Book contents
- Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars
- Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Regional Studies
- Part III Applications in Other Sciences
- 14 Geology of Fluvial-Fan Deposits
- 15 An Investigation of Lithology, Hydrogeology, Bioturbation, and Pedogenesis in a Borehole through the Cubango Megafan, Northern Namibia
- 16 Megafans on Mars
- Part IV Megafans in World Landscapes
- Index
- References
15 - An Investigation of Lithology, Hydrogeology, Bioturbation, and Pedogenesis in a Borehole through the Cubango Megafan, Northern Namibia
from Part III - Applications in Other Sciences
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 April 2023
Book contents
- Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars
- Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Regional Studies
- Part III Applications in Other Sciences
- 14 Geology of Fluvial-Fan Deposits
- 15 An Investigation of Lithology, Hydrogeology, Bioturbation, and Pedogenesis in a Borehole through the Cubango Megafan, Northern Namibia
- 16 Megafans on Mars
- Part IV Megafans in World Landscapes
- Index
- References
Summary
The 260 m thick Andoni Formation, deposited by an ancestor to the Cubango/Okavango River, forms the symmetrical, ultra-low gradient (~ 0.017°) Cubango Megafan, 350 km long and 300 km wide. As part of the thick, Cenozoic ‘Kalahari succession’ of northern Namibia, the formation consists of fine-grained, unsorted, silt- to clay-rich sands; fine-grained, well-sorted and unconsolidated aquifer sands; and minor aquitard clays. Avulsive deposition under seasonal, semi-arid conditions in a grassland savanna environment was highly intermittent. Periodic flood events were separated by long intervals of non-deposition. Extensive post-depositional bioturbation and pedogenesis of each layer to depths of > 1 m took place during subaerial exposure, destroying bedding and sediment sorting. Bioturbation consists of meniscate backfilled burrows likely produced by beetle larvae, soil bug nymphs, and other invertebrates in the A, B, and C horizons. As climate became drier, these features were overprinted by pedogenic calcrete and phreatic carbonate nodules. Unsorted clay- and silt-rich sands suggest weak depositional currents, but aquifer sands point to wetter conditions with greater runoff. The pedogenic calcretes are indicative of limited annual rainfall (< 550 mm) and extremely stable land surfaces upon which no new sediment was deposited for centuries or even millennia.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars , pp. 287 - 307Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023
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