Book excerpt: This Special Publication contains most of the contributions presented at the 1st International Workshop on Fan Deltas (1988) but also contains additional papers which make this particular volume a very well-rounded reference source for the advanced undergraduate/graduate student and the professional earth scientist concerned with sedimentology and petroleum geology. The papers describe the sedimentology and tectonic setting of this important depositional environment. Course-grained deltas, ranging from sand to gravelly, are fully covered and the main focus is on steep-face systems whose steep subaqueous slopes are dominated by high-energy processes. The volume includes case histories from around the world and throughout the book there is emphasis on the subaqueous realm of the delta face, its sedimentary processes and facies associations