Global Late Quaternary Fluvial Paleohydrology: With Special Emphasis on Paleofloods

Modern fluvial paleohydrology was initiated in the 1950s with a study of late Quaternary river terraces. It evolved to include regime studies of paleochannels, paleocompetence analysis, and alluvial chronology. More recent global studies have emphasized the paleostage estimation of Holocene paleofloods. Extensive paleoflood hydrological research in western North America, Europe, Israel, India, South Africa, Australia, and China is providing relatively accurate estimates of magnitude and frequency for the most extreme, hazardous floods. Recent technological advances have greatly improved the applicability of quantitative fluvial paleohydrology. As a result there is immense potential for the use of fluvial paleohydrology to provide data on extreme flooding. These data reside in globally widespread, natural archives that require only will, resources, and expertise to exploit.