The trajectory of contemporary cryoplanation literature: A bibliometric assessment

Abstract

The origin of cryoplanation landforms has long been a subject of controversy in the literature on periglacial geomorphology. Multiple hypotheses have been advanced over the past century, but by the early 1970s only two had survived: geological structure and climate‐driven nivation processes. To determine whether some publications may be playing a “gate‐keeping” role through selective citation, we conducted a co‐citation analysis of the cryoplanation literature for the 1971–2018 period preceding a resurgence of publications by the authors of the present paper. The results indicate that there has been no overt attempt to influence the trajectory of the cryoplanation literature. Although consensus now exists that cryoplanation landforms are erosional phenomena, the roles of structure and nivation and their relative importance are still contested. We suggest that terminological complexity and ambiguity can be reduced by treating “nivation” as a process term and “cryoplanation terrace” as a morphological descriptor.