Floodplains represent a global hotspot of sensitive socio-environmental changes and early human forcing mechanisms. Floodplains are exceptionally dynamic landscapes and key areas of cultural and natural heritage. Due to their high land-use capacity and the simultaneous necessity of land reclamation and risk minimization, societies have radically restructured floodplains. The questions therefore arise as to whether or when it is justified to understand floodplains as "fluvial anthropospheres" and which socio-ecological processes have contributed to their development.

In this E&G Quaternary Science Journal special issue, we highlight challenges and propose research strategies for identifying and quantifying anthropogenic impacts on floodplain architectures. It comprises interdisciplinary contributions from near-surface geophysics, fluvial geomorphology, remote sensing, history, and archaeology that provide sweet spots for uncovering human impacts on fluvial architectures and chemostratigraphies.

Review process: all papers of this special issue underwent the regular peer-review process of E&G Quaternary Science Journal handled by guest editors designated by the EGQSJ chief editor.