ALLUVIAL/FLUVIAL

I. Intro
A. fluvial seds largely
classified into 3 dep.
environments
1. alluvial
2. braided rivers
3. meandering
rivers
http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~pgore/geology/historical_lab/sedenvirons.htm

II. Alluvial Fans

A. cone or apron shaped
B. form in high relief areas
C. Common in arid (Death Valley)
and semiarid regions

D. alluvial from Latin "to

wash against" vs. fluvial
(Latin "river")
E. Bajada = a group of
coalesced fans.
F. Role of flow expansion flow unrestricted coming out
of canyon, it widens leading
to shallowing of flow which
reduces velocity.
Sedimentation occurs

http://www.agc.army.mil/research/products/desert_guide/lsmsheet/lsbajad.htm

Note Main Alluival Channel

French
Pyrenees,
decreased
velocities as
channel
mouth
widens lead
to deposition

C streamflow episodic, occurs during flood

D debris flow common in arid/semiarid
regions
E mudflow-mostly sand and finer seds
F. landslides-rk falls, slumps, etc

III. Depositional processes

A debris flow, mudflow, landslides,
streamflow
B streamflow dominates; deposits
1.elongate channels, coarse. & p. sorted
2. sheet flood- thin, w. sorted, structureless/
or laminated gravel, sand or silt
3. Sieve deposits-gravel lobes; clay

Streamflow

southern border of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang . NASA

pr.water.usgs.gov/public/reports/matt.html

Debris flow deposits on alluvial fan, Los Corales sector of Caraballeda,

Vargas, Venezuela. Structure in foreground is tiled rooftop of one-story

Debris flow deposit

usgs
A little scarp cut into the surface of the debris flow shows the finer grained material that makes up
the bulk of the debris flow. The coarsening of the material at the surface of the fan is probably in
part due to post-depositional winnowing of fine grains as well as some original coarse-tail
coarsening in the original debris flow.

http://faculty.gg.uwyo.edu/heller/

Sheet flood

Surface of ancient flood sheet (1250 BP by radiocarbon on

detrital wood).
Quebrada Rio Seco de Casma, Peru, 1985.

geoimages.berkeley.edu/.../geomorph/flood1.h
tml

IV) Alluvial fan sediments

A cone-shaped,
anastomozing channels
B concave upward
radial profile, crosssection=lens shaped

C fan consists of:

1. upper fan or
proximal fan-steep, coarse
seds, entrenched channels,
debris flows
2. mid fan-less
gradient, seds fine,
branching shallow channels
3. distal fan- low
gradients, fine seds, poorly
defined channels

PROXIMAL

Fan

Mostgravityflows
deposited(matrix
supportedetc)
Riverchannelscut
downintoheadofthe
fan,developsasingle
largechannelcut.
Terminology
Coarsestgrained,most
poorlysorteddeposits

MEDIAL

DISTAL

Fewestgravityflows
Fewergravityflows
reachthisarea
deposited
Severalsmall,shallow
Channelsstartsplitting channels
fartherdownthefan
Finestgrained,best
sorteddeposits

http://faculty.gg.uwyo.edu/heller/

geology.cwru.edu/~huwig/catalog/catalog.ht
ml

V. Mid Fan
A. Has a lower slope
gradient
B. Sediment is intermediate
in size and typically better
sorted
C. Sediments are well
stratified and show some
cross bedding
D. Contains many small
shallow braided channels
surrounding one main
(axial) channel (see photo
on right)

V. Mid Fan
E. Sieve lobe deposits
form at the intersection
point of the fan (usually
upper mid fan)

VI. Distal Fan

A.Gentle slope
gradient
B.Deposition of finer
grained sediments
C Deposits merge with
sediments on basin
floor
D. More development
of sedimentary
structures

Where on Fan?

Interior of an alluvial fan

Distal Fan

These deposits exhibit

better sorting and may
show low angle cross
stratification and/or
trough stratification
Fining upward
sequences frequently
indicate inactivity of
depositional processes

Fining upward sequence in an alluvial fan

D thickening and
coarsening upward
sequence
E inactive fan-thin
and fine upward
F fan deposits up
to 1000s m

I) Rivers
A. 4 types:
1. braided
2. anastomosing
3. straight to near straight
4. meandering

www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/1121Lxr28.html

I) Meandering Rivers
A. higher sinuosity,
B. less gradients, finer
seds
C elements
1. main channel
2. pt. bars
3. levees
4. floodplain
5. oxbow lake
6. abandoned meander
cut-off

Allen, 1964

Meandering vs. Braided

www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/1121Lxr28.html

http://faculty.gg.uwyo.edu/heller/Sed%20Strat
%20Class/Sedstrat4/sedlect_4.htm

Ro Socopo flowing off eastern slope of Venezuelan Andes. View is up river

(towards WNW Photo ). Octover 24, 1984. Note point bars along inner bends. The
channel belt is defined as the region between the red lines wihtin which the active
channel tends to meander. from R.H. Meade, USGS

Side-looking radar (SLAR) image of the flood plain

between the Rio Japur and Rio Solimoes (Amazon
River basin), taken in 1971/1972. Flow is towards the
lower right. Note the many scroll bars marking the former
positions of channels (point bars) across the flood plain.
Note these are large rivers with very large meander
wavelengths, so that scorsll bars are also very large.
SLAR does not see vegetation, overwise this view would
only show rain forest.

