Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T22:19:01.883Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

14 - Geology of Fluvial-Fan Deposits

Facies Patterns, Architectural Organisation, and Implications for Economic Geology

from Part III - Applications in Other Sciences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2023

By
Dario Ventra  and
Andrea Moscariello
Edited by
Justin Wilkinson  and
Yanni Gunnell
Justin Wilkinson
Affiliation:
Texas State University, Jacobs JETS Contract, NASA Johnson Space Center
Yanni Gunnell
Affiliation:
Université Lumière Lyon 2
Get access

Summary

Fluvial fans and megafans are being re-evaluated in terms of their importance for sediment distribution in present-day continental basins, with evidence that their thick alluvial successions have contributed to the aggradation of much larger fractions of the stratigraphic record than previously recognised. Research on active fans worldwide is illustrating processes and dynamics at system scale while also highlighting differences linked to climatic or basin-specific settings. Long-term progradation of these systems produces consistent architectural signatures and trends, such as vertical stacking of laterally extensive units of amalgamated channel fills and overbank fines with minimal erosional discontinuities; poorly developed pedogenic horizons; proximal-to-distal fining of channel fills, and reduction in their volume and connectivity. The predictable spatial organisation of facies associations in fluvial-fan successions, documented from numerous examples, suggests that depositional models for thick alluvial units may relate to their accumulation in fan settings, informing preliminary basin exploration and advanced phases of reservoir characterisation and enhanced recovery. Consideration of fluvial-fan stratigraphy may also improve development of coal, uranium and placer resources, as well as aquifer characterisation. More quantitative data on fluvial-fan sedimentology and architecture are needed to better apply concepts derived from the resurgence of interest in these systems.

Type
Chapter
Information
Fluvial Megafans on Earth and Mars , pp. 263 - 286
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aitken, J. F. and Flint, S. S. (1995). The application of high-resolution sequence stratigraphy to fluvial systems: a case study from the Upper Carboniferous Breathitt Group, eastern Kentucky, USA. Sedimentology, 42, 3–30.Google Scholar
Allen, J. P. and Fielding, C. R. (2007). Sedimentology and stratigraphic architecture of the Late Permian Betts Creek Beds, Queensland, Australia. Sedimentary Geology, 202, 5–34.Google Scholar
Allen, P. A., Cabrera, L., Colombo, F., and Matter, A. (1983). Variations in fluvial style on the Eocene-Oligocene alluvial fan of the Scala Dei Group, SE Ebro Basin, Spain. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 140, 133–146.Google Scholar
Arche, A. and López-Gómez, J. (2005). Sudden changes in fluvial style across the Permian-Triassic boundary in the eastern Iberian Ranges, Spain: analysis of possible causes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 229, 104–126.Google Scholar
Ashworth, P. J. and Lewin, J. (2012). How do big rivers come to be different? Earth-Science Reviews, 114, 84–107.Google Scholar
Assine, M. L. (2005). River avulsions on the Taquari megafan, Pantanal wetland, Brazil. Geomorphology, 70, 357–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Assine, M. L. and Silva, A. (2009). Contrasting fluvial styles of the Paraguay River in the northwestern border of the Pantanal wetland, Brazil. Geomorphology, 113, 189–199.Google Scholar
Assine, M. L., Corradini, F. A., Pupim, F. N., and McGlue, M. M. (2014). Channel arrangements and depositional styles in the São Lourenço fluvial megafan, Brazilian Pantanal wetland. Sedimentary Geology, 301, 172–184.Google Scholar
Atchley, S. C., Nordt, L. C., and Dworkin, S. I. (2004). Eustatic control on alluvial sequence stratigraphy: a possible example from the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition of the Tornillo Basin, Big Bend National Park, west Texas, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 74, 391–404.Google Scholar
