The study of the evolution of slope form over long periods of time: a review of methodologies and some new observational data from Papua New Guinea.

The two main approaches to this problem are reviewed. The first is the theoretical approach, which relies upon the results of numerical modelling and simulation of slope form; the second is the empirical approach, which relies on field observation, can only be applied in a very restricted range of field sites. Results of a study made on radiometrically dated emerged coral reefs in Papua New Guinea are presented, including accurate documentation of the morphologic change of slope profiles over a period of nearly 280 thousand years. -from Author English