We compiled a data set of 541 bankfull measurements of alluvial rivers (see supporting information) and used Bayesian linear regression to examine empirical and theoretical support for the hypothesis that alluvial channels adjust to a predictable condition of basal shear stress as a function of sediment transport mode. An empirical closure based on channel slope, bankfull channel depth, and median grain size is proposed and results in the scaling of bankfull Shields stress with the inverse square root of particle Reynolds number. The empirical relationship is sufficient for purposes of quantifying paleohydraulic conditions in ancient alluvial channels. However, it is not currently appropriate for application to alluvial channels on extraterrestrial bodies because it depends on constant-valued, Earth-based coefficients.

The Paleocene‐Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was an interval of extreme warmth that caused disruption of marine and terrestrial ecosystems on a global scale. Here we examine the sediments, flora, and fauna from an expanded section at Mattawoman Creek‐Billingsley Road (MCBR) in Maryland and explore the impact of warming at a nearshore shallow marine (30–100 m water depth) site in the Salisbury Embayment. Observations indicate that at the onset of the PETM, the site abruptly shifted from an open marine to prodelta setting with increased terrestrial and fresh water input. Changes in microfossil biota suggest stratification of the water column and low‐oxygen bottom water conditions in the earliest Eocene. Formation of authigenic carbonate through microbial diagenesis produced an unusually large bulk carbon isotope shift, while the magnitude of the corresponding signal from benthic foraminifera is similar to that at other marine sites. This proves that the landward increase in the magnitude of the carbon isotope excursion measured in bulk sediment is not due to a near instantaneous release of 12C‐enriched CO2. We conclude that the MCBR site records nearshore marine response to global climate change that can be used as an analog for modern coastal response to global warming.

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Stratigraphy preserves an extensive record of Earth‐surface dynamics acting over a range of scales in a variety of environments. To take advantage of this record, we first must distinguish depositional patterns that arise due to intrinsic (i.e., autogenic) landscape dynamics from sedimentation that results from changes in climate, tectonic, or eustatic boundary conditions. The compensation statistic is a quantitative tool that has been used to estimate scales and patterns of autogenic sedimentation in experimental deposits; it has been applied to a few outcrop studies, but its sensitivity to data limitations common in natural deposits remains unconstrained. To explore how the compensation statistic may be applied to outcrop data, we evaluate the sensitivity of the tool to stratigraphic data sets limited in extent and resolution by subsampling an autogenic experimental deposit to create pseudo‐outcrop‐scale data sets. Results show that for data sets more than 3 times thicker than a characteristic depositional element (e.g., channel or lobe), the compensation statistics that can be used reliably constrain the maximum scale of autogenic sedimentation even for low‐resolution data sets. Additionally, we show that autogenic sedimentation patterns may be characterized as persistent, random, or compensational using the compensation statistic when data sets are high resolution. We demonstrate how these measurements can be applied to natural data sets with comparative case studies of two fluvial and two deltaic outcrops. These case studies show how the compensation statistic can provide insight into what controls the maximum scale of autogenic sedimentation in different systems and how landscape dynamics can produce organized sedimentation patterns over long time scales.

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