Within the orogenic belts of long-term evolution history, river system will eventually reach an equilibrium state. Under this steady state condition,the rate of vertical incision by a river channel is exactly balanced by rock uplift, and the gradient of the river channel is inversely proportional to the upstream drainage area. Therefore, the longitudinal profiles of steady state river channels are smooth and concave-upward. If the steady state condition is perturbed by tectonic activity,climate change and other conditions change,and it would have been in the evolution of transient non-equilibrium phase until reaching the next equilibrium state. We can understand the stages of evolution of drainage system in orogenic belts,tectonic activity,as well as the strength and scope of climate change by studying river transient landscape. After a brief overview of concepts of river transient landscape, we will introduce the knickpoint as the typical expression of the transient landscape in river longitudinal profile. Knickpoints, or comparatively diffuse knickzones, are convex-upward segments within the river profile, in which channel gradient changes very rapidly across knickzones. Initiation of the knickpoint is usually controlled by the lithologic difference, transient knickzones may be generated by differential uplift (thrust and normal faulting), and/or base level change due to eustatic change of sea level or drainage network capture. We propose the up-to-data methods of identification and extraction of kinckpoint on the basis of river longitudinal profile analysis. Longitudinal river profiles contain information about the mechanisms of fluvial incision. Recently, the stream-power incision model has been widely used to analyze river erosion rate and landscape evolution. We know channel concavity and steepness may be quantified by linear regression of channel slope and drainage area data, plotted in log-log space. Channel concavity is equivalent to the slope of the regression line and steepness is equivalent to the y-intercept. A channel reach with an abnormally high gradient will plot above the regression line. Therefore, by referring to the higher gradient in the log-log space,together with analyzing the general longitudinal profile,we can precisely locate the knickpoints along the channel profile. Following the summary of river longitudinal profile analysis in transient landscape study,we aim to explore the significance of tectonic-climate interactions the available examples, such as the Sierra Nevada Mountain range in North America, the Andes range in South America, the southeastern and northeastern margin of the Tibet Plateau. Clark et al. (2005) revealed geomorphologic evolution of the Sierra Nevada Mountains by using channel parameters to reconstruct paleo-elevation profile of the channel, estimate the total river incision and paleo-topography relief. Schlunegger et al. (2011) explored the relationship between geometry of river basin, mode of uplift and regional precipitation by analyzing channel steepness index, concave index and gradient of regional precipitation.