Introduction

Major advances in the understanding of landforms occurred when it was recognised that environment could control, largely through climate, the suite of processes operating on the landscape and in extreme instances produce distinctive landforms. Climatic geomorphology was further advanced when it was realised that climates have not remained stable during the period in which modern landforms had evolved, and that modern processes may be operating on relict landscapes (Stoddart, 1968). For example, in the areas peripheral to the great ice sheets of the major glaciations, present fluvial processes are superimposed over landscapes which may have been largely determined by periglacial processes. In the tropics, etchplanation and deep weathering may have alternated with periods of regolith stripping in response to wetter and drier climatic phases to produce the characteristic savanna landforms of the present day (Thomas, 1974).

In the coastal zone, landforms are produced by combination of subaerial processes (in which climate may play a part) and oceanic processes which have been presumed to be much more stable through time. Only very broad morphogenetic regions have been recognised, for example, the humid tropics (Bird & Hopley, 1969). Coastal landforms as we know them today however, are young, being produced only during the relatively short period when sea level has been at, or close to, its present position. Probably because of this, inheritance within the coastal zone through the re-occupation of early interglacial coastline positions and the reworking of landforms produced 125 000 years ago or earlier has been recognised as being of great importance (e.g. Hopley, 1985).