Study of internal-wave and internal-tide deposits is a very young research field in deep-water sedimentology. It has been just twenty years since the first example of internal-wave and internal-tide deposits was identified in the stratigraphic record. Since that time, Chinese scholars have made unremitting efforts and gained some significant research achievements in this field. This paper briefly outlines the history and main achievements of research of internal-wave and internal-tide deposits in China, describes depositional charac-teristics, sedimentary successions, types of lithofacies, and depositional models of internal-wave and internal-tide deposits identified mainly from ancient strata, and summarizes the existing problems in this research field. New advances in marine physics should be applied to research of the subject of internal-wave and internal-tide deposition, whereas the sedimentary characteristics of internal-wave and internal-tide deposits may be used to deduce the physical processes of their creation. Flume experiments on internal-wave and internal-tide deposition should also be put in practice as often as possible, so that the mechanisms of internal-wave and internal-tide deposition can be explored.
We are glad to know that our paper ＂Review of research in internal-wave and internal-tide deposits of China＂ （Gao et al., 2013） published in Journal of Palaeogeography has attracted close attention of international peers, and we noted that Shanmugam has provided a critical assessment of our paper. He claimed that ＂interpretations of ten ancient exam- ples in China and one in the central Appalachians （USA） as deep-water deposits of internal waves and internal tides are unsustainable＂, among many other comments and criticisms, and he concluded that ＂any interpretation of ancient strata as deposits of internal waves and internal tides is premature＂. This article is aimed at responding to his major criticisms. We believe that constructive discussions will benefit the development of the study in internal-wave and internal-tide deposits. Unfortunately, Shanmugam seems not to follow this line of scientific criticism, but is trying to reject all research results in this subject based on his illogical and inconsistent reasoning, and distortion of others＇ points of view. In this article, with facts and evidences, we will refuse the main wrong assertions of Shanmugam＇s, for example, ＂the use of bidirectional cross-bedding as evidence for deposition by baroclinic currents in outcrop studies is sedimentologically erroneous ＂ and ＂any interpretation of ancient strata as deposits of internal waves and internal tides is premature＂. We will also use typical characteristics of the ancient examples to demonstrate that they are certainly not turbidites, or contourites, or tsunami-related deposits, but internal-wave and internal-tide deposits as the most plausible to defend the rationality of our interpretation in our previous papers.
