From River to Rock Record: The preservation of fluvial sediments and their subsequent interpretation

Over the last couple of decades, fluvial geomorphology and fluvial sedimentary geology have been developing in parallel, rather than in conjunction as might be desired. This volume is the result of the editors' attempt to bridge this gap in order to understand better how sediments in modern rivers become preserved in the rock record, and to improve interpretation from that record of the history of past environmental conditions. The catalyst for the volume was a conference with the same that was hosted at the University of Aberdeen School of Geosciences, in Aberdeen, Scotland, on 12-14 January 2009. The conferences brought together a broad spectrum of geomorphology and sedimentology researchers, from academia and industry. This interdisciplinary mix of experts considered and discussed ideas and examples ranging through timescales from the annual movement of individual river bars to sequence stratigraphic analysis of major sedimentary basins spanning millions of years. The articles in this volume are a mixture of novel concepts, new evaluations of the perceived wisdom about rivers and their sediments, and improved understanding derived from recent experience in interpreting the rock record. This volume usefully illustrates the current state of knowledge and will provide a stimulus for further research, particularly work that integrates geomorphological and sedimentological approaches and emphasizes crossdisciplinary communication.