Atchley, S. C., Nordt, L. C., Dworkin, S. I., et al. (2013). Alluvial stacking pattern analysis and sequence stratigraphy: concepts and case studies. In Driese, S., ed., New Frontiers in Paleopedology and Terrestrial Paleoclimatology, SEPM Special Publication, 104, 109–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batezelli, A., Ladeira, F. S. B., Nascimento, D. L., and Silva, M. L. (2019). Facies and palaeosol analysis in a progradational distributive fluvial system from the Campanian-Maastrichtian Bauru Group, Brazil. Sedimentology, 66, 699–735.Google Scholar
Beer, J. A. and Jordan, T. E. (1989). The effects of Neogene thrusting on deposition in the Bermejo Basin, Argentina. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 59, 330–345.Google Scholar
Bentham, P. A., Talling, P. J., and Burbank, D. W. (1993). Braided stream and flood-plain deposition in a rapidly aggrading basin: the Escanilla Formation, Spanish Pyrenees. In Best, J. L. and Bristow, C. S., eds., Braided Rivers. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 75, 177–194.Google Scholar
Bentley, S. J., Blum, M. D., Maloney, J., Pond, L., and Paulsell, R. (2016). The Mississippi River source-to-sink system: perspectives on tectonic, climatic, and anthropogenic influences, Miocene to Anthropocene. Earth-Science Reviews, 153, 139–174.Google Scholar
Blechschmidt, I., Matter, A., Preusser, F., and Rieke-Zapp, D. (2009). Monsoon triggered formation of Quaternary alluvial megafans in the interior of Oman. Geomorphology, 110, 128–139.Google Scholar
Blum, M. D. and Törnqvist, T. E. (2000). Fluvial responses to climate and sea-level change: a review and look forward. Sedimentology, 47, 2–48.Google Scholar
Blum, M., Martin, J., Milliken, K., and Garvin, M. (2013). Paleovalley systems: insights from Quaternary analogs and experiments. Earth-Science Reviews, 116, 128–169.Google Scholar
Bohacs, K. and Suter, J. (1997). Sequence stratigraphic distribution of coaly rocks: fundamental controls and paralic examples. Annals of the Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 81, 1612–1639.Google Scholar
Boothroyd, J. C. and Nummedal, D. (1978). Proglacial braided outwash: a model for humid alluvial fan deposits. In Miall, A. D., ed., Fluvial Sedimentology. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, 5, 641–668.Google Scholar
Bridge, J. S. (1984). Large-scale facies sequences in alluvial overbank environments. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 54, 583–588.Google Scholar
Bridge, J. S. and Leeder, M. R. (1979). A simulation model of alluvial stratigraphy. Sedimentology, 26, 617–644.Google Scholar
Browne, G. (2004). Downstream fining and sorting of gravel clasts in the braided rivers of mid-Canterbury, New Zealand. New Zealand Geographer, 60, 2–14.Google Scholar
Bryant, M., Falk, P., and Paola, C. (1995). Experimental study of avulsion frequency and rate of deposition. Geology, 23, 365–368.Google Scholar
Buehler, H. A., Weissmann, G. S., Scuderi, L. A., and Hartley, A. J. (2011). Spatial and temporal evolution of an avulsion of the Taquari River distributive fluvial system from satellite image analysis. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 81, 630–640.Google Scholar
Cain, S. A. and Mountney, N. P. (2009). Spatial and temporal evolution of a terminal fluvial fan system: the Permian Organ Rock Formation, south-east Utah, USA. Sedimentology, 56, 1774–1800.Google Scholar
Campbell, C. V. (1976). Reservoir geometry of a fluvial sheet sandstone. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 60, 1009–1020.Google Scholar
Cecil, C. B. (2013). An overview and interpretation of autocyclic and allocyclic processes and the accumulation of strata during the Pennsylvanian-Permian transition in the central Appalachian Basin, USA. International Journal of Coal Geology, 119, 21–31.Google Scholar
Chakraborty, T., Kar, R., Ghosh, P., and Basu, S. (2010). Kosi megafan: historical records, geomorphology and the recent avulsion of the Kosi River. Quaternary International, 227, 143–160.Google Scholar
Christophoul, F., Baby, P., and Dávila, C. (2002). Stratigraphic responses to a major tectonic event in a foreland basin: the Ecuadorian Oriente Basin from Eocene to Oligocene times. Tectonophysics, 345, 281–298.Google Scholar
Cohen, T. J., Nanson, G. C., Larsen, J. R., et al. (2010). Late Quaternary aeolian and fluvial interactions on the Cooper Creek Fan and the association between linear and source-bordering dunes, Strzelecki Desert, Australia. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29, 455–471.Google Scholar
