Abstract

Only a few significant studies of modern deltas and ancient deltaic deposits were conducted prior to World War II. These early studies were mainly concerned with Pleistocene deltas associated with Lake Bonneville in Utah, Devonian deltaic sediments of New York and Pennsylvania, and three modern deltas: the Fraser Delta of British Columbia, the Mississippi Delta, and the Colorado Delta of California and Mexico.

During the ten years following World War II, extensive research was conducted on the modern Mississippi Delta and the Rhone Delta of southern France. This research provided new concepts of deltaic sedimentation and criteria for recognizing ancient deltaic deposits.

The impact of research on modern deltas is clearly reflected by the sudden increase in the number of significant publications on ancient deltaic deposits beginning in 1959.

More than sixty papers, which are some of the most important contributions to our present understanding of modern deltas and ancient deltaic deposits, are summarized in chronological order. Forty-eight figures and fifteen tables accompany the brief summaries.