The study of the world's plainlands: a new approach in geomorphology

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Abstract
Summary: A review of the older plainlands and plateaus of the earth reveals a similarity in age and elevation sufficient to suggest that their independent origin and development in their present situation is unlikely. It is claimed that continent-wide bevelled surfaces have been produced by " pediplanation ". A world-wide correlation of pediplaned surfaces now standing at varying levels above O.D. is suggested by the following grouping : (a) pre-Cretaceous super-continental cycles of erosion (" Gond-wana " and " Laurasia " surfaces); (b) pre-Miocene intermediate continental cycles (" African ", " Prairie " etc. surfaces); (c) modern continental cycles. The difference in elevation between the fundamental surface (a) and the plains of the continental early-Tertiary cycle (b) is attributed largely to the altitude of the twin Gondwana-Laurasia super-continents at the time of their break-up. It is suggested that global forces, and probably continental drift, must be invoked in explanation of these world-wide pediplaned surfaces.

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