Colombera, L., Mountney, N. P., and McCaffrey, W. D. (2015). A meta-study of relationships between fluvial channel-body stacking pattern and aggradation rate: implications for sequence stratigraphy. Geology, 43, 283–286.Google Scholar
Corbett, M. J., Fielding, C. R., and Birgenheier, L. P. (2011). Stratigraphy of a Cretaceous coastal-plain succession: Campanian Masuk Formation, Henry Mountains syncline, Utah, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 81, 80–96.Google Scholar
Cuevas Gozalo, M. C. and Martinius, A. W. (1993). Outcrop data-base for the geological characterization of fluvial reservoirs: an example from distal fluvial fan deposits in the Loranza Basin, Spain. In CNorth, . P. and Prosser, D. J., eds., Characterization of Fluvial and Aeolian Reservoirs. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 73, 79–94.Google Scholar
Currie, B. S. (1997). Sequence stratigraphy of nonmarine Jurassic-Cretaceous rocks, central Cordilleran foreland-basin system. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 109, 1206–1222.Google Scholar
Damanti, J. F. (1993). Geomorphic and structural controls on facies patterns and sediment composition in a modern foreland basin. In Marzo, M. and Puigdefábregas, C., eds., Alluvial Sedimentation. International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication, 17, 221–233.Google Scholar
Davidson, S. K., Hartley, A. J., Weissmann, G. S., Nichols, G. J., and Scuderi, L. A. (2013). Geomorphic elements on modern distributive fluvial systems. Geomorphology, 180–181, 82–95.Google Scholar
DeCelles, P. G. and Cavazza, W. (1999). A comparison of fluvial megafans in the Cordilleran (Upper Cretaceous) and modern Himalayan foreland basin systems. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 111, 1315–1334.Google Scholar
Dennehy, K. F. (2000). High plains regional ground-water study. U.S.G.S. Fact Sheet, FS-091-00, 1-6.Google Scholar
Donselaar, M. E., Cuevas Gozalo, M. C., and Moyano, S. (2013). Avulsion processes at the terminus of low-gradient semi-arid fluvial systems: lessons from the Río Colorado, Altiplano endorheic basin, Bolivia. Sedimentary Geology, 283, 1–14.Google Scholar
Esposito, C. R., Di Leonardo, D., Harlan, M., and Straub, K. M. (2018). Sediment storage partitioning in alluvial stratigraphy: the influence of discharge variability. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 88, 717–726.Google Scholar
Evans, J. E. (1991). Facies relationships, alluvial architecture, and paleohydrology of a Paleogene, humid-tropical alluvial-fan system: Chumstick Formation, Washington state, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 61, 732–755.Google Scholar
Fanti, F. and Catuneanu, O. (2009). Stratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Wapiti Formation, west-central Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 46, 263–286.Google Scholar
Fielding, C. R., Ashworth, P. J., Best, J. L., Prokocki, E. W., and Sambrook Smith, G. H. (2012). Tributary, distributary and other fluvial patterns: What really represents the norm in the continental rock record? Sedimentary Geology, 261–262, 15–32.Google Scholar
Fielding, C. R., Alexander, J., and Allen, J. P. (2018). The role of discharge variability in the formation and preservation of alluvial sediment bodies. Sedimentary Geology, 365, 1–20.Google Scholar
Figuereido, J., Hoorn, C., Van der Ven, P., and Soares, E. (2009). Late Miocene onset of the Amazon River and the Amazon deep-sea fan: evidence from the Foz do Amazonas Basin. Geology, 37, 619–622.Google Scholar
Fisher, J. A., Krapf, C. B. E., Lang, S. C., Nichols, G. J., and Payenberg, T. H. D. (2008). Sedimentology and architecture of the Douglas Creek terminal splay, Lake Eyre, central Australia. Sedimentology, 55, 1915–1930.Google Scholar
Flood, Y. S. and Hampson, G. J. (2014). Facies and architectural analysis to interpret avulsion style and variability: Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, Wasatch Plateau, central Utah, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 84, 743–762.Google Scholar
Fontana, A., Mozzi, P., and Marchetti, M. (2014). Alluvial fans and megafans along the southern side of the Alps. Sedimentary Geology, 301, 150–171.Google Scholar
Friend, P. F. (1978). Distinctive features of some ancient river systems. In A. D. Miall, ed., Fluvial Sedimentology. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, 5, 531–542.Google Scholar
