Catastrophic freshwater paleoflooding on Earth
Abstract
As of 1990, the term 'megaflood' had only been used in about a dozen scientific publications, but by 2009 there were around 1000 citations. This trend prompted the publication of a state-of-the-art volume on the subject (Burr et al., 2009), and in the decade that followed there were 3000 citations of the term (Google Scholar search). The continuance of this trend means that the number of publications dedicated to megafloods (defined by peak discharges that equal or exceed 1 million cubic metres per second) and related catastrophic floods will likely more than double over the next ten years. The tenth anniversary of the Burr et al. (2009) volume acted as a spur for producing this Special Issue volume, in which we consider large-scale catastrophic freshwater flooding generally. The 17 commission papers that follow consist of specific case studies that progress knowledge of large-scale flooding, including processes and modelling, as well as more generic position papers that review the state of knowledge in different regions around the globe.
- Publication:
-
Earth Science Reviews
- Pub Date:
- May 2020
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103177
- Bibcode:
- 2020ESRv..20403177C