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1 - Megafans as Major Continental Landforms

from Part I - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2023

By
M. Justin Wilkinson  and
Yanni Gunnell
Edited by
Justin Wilkinson  and
Yanni Gunnell
Justin Wilkinson
Affiliation:
Texas State University, Jacobs JETS Contract, NASA Johnson Space Center
Yanni Gunnell
Affiliation:
Université Lumière Lyon 2
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Summary

Discovery of the significance of fluvial megafans came about in the mid to late twentieth century. We suggest reasons why appreciation of their existence came late in the history of Earth science, even after the advent of space-based observation of planetary landscapes. The reasons are partly cultural: megafans are uncommon in the historic cradles of modern geology (Europe, North America). Reasons are also partly theoretical: rivers have been conceptualised chiefly as sediment bypass systems terminating in deltas, rather than as aggradational systems in their own right. Reasons are also perceptual: just as the megaflood origin of channeled scablands was held in disbelief, the inordinate size of megafans has stood in the way of accepting (i) the sheer magnitude of their unit-size and also (ii) their existence as active systems in modern landscapes, rather than just as stratigraphic features in the rock record. Post-1990, scientific activity around megafans accelerated and involved global mapping, classification, and regional investigations into patterns and processes. An overview of this take-off period is provided as a partial introduction to the remaining 17 chapters of this book, which are briefly outlined.

Type
Chapter
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Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars , pp. 3 - 12
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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