Friend, P. F. (1996). The development of fluvial sedimentology in some Devonian and Tertiary basins. Cuadernos de Geologia Ibérica, 21, 55–69.Google Scholar
Friend, P. F., Jones, N. E., and Vincent, S. J. (1999). Drainage evolution in active mountain belts: extrapolation backwards from present-day Himalayan river patterns. In Smith, N. D. and Rogers, J., eds., Fluvial Sedimentology VI. International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication, 28, 305–313.Google Scholar
Friend, P. F., Raza, S. M., Geehan, G., and Sheikh, K. A. (2001). Intermediate-scale architectural features of the fluvial Chinji Formation (Miocene), Siwalik Group, northern Pakistan. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 158, 163–177.Google Scholar
Fryberger, S. G., Knight, R., Hern, C., Moscariello, A., and Kabel, S. (2011). Rotliegend facies, sedimentary provinces, and stratigraphy, Southern Permian Basin UK and Netherlands: a review with new observations. In Grötsch, J. and Gaupp, R., eds., The Permian Rotliegend of the Netherlands. SEPM Special Publication, 69, 51–88.Google Scholar
Galloway, W. E. (1977). Catahoula Formation of the Texas Coastal Plain: depositional systems, composition, structural development, ground-water flow, history, and uranium distribution. Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, Investigation Report 87.Google Scholar
Galloway, W. E. (1981). Depositional architecture of Cenozoic Gulf coastal plain fluvial systems. In Ethridge, F. G. and Flores, R. M., eds., Recent and Ancient Nonmarine Depositional Environments: Models for Exploration. SEPM Special Publication, 31, 127–155.Google Scholar
Galve, J. P., Alvarado, G. E., Pérez-Peña, J. V., et al. (2016). Megafan formation driven by explosive volcanism and active tectonic processes in a humid tropical environment. Terra Nova, 28, 427–433.Google Scholar
Gibling, M. R. and Bird, D. J. (1994). Late Carboniferous cyclothems and alluvial paleovalleys in the Sydney Basin, Nova Scotia. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 106, 105–117.Google Scholar
Gibling, M. R., Tandon, S. K., Sinha, R., and Jain, M. (2005). Discontinuity-bounded alluvial sequences of the southern Gangetic Plains, India: aggradation and degradation in response to monsoonal strength. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 75, 369–385.Google Scholar
Gibling, M. R., Fielding, C. R., and Sinha, R. (2011). Alluvial valleys and alluvial sequences: towards a geomorphic assessment. In Davidson, S. K., Leleu, S., and North, C. P., eds., From River to Rock Record: The Preservation of Fluvial Sediments and their Subsequent Interpretation. SEPM Special Publication, 97, 423–447.Google Scholar
Gohain, K. and Parkash, B. (1990). Morphology of the Kosi Megafan. In Rachocki, A. H. and Church, M., eds., Alluvial Fans: A Field Approach. Wiley, Chichester, 151–178.Google Scholar
Gordon, E. A. and Bridge, J. S. (1987). Evolution of Catskill (Upper Devonian) river systems: intra- and extrabasinal controls. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 57, 234–249.Google Scholar
Graham, J. R. (1983). Analysis of the Upper Devonian Munster Basin, an example ofa fluvial distributary system. In Collinson, J. D. and Lewin, J., eds., Modern and Ancient Fluvial Systems. International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication, 6, 473–483.Google Scholar
Gulliford, A. R., Flint, S. S., and Hodgson, D. M. (2014). Testing applicability of models of distributive fluvial systems or trunk rivers in ephemeral systems: reconstructing 3-D fluvial architcture in the Beaufort Group, South Africa. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 84, 1147–1169.Google Scholar
Gulliford, A. R., Flint, S. S., and Hodgson, D. M. (2017). Crevasse splay processes and deposits in an ancient distributive fluvial system: the lower Beaufort Group, South Africa. Sedimentary Geology, 358, 1–18.Google Scholar
Gupta, S. (1997). Himalayan drainage patterns and the origin of fluvial megafans in the Ganges foreland basin. Geology, 25, 11–14.Google Scholar
Gustavson, T. C. (1996). Fluvial and eolian depositional systems, paleosols, and paleoclimate of the upper Cenozoic Ogallala and Blackwater Draw formations, southern High Plains, Texas and New Mexico. Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, Report of Investigations, 239.Google Scholar
Gustavson, T. C. and Winkler, D. A. (1988). Depositional facies of the Miocene-Pliocene Ogallala Formation, northwestern Texas and eastern New Mexico. Geology, 16, 203–206.Google Scholar
