Proposed relics of coastal alluvial fans in southern California

Alluvium disposed along the margins of the land occupies a position of\ud special interest to students of alluvial forms, of their origin and development.\ud It is ordinarily spread on a surface formerly occupied by the sea, its\ud margins are encroached upon by the sea, it is subjected to continuous\ud attrition by the sea, and its outer margins are transformed into forms of marine\ud erosion and deposition. Records of former positions of the sea, differing\ud horizontally and vertically from the present, may be discernible on or in it.\ud Since coastal habitats have long been attractive to man, such terrestrial\ud deposits as accumulate there may enclose and preserve evidence of his\ud former presence, drawing thus also the interest of prehistorians.\ud Attention is given here to a particular depositional form, the alluvial\ud fan, with regard to its development in a coastal setting. The incentive has\ud been the appearance in recent years of studies of deposits described as relics\ud of coastal fans, relating their accumulation and dissection to glacially controlled\ud variation of sea level. These studies have in turn been generated\ud by attempts to relate evidence of former human occupance enclosed by\ud the deposits to a general chronology of Pleistocene climatic change