Book contents
- Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars
- Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Regional Studies
- Part III Applications in Other Sciences
- Part IV Megafans in World Landscapes
- 17 Megafans in World Landscapes
- 18 Some Future Megafan Research Directions
- Index
- References
18 - Some Future Megafan Research Directions
from Part IV - Megafans in World Landscapes
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 April 2023
Book contents
- Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars
- Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Regional Studies
- Part III Applications in Other Sciences
- Part IV Megafans in World Landscapes
- 17 Megafans in World Landscapes
- 18 Some Future Megafan Research Directions
- Index
- References
Summary
New findings around fluvial megafans have accrued from the world survey presented in this book, and challenge some commonly accepted generalisations. Among a list of unexpected results are that (i) megafans constitute a landform and sedimentary body of regional significance on Earth, subsidiarily on Mars, despite their relatively small number; (ii) any topographic step, high or low, can provide the anchor point for a megafan apex; (iii) most megafans are associated with tributary drainages, seldom with axial drainages; (iv) megafans form in all climates. Megafan sizes, shapes, nesting patterns, drainage configurations, tectonic settings, and sediment dispersal styles are summarised, classified, and compared to other large fluvial sediment bodies. Finer mosaics of landscape elements and landforms belonging to the rheic zone (belts of fluvial incision, narrow or wide, that cut into fan surfaces) and perirheic zone (extensive land surface beyond the reach of the fan-forming river) are reviewed from modern analogues, and their implications for identifying megafans and other distributary fluvial systems in the rock record are examined. Vocabulary defining megafans and their environments has been sharpened as a result, with some avenues for further investigation laid out in this closing chapter.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars , pp. 372 - 388Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023
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