Hajek, E. A., Heller, P. L., and Schur, E. L. (2012). Field test of autogenic control on alluvial stratigraphy (Ferris Formation, Upper Cretaceous–Paleogene, Wyoming). Geological Society of America Bulletin, 124, 1898–1912.Google Scholar
Hampson, G. J., Gani, M. R., Sahoo, H., et al. (2012). Controls on large-scale patterns of fluvial sandbody distribution in alluvial to coastal plain strata: Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, Wasatch Plateau, central Utah, USA. Sedimentology, 59, 2226–2258.Google Scholar
Hampton, B. A. and Horton, B. K. (2007). Sheetflow fluvial processes in a rapidly subsiding basin, Altiplano Plateau, Bolivia. Sedimentology, 54, 1121–1147.Google Scholar
Harlow, R. H. (2014). Depositional and paleoclimatic evolution of the Cenozoic High Plains succession from core: Haskell County, Kansas. MSc thesis, University of Kansas.Google Scholar
Hartley, A. J., Weissmann, G. S., Nichols, G. J., and Warwick, G. L. (2010). Large distributive fluvial systems: characteristics, distribution, and controls on development. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 80, 167–183.Google Scholar
Hill, G. (1989). Distal alluvial fan sediments from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal: controls on their cyclicity and channel formation. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 146, 539–555.Google Scholar
Hinds, D. J., Aliyeva, E., Allen, M. B., et al. (2004). Sedimentation in a discharge dominated fluvial-lacustrine system: the Neogene Productive Series of the South Caspian Basin, Azerbaijan. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 21, 613–638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofmann, M. H., Wroblewski, A., and Boyd, R. (2011). Mechanisms controlling the clustering of fluvial channels and the compensational stacking of cluster belts. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 81, 670–685.Google Scholar
Hornung, J and Aigner, T. (1999). Reservoir and aquifer characterization of fluvial architectural elements: Stubesandstein, Upper Triassic, southwest Germany. Sedimentary Geology, 129, 215–280.Google Scholar
Hornung, J. and Aigner, T. (2002). Reservoir architecture in a terminal alluvial plain: an outcrop analogue study (Upper Triassic, southern Germany). Part 1: sedimentology and petrophysics. Journal of Petroleum Geology, 25, 3–30.Google Scholar
Horton, B. K. and DeCelles, P. G. (2001). Modern and ancient fluvial megafans in the foreland basin system of the central Andes, southern Bolivia: implications for drainage network evolution in fold-thrust belts. Basin Research, 13, 43–63.Google Scholar
Hunger, G., Ventra, D., Moscariello, A. Veiga, G., and Chiaradia, M. (2018). High-resolution compositional analysis of a fluvial-fan succession: the Miocene infill of the Cacheuta Basin (central Argentinian foreland). Sedimentary Geology, 375, 268–288.Google Scholar
Iriondo, M. (1993). Geomorphology and late Quaternary of the Chaco (South America). Geomorphology, 7, 289–303.Google Scholar
Jerolmack, D. J. and Mohrig, D. (2007). Conditions for branching in depositional rivers. Geology, 25, 463–466.Google Scholar
Jones, B. G., Martin, G. R., and Senapati, N. (1993). Riverine-tidal interactions in the monsoonal Gilbert River fandelta, northern Australia. Sedimentary Geology, 83, 319–337.Google Scholar
Jones, H. L. and Hajek, E. A. (2007). Characterizing avulsion stratigraphy in ancient alluvial deposits. Sedimentary Geology, 202, 124–137.Google Scholar
Jones, L. S. and Schumm, S. A. (1999). Causes of avulsion: an overview. In Smith, N. D. and Rogers, J., eds., Fluvial Sedimentology VI. International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication, 28, 171–178.Google Scholar
Keeton, G. I., Pranter, M. J., Cole, R. D., and Gustason, E. R. (2015). Stratigraphic architecture of fluvial deposits from borehole images, spectral-gamma-ray response and outcrop analogs, Piceance Basin, Colorado. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 99, 1929–1956.Google Scholar
Kelly, S. B. and Olsen, H. (1993). Terminal fans – A review with reference to Devonian examples. Sedimentary Geology, 85, 339–374.Google Scholar
Khan, I. A., Bridge, J. S. Kappelman, J., and Wilson, R. (1997). Evolution of Miocene fluvial environments, eastern Potwar Plateau, northern Pakistan. Sedimentology, 44, 221–251.Google Scholar
