Analysis of flood slackwater deposits and paleostage indicators (SWD-PSI) in appropriate "self-gaging" natural fluvial settings have proven in recent studies that they yield accurate and complete catalogs of extraordinary floods. The SWD-PSI catalogs extend hundreds and thousands of years into the past providing real physical data on the cataclysmic floods that are most problematic to estimate by conventional methods. The present work capitalizes on this scientific breakthrough by improving and standardizing SWD-PSI methodology; by developing new procedures for flood paleomagnitude and age estimation; by incorporating paleoflood data into flood frequency analysis; by establishing criteria for data collection and other applications; and by studying the spatial and temporal patterns of extraordinary floods in relation to regionalization and climate variability. The academic infrastructure necessary for the healthy development of paleoflood hydrology as a field of science and engineering will be supported by this project, and the beneficiaries will be the investigators specializing in assessing the nature, magnitude, risk and consequences of extraordinary and cataclysmic floods.
