Lester C. King's concept of 'Pediplanation' represents a significant contribution to geomorphology, offering an alternative and, in many contexts, a more applicable model for landscape evolution than the classical Davisian cycle. King's genius lay in synthesizing and adapting elements from earlier geomorphologists like William Morris Davis, Walther Penck, and Alan Wood, while integrating his extensive field observations, particularly from arid and semi-arid regions of Africa.

Davis's Cycle of Erosion: Davis proposed a model of landscape evolution driven by fluvial processes in humid temperate regions, progressing through stages of youth, maturity, and old age, ultimately leading to a peneplain – a low-relief, gently undulating surface formed by subaerial denudation. Davis emphasized downcutting followed by lateral erosion, with slopes gradually declining over time. While influential, King found Davis's model less suitable for the arid and semi-arid landscapes he studied, where parallel slope retreat and scarp recession were more evident.

Penck's Morphological Analysis: Walther Penck, a contemporary critic of Davis, focused on the relationship between uplift and denudation, emphasizing the relative rates of these processes in shaping slope forms. Penck introduced the concept of parallel slope retreat, where slopes maintain their angle as they recede, leaving behind a gently sloping surface at their base. This idea of parallel retreat was crucial for King's pediplanation model.

Wood's Contribution to Pediments: Alan Wood's work on pediments, the gently sloping rock surfaces found at the base of mountain fronts in arid regions, provided empirical evidence for the processes King would later elaborate upon. Wood described pediments as erosional surfaces formed by the retreat of mountain fronts, often covered by a thin veneer of alluvium.

King's Synthesis and Pediplanation: King integrated these ideas, particularly Penck's concept of parallel slope retreat and Wood's observations of pediments, into his own model. He argued that in many environments, especially arid and semi-arid ones, slopes retreat parallel to themselves, leaving behind a gently sloping erosional surface called a pediment. Over long periods, as mountain fronts recede, these individual pediments coalesce to form vast, low-relief surfaces known as pediplains. Unlike Davis's peneplain, which is formed by the gradual lowering of relief, a pediplain is formed by the lateral extension and coalescence of pediments through parallel slope retreat. King viewed pediplanation as a more universal process than peneplanation, applicable across various climatic zones, with peneplanation being a specific case under humid conditions where chemical weathering and soil creep dominate. Thus, King's model was a powerful synthesis, combining the dynamic slope evolution concepts of Penck with the empirical evidence of pediments, all while offering a robust alternative to the Davisian framework for understanding large-scale landscape development.