Trends and Methods in Land Form Geography

This paper reviews ideas of American geographers on geographic land form analysis and proposes a framework within which geographic land form studies can be identified and related to other land form studies. The following approaches are identified as geographic: 1) descriptive analysis of the present land form; 2) functional analysis of land form; 3) analytical studies of the covariation of individual land form elements; and 4) analytical studies of spatial variations in land form. Selected methods used in such studies are summarized and evaluated. Special emphasis is placed on descriptive methods.