Naming conventions in geomorphology: contributions and controversies in the sandstone landscape of Zhangjiajie Geopark, China

Brierley, Gary; Huang, He Qing; Chen, Anze; Aiken, Simon; Crozier, Mike; Eder, Wolfgang; Goudie, Andrew; Ma, Yao; May, Jan-Hendrik; Migoń, Piotr; Nanson, Gerald C.; Qi, Deli; Viles, Heather; Wood, Chris; Wray, R. A. L.; Yang, Guifang; Yang, Xiaoping; Yu, Ge

doi:10.1002/esp.2216

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This spectacular landscape attracts tourists from around the world (see Brierley et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2012 for more details of the sandstone landscape in Zhangjiajie). Common questions from these visitors include how the pillars are formed and how old they are.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knickpoints within the Suoshui watershed and the implication for the age of sandstone pillars in Zhangjiajie, China

Shi

Shao

2014

Geomorphology

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knickpoints within the Suoshui watershed and the implication for the age of sandstone pillars in Zhangjiajie, China

Shi

Shao

2014

Geomorphology

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“…Their argument, bolstered by an ontological context (what a mountain is ), supports the notion that the form itself (the mountain) is what gives it meaning, not necessarily the process(es) that created it. More recently, Brierley et al (2011: 1981) remind geomorphologists that, while official bodies exist for naming places, geological time periods, and biological species, no formal procedures have been established for landscape types. In geomorphology, an inevitable outcome of this local naming process is that overlapping or identical features are given names in different languages (e.g.…”

Section: Defining Tafoni: Finding a Terminological Solutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining tafoni

Groom

Allen

Mol

et al. 2015

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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Cavernous rock decay processes represent a global phenomenon, ubiquitous to all environments, with the viewable-in-landscape form usually being the final descriptor (e.g. ''alveoli''), sometimes alluding to the specific decay process (e.g. ''pitting''), other times not (e.g. ''honeycombing''). Yet, definitive terminology remains inconsistent, usually owing to variability in dimension, morphometry, distribution, and/or academic lineage. This lack of an established lexicon limits scientific collaboration and can generate scientific bias. With no official consensus on appropriate distinctions, researchers and scientists must either be familiar with all the possible terminology, or know the apparent distinction between ''forms''-which can seem arbitrary and, even more frustrating, often differs from researcher to researcher, scientist to scientist. This article reviews the historical and contemporary progression of scientific inquiry into this decay-and, arguably, erosionalfeature to identify lexical inconsistencies and promote a singular unifying term for future scholars. Ultimately, the authors support using ''tafoni'' (singular: ''tafone'') as the non-scalar universal term-the form created by numerous processes involved in cavernous decay features-and strongly suggest researchers adopt the same vernacular in order to promote collaboration.

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“…Since there may be nearly endless combinations of factors behind landscape evolution in any given place, landscapes with no or little parallels elsewhere may indeed exist or they show certain features in an exceptional manner. Examples of such unique geomorphological landscapes may be found on the World Heritage List and include sandstone spires of Wulingyuan in China (Brierley et al ., ) and quartzite mesas of the Canaima National Park in Venezuela (Wray, ). Uniqueness of certain landform associations is occasionally highlighted in the official descriptions of World Heritage properties at their website (whc http://unesco.org…”

Section: World Heritage Convention – the Role Of Geomorphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The significance of landforms – the contribution of geomorphology to the World Heritage Programme of UNESCO

Migoń

2014

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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This discussion paper addresses the role of geomorphology in designating UNESCO World Heritage properties. Two of the defined criteria employed in the process are explicitly relevant to geomorphology. Criterion (vii) emphasizes the occurrence of superlative natural phenomena, while criterion (viii) directly refers to landforms and on‐going surface processes, along with historical geological values. Superlative natural phenomena may be singular features, but in recent nominations the focus has tended to be on geomorphic diversity over limited areas. Overall, this is a criterion significantly influenced by subjective judgement. The significance of landforms, as included in the wording of criterion (viii), may be considered in three ways. Landforms may be significant for the science of geomorphology itself, and/or for other natural science disciplines, particularly biology and ecology, and/or be of wider cultural significance, including for history, architecture, general landscape aesthetics, art, or religion, underpinning cultural developments. To better determine the conditions to be fulfilled by a property to be considered as geomorphologically significant at the highest global level required for World Heritage listing seems a timely and useful exercise. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Naming conventions in geomorphology: contributions and controversies in the sandstone landscape of Zhangjiajie Geopark, China

Cited by 6 publications

References 5 publications

Knickpoints within the Suoshui watershed and the implication for the age of sandstone pillars in Zhangjiajie, China

Knickpoints within the Suoshui watershed and the implication for the age of sandstone pillars in Zhangjiajie, China

Defining tafoni

The significance of landforms – the contribution of geomorphology to the World Heritage Programme of UNESCO

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