D channel flow
1. lateral shifting of
currents = helical
flow

E current velocity
highest along outer
bank,
1. bank undercutting,
deepening of
channel
2. coarse lag deposit
3. remaining sed
accreted to pt. bar

Fig. 4.23: Highway 44, one of the main routes into Albuquerque (New Mexico, USA) was built in 1969. Part of the project
involved the necessity to straighten a section of the upper Rio Puerco River which then flowed parallel to the highway.Fig. 4.24:
This photograph taken in 1986 some 17 years after the channel straightening work. It shows how the Rio Puerco, which was
perfectly straight in 1969, has now started to meander and threaten to undermine Highway 44 alongside it. In retrospect, it may
not have seemed such a good idea to straighten it in the first place! Dr Tim Stott

F. overbank deposition
during floodstage-f.
sand/silts-levees,
floodplain, oxbow lakes
G. crevasse splays

H sediment deposition
in:
1. main channel
2. pt. bar
3. natural levees
4. flood basin
5. oxbow lake &
meander chute

I channel deposits
1. coarse lag material
deposited during flood
stage
2. gravels and mud
chunks
3. indistinct bedding,
thin and discontinuous
deposits

J pt. bar deposits

1. sand over gravels
2. w/helical flow & flood stage,
water & sed transported up pt.
bar
3. velocity decrease up pt. bar,
therefore, coarse seds at lower
pt. bars, finer grains in upper
part
4. dune bed forms in lower
portion, ripples in upper portion
5. trough x-beds
6. x-beds have variable dip but
altogether dip downstream

Example of Point Bar Deposits

Sebaskachu River,
Labrador
shows well developed
point bars as it flows
across a wide floodplain

Chutes and Lateral Accretion

Surfaces

www.searchanddiscovery.net/.../images/chptr3.htm

www.searchanddiscovery.net/.../images/chptr3.htm

http://faculty.gg.uwyo.edu/heller/Sed%20Strat%20Class/Sedstrat4/sedlect_4.htm

Point Bar Sequence

O shifting of river,
get stacked lateral
environments
P lag deposits
overlain by fining
upward pt. bar
sequence

Lynn S. Fichter

K natural levee
deposits
1. thick and
coarsest near
bank, fine and thin
into flood basin
2. ripples and
planar laminated
seds overlain by
laminated mud

L flood plain deposits

1. fines settling from suspension, plant debris,
may be bioturbated
M crevasse splay
1. traction and suspension deposition, may be
graded
N oxbow lake deposits
1. infilled by silt and mud through overbank
deposition,laminated, ostracods and fresh water
molluscs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meander

Rio Cauto, Cuba

Crevasse splay deposits

Lobate in shape
Deposit sand and silt
Sed from traction and
suspension
Get coarse bedload and
fines forming
graded beds

Lobes spread onto floodplain

with fingers of sand
extending beyond the
main lobe
Deep crevasses may tap into
lower levels of main
channel
allows coarser sediment
to escape on
floodplain

http://faculty.gg.uwyo.edu/heller

Bryants Creek, MO

Flood Plain Deposits

Composed of:
Predominately fine
grain material
Which escape
through
flooding
Plant debris and
bioturbation

Modern Overbank Sands,

Mississippi

Oxbow Lakes

Sections of the channel become

cut-off

Silt and mud from

channel during
overbank flood
Laminated with plant
debris

Formation of an Ox-bow Lake

II) Ancient example

A) lower part of Devonian Old Red S.S.
of Wales and England

Meander Sequence

http://www.geo.umn.edu/courses/4602/Spring01/Slide_List_2.html

Devonian Catskill Fm, NY

Tertiary Caspe Formation, Spain

Lateral Accretion Surfaces

http://www.geo.umn.edu/courses/4602/Spring01/Slide_List_2.html

Caspe Fm, Spain

Overbank Deposits

http://www.geo.umn.edu/courses/4602/Spring01/Slide_List_2.html

Jurassic, Scalby Fm, Enlgand

IX) Geometry
A Braided-sheet s.s. of congl w/thin beds
or lenses of shales, enclosed
in
thicker seds
B meandering-shoe string sand bodies
elongate in direction of river and
enclosed by overbank fines