This special issue collects a number of papers mainly reflecting discussions during the “tectonics, sedimentation and surface processes” sessions (TSSP) organized at recent EGU conferences (2012, 2013, 2014), as well as related studies that have appeared in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms over the last two years. The sedimentary record has long been used to invert for deformation at all scales and in all tectonics settings. Growth strata, sediment provenance, sequence stratigraphy and changing depositional environments have all provided first order constraints on quantifying deformation at a range of spatial and temporal scales. At the same time, these studies have motivated much work on the influence of tectonics on both sedimentation patterns and basin fill successions. However, relatively few studies have considered the whole integrated system of catchment erosion, fluvial transport and sediment deposition together, often concentrating on either the basin or the catchment separately. Recently however, methodological progress in quantifying rates of surface processes in the upstream erosion and transfer zones, as well as revived interest in the couplings between surface processes, tectonics and climate, have made it possible to renew our understanding of the interactions between sedimentation and tectonics within the framework of the whole integrated sediment routing system. Although the studies within this special issue are only a fraction of the work presented over the last five years of the TSSP sessions, the manuscripts presented here reflect a selection of the broad content and diversity of studies that integrate both sedimentation and surface processes to understand deformation in the context of sedimentary systems. They highlight and are organized into three active challenges of the field: 1) tectonics and climate into landscapes, 2) signal propagation within sediment routing systems, and 3) modeling of tectonic and surface processes.