A. J.van Loon1,2,*, Heiko Hüneke3, Thierry Mulder4
1 Geocom Consulting, Valle del Portet 17, 03726 Benitachell, Spain.; 2 College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, Shandong, China.; 3 Institute of Geography and Geology, Greifswald University, Greifswald, Germany.; 4 UMR CNRS EPOC, University of Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy St-Hilaire, 33615 Pessac Cedex, France.
Abstract A recent review article (“The hyperpycnite problem”) by Shanmugam (2018) in this journal has some shortcomings, comes to scientifically incorrect conclusions, and calls for student education in a way that would significantly diminish the students’ changes for a geological career. Having studied - and still studying - hyperpycnites in the field, it seems only appropriate to inform the readers of this journal about our concerns regarding the review article mentioned above. Actually, the article by Shanmugam (Journal of Palaeogeography 7(3):197�C238, 2018) is not a review paper but rather a comment, criticizing all researchers who have come to the conclusion, on the basis of both field research and theory, that hyperpycnal flows result in sediments (hyperpycnites) with characteristics that make it possible to distinguish them from deposits formed in another way. This is also the essence of Shanmugam��s comment: as he states himself, he is ��an ardent critic of all genetic facies models��.
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2019, Vol. 8 
