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    Ch5 - Fluvial Depositional System

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    anima1982
    This document summarizes three major types of fluvial sedimentation: alluvial fan sedimentation, alluvial plain sedimentation, and megafan sedimentation. Alluvial fan sedimentation occurs where mountain streams enter plains, forming fans of debris flow and water-laid sediments. Alluvial plains are formed by extensive river channel and flood processes, depositing bars, natural levees, and overbank mud. Megafans are large sedimentation systems formed by major rivers, showing zones from braided to meandering channels.

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    Ch5 - Fluvial Depositional System

    Uploaded by

    anima1982
    229 views41 pages
    This document summarizes three major types of fluvial sedimentation: alluvial fan sedimentation, alluvial plain sedimentation, and megafan sedimentation. Alluvial fan sedimentation occurs where mountain streams enter plains, forming fans of debris flow and water-laid sediments. Alluvial plains are formed by extensive river channel and flood processes, depositing bars, natural levees, and overbank mud. Megafans are large sedimentation systems formed by major rivers, showing zones from braided to meandering channels.

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    Ch5_ Fluvial Depositional System

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    Ch5_ Fluvial Depositional System

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    This document summarizes three major types of fluvial sedimentation: alluvial fan sedimentation, alluvial plain sedimentation, and megafan sedimentation. Alluvial fan sedimentation occurs where mountain streams enter plains, forming fans of debris flow and water-laid sediments. Alluvial plains are formed by extensive river channel and flood processes, depositing bars, natural levees, and overbank mud. Megafans are large sedimentation systems formed by major rivers, showing zones from braided to meandering channels.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    229 views41 pages

    Ch5 - Fluvial Depositional System

    Uploaded by

    anima1982
    This document summarizes three major types of fluvial sedimentation: alluvial fan sedimentation, alluvial plain sedimentation, and megafan sedimentation. Alluvial fan sedimentation occurs where mountain streams enter plains, forming fans of debris flow and water-laid sediments. Alluvial plains are formed by extensive river channel and flood processes, depositing bars, natural levees, and overbank mud. Megafans are large sedimentation systems formed by major rivers, showing zones from braided to meandering channels.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 41

    FLUVIAL DEPOSITIONAL SYSTEM

    Fluvial sedimentation is primarily controlled by the fluvial processes,


    mostly related to rivers. Three major types of fluvial sedimentation are
    identified:
    Alluvial Fan Sedimentation
    Alluvial Plain Sedimentation
    Megafan Sedimentation

    Alluvial Fan Sedimentation


    An alluvial fan is a fan shaped body of coarse grained sediments, formed by
    mountain stream at the base of a mountain front where a steeper slope
    changes abruptly into a gentle slope.
    Alluvial fan shows two types of deposits
    1.

    Debris flow deposits

    2.

    Water laid deposits (Stream channel, Sheet flood, Sieve)

    The Alluvial fan shows three distinct zones:


    Fanhead (Upper Fan)
    Coarse grained sediments,
    conglomerates) dominate.

    mainly

    debris

    flow

    (matrix

    supported

    Mid fan (Middle Fan)


    Made up of mostly water laid sediments (channelized conglomerates) and thin
    debris flow deposits.

    Base (Lower Fan)


    Made up of sandy sediments deposited by sheet floods, with occasional
    conglomerate units.

    Alluvial Plain Sedimentation


    Alluvial plains are vast areas formed by river channel activity, flood processes.
    River Channel Deposits
    Rivers occur in straight, braided, meandering and anastomosing patterns.
    In a river channel deposition takes place essentially as fluvial bars, which
    are braid bars, point bars and lateral bars.
    Base of a river channel deposit shows a channel lag deposit followed by
    fluvial bar deposits.
    Fluvial bar deposits are made up of mostly fining upward sequences,
    showing from bottom towards top, large-scale cross-bedding, horizontal
    bedding, small ripple bedding, silty horizontal bedding and mud.
    Architectural element analysis is helpful in identification of nature of sand
    bars. Microforms (ripples), mesoforms (megaripples) and macroforms (unit
    bar) are identified.

    The eight basic architectural elements in fluvial


    deposits. (Miall 1988a, b; modified from Maill 1985

    Overbank deposits
    They are deposit formed along the river bank and in the flood plain and
    identified into two

    River margin deposits


    Consist of natural levee and crevasse splay deposits.

    Flood plain deposits


    Made up of muddy sediments by sheet floods when the river overtops the
    channel.

    Interfluve (Doab) deposits


    In alluvial plains with incised river channels, vast interfluve areas are present
    where deposition is not controlled by river channel processes. On interfluve
    areas fine-grained (muddy) sediments are deposited by mainly sheet flow, minor
    gullys, and small ponds.

    Megafan Sedimentation
    Megafans are large-sized fans formed in humid climate by large rivers with huge
    water and sediment supply. The fans show anastomosing and diverging river
    channels which join together at the distal end of the megafan.
    The megafan deposits show a distinct zonation into four zones from proximal to
    distal part.
    Zone I
    Area of gravelly, shallow braided channels.
    Zone II
    Sandy braid plain with many shallow channels.
    Zone III
    Area of anastomosing channels.
    Zone IV
    Area of meandering channels with broad interfluves.

    Terminal fans
    In semi-arid climate with low gradient and large sediment supply finegrained fans are developed. In terminal fans, axial stream branches
    into small distributaries which lose their identity in lower fan. The
    rivers can be described as distributive river system. In the lower fan
    area small water bodies and few ephemeral streams are present.
    Proximal part shows mainly sandy deposit, middle part shows muddy
    sediments with sandy lenses, the lower part is made up of muddy
    sediments with rare thin sandy horizons.

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