Contents Foreword Acknowledgements Chapter 1 Significance of loess landform inheritance 1 1.1 Introduction of the scientific problem 1 1.2 Research significance 6 1.3 Literature review 7 1.4 Research contents and objectives 22 1.5 Overall research methods and technical routes 23 1.6 Monograph structure 25 Chapter 2 General background of the study area and materials 27 2.1 Study area 27 2.2 Research materials 33 2.3 Summary of this chapter 39 Chapter 3 Conceptual model of loess landform inheritance 40 3.1 Basic concepts 40 3.2 Existing conditions and influencing factors 43 3.3 Basic characteristics 50 3.4 Expressing methods 54 3.5 Type classification 57 3.6 Geo-meanings 66 3.7 Summary of this chapter 68 Chapter 4 Reconstruction of the loess underlying paleotopography for loess landform inheritance 70 4.1 Overall design of the reconstruction method 71 4.2 Reconstruction of the loess underlying paleotopography in the macroscale 73 4.3 Reconstruction of the loess underlying paleotopography in the mesoscale and microscale 87 4.4 Uncertainty of loess underlying paleotopography reconstruction 104 4.5 Basic features of the loess underlying paleotopography 122 4.6 Summary of this chapter 129 Chapter 5 Investigation of loess landform inheritance by using quantitative terrain indexes 131 5.1 Quantitative indexes for expressing loess landform inheritance 131 5.2 Loess landform inheritance analysis by using the characteristic of elevation statistical distribution 134 5.3 Loess landform inheritance analysis by using the characteristics of the terrain profile 145 5.4 Loess landform inheritance analysis by using the characteristics of terrain factors 154 5.5 Summary of this chapter 164 Chapter 6 Spatial variations in loess landform inheritance 166 6.1 Spatial variation and scale effect of loess deposition in relation to paleotopography in the Loess Plateau 167 6.2 Spatial differences in the evolution of modern gullies in the Loess Plateau in relation to paleotopography 184 6.3 Summary of this chapter 200 Chapter 7 Conclusions and perspectives 202 7.1 Conclusions of this research 202 7.2 Innovations of this research 205 7.3 Limitations and perspectives 206 References 208 Appendix 227