calculated erosional power.
[1] Modern landscape evolution models can leverage graphics processing units and other acceleration hardware and software, to run more quickly.