Klausen, T. G., Ryseth, A. E., Helland-Hansen, W., Gawthorpe, R., and Laursen, I. (2014). Spatial and temporal changes in geometries of fluvial channel bodies from the Triassic Snadd Formation of offshore Norway. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 84, 567–585.Google Scholar
Kleinhans, M. G., Ferguson, R. I., Lane, S. N., and Hardy, R. J. (2013). Splitting rivers at their seams: bifurcations and avulsions. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 38, 47–61.Google Scholar
Kong, F., Jalfin, G., Lukito, P., and Sarkawi, I. (2002). Sequence stratigraphic framework in a humid alluvial fan complex, Quiriquire Oil Field, Venezuela. In Armentrout, J. M. and Rosen, N. C., eds., Sequence Stratigraphic Models for Exploration and Production. GCS, SEPM Special Publication, 601–631.Google Scholar
Kukulski, R. B., Moslow, T. F., and Hubbard, S. M. (2013). Tight gas sandstone reservoir delineation through channel-belt analysis, Late Jurassic Monteith Formation, Alberta Deep Basin. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, 61, 133–156.Google Scholar
Kumar, R. (1993). Coalescence megafan: multistorey sandstone complex of the late-orogenic (Mio-Pliocene) sub-Himalayan belt, Dehra Dun, India. Sedimentary Geology, 85, 327–337.Google Scholar
Kumar, R., Ghosh, S. K., Mazari, R. K., and Sangode, S. J. (2003). Tectonic impact on fluvial deposits of Plio-Pleistocene Himalayan foreland basin, India. Sedimentary Geology, 158, 209–234.Google Scholar
Lang, S. C., Payenberg, T. H. D., Reilly, M. R. W., et al. (2004). Modern analogues for dryland sandy fluvial-lacustrine deltas and terminal splay reservoirs. Journal of the Australian Association of Petroleum Production and Exploration, 44, 329–356.Google Scholar
Latrubesse, E. M. (2015). Large rivers, megafans and other Quaternary avulsive fluvial systems: a potential “who’s who” in the geological record. Earth-Science Reviews, 146, 1–30.Google Scholar
Latrubesse, E. M., Da Silva, S. A. F., Cozzuol, M., and Absy, M. L. (2007). Late Miocene continental sedimentation in southwestern Amazonia and its regional significance: biotic and geological evidence. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 23, 61–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawton, T. F., Schellenbach, W. L., and Nugent, A. E. (2014). Late-Cretaceous fluvial-megafan and axial-river systems in the southern Cordilleran foreland basin: Drip Tank Member of Straight Cliffs Formation and adjacent strata, southern Utah, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 84, 407–434.Google Scholar
Leckie, D. A. (1994). Canterbury Plains, New Zealand – Implications for sequence stratigraphic models. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 78, 1240–1256.Google Scholar
Legarreta, L. and Uliana, M. A. (1998). Anatomy of hinterland depositional sequences: Upper Cretaceous fluvial strata, Neuquen Basin, west-central Argentina. In Shanley, K. W. and McCabe, P. J., eds., Relative Role of Eustasy, Climate and Tectonism in Continental Rocks. SEPM Special Publication, 59, 83–92.Google Scholar
Leier, A. L., DeCelles, P. G., and Pelletier, J. D. (2005). Mountains, monsoons, and megafans. Geology, 33, 289–292.Google Scholar
Le Roux, J. P. (1993). Genesis of stratiform U–Mo deposits in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. Ore Geology Reviews, 7, 485–509.Google Scholar
Maizels, J. (1990). Long-term palaeochannel evolution during episodic growth of an exhumed Plio-Pleistocene alluvial fan, Oman. In Rachocki, A. H. and Church, M., eds., Alluvial Fans: A Field Approach. Wiley, Chichester, 271–304.Google Scholar
Makaske, B., Maathuis, B. H. P., Padovani, C.R., Stolker, C., Mosselman, E. et al., (2012). Upstream and downstream controls of recent avulsions on the Taquari megafan, Pantanal, south-western Brazil. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 37, 1313–1326.Google Scholar
Marenssi, S. A., Ciccioli, P. L., Limarino, C. O., Schencman, L. J., and Diaz, M. Y. (2015). Using fluvial cyclicity to decipher the interaction of basement- fold-thrust-belt tectonics in a broken foreland basin: Vinchina Formation (Miocene), northwestern Argentina. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 85, 361–380.Google Scholar
Marquillas, R. A., Del Papa, C., and Sabino, I. F. (2005). Sedimentary aspects and paleoenvironmental evolution of a rift basin: Salta Group (Cretaceous-Paleogene), northwestern Argentina. International Journal of Earth Sciences, 94, 94–113.Google Scholar
