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Space-for-time substitution in geomorphology

A critical review and conceptual framework

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Abstract

Geomorphic evolution often presents a spatial pattern of a “young to old” distribution under certain natural environmental conditions, whereby sampling the geomorphic types and characteristics in spatial sequence can provide evidence for the individual landform evolution and change. This so-called space-for-time substitution has been a methodology in geomorphologic research. This paper firstly introduced the basic concepts and background of the space-for-time substitution, then a full review has been conducted of recent research progress in geomorphic evolution based on the space-for-time substitution, such as fluvial landform, structural landform, estuarine landform and coastal landform. Finally, the basic principle of space-for-time substitution in geomorphology is developed. This review is intended to introduce the achievements of geomorphic evolution research using space-for-time substitution method and to point out the critical research needs to better understand and predict the geomorphic evolution in the future.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude towards the journal editor and the reviewers, whose thoughtful suggestions played a significant role in improving the quality of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xiaoli Huang, Guoan Tang, Hu Ding & Jiaming Na

  2. State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base of Geographic Environment Evolution (Jiangsu Province), Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xiaoli Huang, Guoan Tang, Hu Ding & Jiaming Na

  3. Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xiaoli Huang, Guoan Tang, Hu Ding & Jiaming Na

  4. Department of Geography and Philosophy, University of Minnesota–Duluth, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA

    Tongxin Zhu

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  1. Xiaoli Huang
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  2. Guoan Tang
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  3. Tongxin Zhu
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  4. Hu Ding
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Correspondence to Guoan Tang.

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Foundation: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41671389, No.41601411

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Huang, X., Tang, G., Zhu, T. et al. Space-for-time substitution in geomorphology. J. Geogr. Sci. 29, 1670–1680 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-019-1684-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-019-1684-0

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