Palaeohydrology: Understanding Global Change

The talk reviews the advances in research methods and techniques in the study of Global Palaeohydrology on which Professor Kenneth J. Gregory was a major contributor. Since 1970s, Prof. Gregory became involved on a number of international research groups (IGCP, INQUA, GLOCOPH), and led a number of national and international projects (ICSU, GLOCOPH) that were critical for the advance of the palaeohydrology of alluvial river systems. Under his leadership in an ICSU Project, a scientific consensus was reached for the definition and significance of hydrological events. Extending knowledge of temporal and spatial distribution of these hydrological events has been critical on the understanding of global change and to guide on setting realistic future climate change scenarios. In particular, advances were made in (1) meta-analysis of global palaeohydrological datasets, (2) quantitative palaeoflood Hydrology and modelling, (3) Palaeoenvironmental correlations with other palaeohydrological proxies and among regions. In the last years, new World regions emerged as key for the understanding of Global Palaeohydrology. Prof. Gregory vision on the way to progress towards applications of fluvial Geomorphology and in particular of a palaeohydrological protocol is still alive, and recent and future developments are favoured by a range of new techniques (e.g. remote sensing, GPS data, machine learning), integrating multidisciplinary research and by fruitful dialogue with managers, service agencies and the public