Martinius, A. W. (2000). Labyrinthine facies architecture of the Tórtola fluvial system and controls on deposition (Late Oligocene – early Miocene, Loranca Basin, Spain). Journal of Sedimentary Research, 70, 850–867.Google Scholar
May, J.-H. (2011). The Rio Parapetí – Holocene megafan formation in the southernmost Amazon Basin. Geographica Helvetica, 66, 193–201.Google Scholar
McCarthy, T. S. (1993). The great inland deltas of Africa. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 17, 275–291.Google Scholar
McCarthy, T. S., Stanistreet, I. G. and Cairncross, B. (1991). The sedimentary dynamics of active fluvial channels on the Okavango fan, Botswana. Sedimentology, 38, 471–487.Google Scholar
McCarthy, T. S., Ellery, W. N., and Stanistreet, I. G. (1992). Avulsion mechanisms on the Okavango fan, Botswana: the control of a fluvial system by vegetation. Sedimentology, 39, 779–795.Google Scholar
McGowen, J. H. and Groat, C. G. (1971). Van Horn Sandstone, West Texas: an alluvial fan model for mineral exploration. Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, Investigation Report 72.Google Scholar
McKie, T. (2011). A comparison of modern dryland depositional systems with the Rotliegend Group in the Netherlands. In Grötsch, J. and Gaupp, R., eds., The Permian Rotliegend of the Netherlands. SEPM Special Publication, 69, 89–103.Google Scholar
McKie, T. and Williams, B. (2009). Triassic palaeogeography and fluvial dispersal across the northwest European basins. Geological Journal, 44, 711–741.Google Scholar
McKie, T., Jolley, S. J., and Kristensen, M. B. (2010). Stratigraphic and structural compartmentalization of dryland fluvial reservoirs: Triassic Heron Cluster, central North Sea. In Jolley, S. J., Fisher, Q. J., Ainsworth, R. B., Vrolijk, P., and Delisle, S., eds., Reservoir Compartmentalization. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 347, 165–198.Google Scholar
Miall, A. D. (1996). The Geology of Fluvial Deposits. Springer, Berlin, 582 pp.Google Scholar
Middleton, G. V. (1973). Johannes Walther’s law of the correlation of facies. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 84, 979–988.Google Scholar
Mohrig, D., Heller, P. L., Paola, C., and Lyons, W. J. (2000). Interpreting avulsion process from ancient alluvial sequences: Guadalope-Matarranya system (northern Spain) and Wasatch Formation (western Colorado). Geological Society of America Bulletin, 112, 1787–1803.Google Scholar
Moscariello, A. (2005). Exploration potential of the mature Southern North Sea basin margins: some unconventional plays based on alluvial and fluvial fan sedimentation models. In Doré, A. G. and Vining, B. A., eds., Petroleum Geology: North-West Europe and Global Perspectives. Geological Society of London, Petroleum Geology Conference Series, 6, 595–605.Google Scholar
Moscariello, A. (2018). Alluvial fans and fluvial fans at the margins of continental sedimentary basins: geomorphic and sedimentological distinction for geo-energy exploration and development. In Ventra, D. and Clarke, L. E., eds., Geology and Geomorphology of Alluvial and Fluvial Fans: Terrestrial and Planetary Perspectives. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 440, 215–243.Google Scholar
Nageswara Rao, K., Saito, Y., Nagakumar, K .C. V., et al. (2015). Palaeogeography and evolution of the Godavari delta, east coast of India during the Holocene: an example of wave-dominated and fan-delta settings. Palaeogeography, Palaeoecology, Palaeoclimatology, 440, 213–233.Google Scholar
Nichols, G. J. and Hirst, J. P. (1998). Alluvial fans and fluvial distributary systems, Oligo-Miocene, northern Spain: contrasting processes and products. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 68, 879–889.Google Scholar
Nichols, G. J. and Fisher, J. A. (2007). Processes facies and architecture of fluvial distributary system deposits. Sedimentary Geology, 195, 75–90.Google Scholar
Olsen, H. (1987). Ancient ephemeral stream deposits: a local terminal fan model from the Bunter Sandstone Formation (L. Triassic) in the Tønder-3, -4 and -5 wells, Denmark. In L. Frostick, and Reid, I., eds., Desert Sediments: Ancient and Modern. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 35, 69–86.Google Scholar
Olsen, T., Steel, R., Høgseth, K., Skar, T., and Røe, S.-L. (1995). Sequential architecture in a fluvial succession: sequence stratigraphy in the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group, Price Canyon, Utah. Journal of Sedimentary Research, B65, 265–280.Google Scholar
