Talk:Avulsion (river)

Avulsions in deltaic settings
I changed a bunch of things in the Deltaic and net-depositional settings section. Awickert (talk) 19:31, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
 * 1) Topsets are not common knowledge, and there is no article on them, so I removed the reference. Also, connecting topsets to a single avulsion on a deltais probably not correct, since a single avulsion will only create one channel deposit, and it requires a much longer period of time and delta evolution to start using sequence strat terms.
 * 2) "The main channel in which the deposition is occuring causes repeated splitting of the stream in to distributary channels.": no subject to perform the verb, so changed it
 * 3) "This action of main channel splitting into different streams is called an avulsion." - not sure what the reference says, but avulsions aren't the formation of a distributary network, though multiple avulsions can cause the formation of a distributary network by building a network of channels.

Merger proposal
I propose that Delta switching be merged into this article, and that the "Delta switching" become a redirect for the section of this article that deals with avulsions on deltas, for the following reasons: Awickert (talk) 23:33, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
 * 1) Avulsion applies to the rapid change in course of a river by abandonment of the old channel in both continental and deltaic settings. As such, Delta switching is a subset of river channel avulsion.
 * 2) The term Avulsion is somewhat more common in the professional literature than delta switching, and is especially more common among the community that studies deltaic evolution.
 * 3) Delta switching is not sufficiently well-maintained: vandalism stayed on the page for 6 months before it was noticed and reverted.
 * 4) Avulsion (river) is longer and more well-developed than Delta switching, and could easily incorporate the text and references from Delta switching into the section on Deltaic and net-depositional settings, which would help strengthen the article.

'''No discussion after 12 days, so assuming consent. Merging.''' Awickert (talk) 05:00, 19 December 2008 (UTC)