Owen, A., Nichols, G. J., Hartley, A. J., Weissmann, G. S. and Scuderi, L. A. (2015). Quantification of a distributive fluvial system: the Salt Wash DFS of the Morrison Formation, SW U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 85, 544–561.Google Scholar
Owen, A., Nichols, G. J., Hartley, A. J., and Weissmann, G. S. (2017). Vertical trends within the prograding Salt Wash distributive fluvial system, SW United States. Basin Research, 29, 64–80.Google Scholar
Owen, A., Hartley, A. J., Weissmann, G. S., and Nichols, G. J. (2016). Uranium distribution as a proxy for basin-scale fluid flow in distributive fluvial systems. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 173, 569–572.Google Scholar
Page, K. J. and Nanson, G. C. (1996). Stratigraphic architecture resulting from Late Quaternary evolution of the Riverine Plain, south-eastern Australia. Sedimentology, 43, 927–945.Google Scholar
Parkash, B., Awasthi, A.K., and Gohain, K. (1983). Lithofacies of the Markanda terminal fan, Kurukshetra District, Haryana, India. In Collinson, J. D. and Lewin, J., eds., Modern and Ancient Fluvial Systems. International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication, 6, 337–344.Google Scholar
Phillips, J. D. (2011). Universal and local controls of avulsions in southeast Texas rivers. Geomorphology, 130,17–28.Google Scholar
Pietsch, T. J. and Nanson, G. C. (2011). Bankfull hydraulic geometry; the role of in-channel vegetation and downstream declining discharges in the anabranching and distributary channels of the Gwydir distributive fluvial system, southeastern Australia. Geomorphology, 129, 152–165.Google Scholar
Primm, J. W., Johnson, C. L. and Stearns, M. (2018). Basin-axial progradation of a sediment supply driven distributive fluvial system in the Late Cretaceous southern Utah foreland. Basin Research, 30, 249–278.Google Scholar
Quartero, E. M., Leier, A. L., Bentley, L. R., and Glombick, P. (2015). Basin-scale stratigraphic architecture and potential Paleocene distributive fluvial systems of the Cordilleran Foreland Basin, Alberta, Canada. Sedimentary Geology, 316, 26–38.Google Scholar
Ralph, T. J. and Hesse, P. P. (2010). Downstream hydrogeomorphic changes along the Macquarie River, southeastern Australia, leading to channel breakdown and floodplain wetlands. Geomorphology, 118, 48–64.Google Scholar
Rannie, W. F. (1990). The Portage La Prairie ‘floodplain fan’. In Rachocki, A. H. and Church, M., eds., Alluvial Fans: A Field Approach. Wiley, Chichester, 179–193.Google Scholar
Räsänen, M., Neller, R., Salo, J., and Jungner, H. (1992). Recent and ancient fluvial deposition systems in the Amazonian foreland basin, Peru. Geological Magazine, 129, 293–306.Google Scholar
Ray, S. and Chakaborty, T. (2002). Lower Gondwana fluvial succession of the Pench-Kanhan valley, India: stratigraphic architecture and depositional controls. Sedimentary Geology, 151, 243–271.Google Scholar
Reits, M. D. and Jerolmack, D. J. (2012). Experimental alluvial fan evolution: channel dynamics, slope controls, and shoreline growth. Journal of Geophysical Research, 117, F02021, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002261.Google Scholar
Ribes, C., Kergaravat, C., Crumeyrolle, P., et al., (2017). Factors controlling stratal pattern and facies distribution of fluvio-lacustrine sedimentation in the Sivas mini-basins, Oligocene (Turkey). Basin Research, 29, 596–621.Google Scholar
Richards, K., Chandra, S., and Friend, P. (1993). Avulsive channel systems: characteristics and examples. In Best, J. L and Bristow, C. S., eds., Braided Rivers. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 75, 195–203.Google Scholar
Rittersbacher, A., Howell, J. A., and Buckley, S. J. (2014). Analysis of fluvial architecture in the Blackhawk Formation, Wasatch Plateau, Utah, U.S.A., using large 3D photorealistic models. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 84, 72–87.Google Scholar
Rodell, M. and Famiglietti, J. S. (2002). The potential for satellite-based monitoring of groundwater storage changes using GRACE: the High Plains aquifer, central US. Journal of Hydrology, 263, 245–256.Google Scholar
Rossetti, D. F., Zani, H., Cohen, M. C. L., and Cremon, É. H. (2012). A Late Pleistocene-Holocene wetland megafan in the Brazilian Amazonia. Sedimentary Geology, 282, 276–293.Google Scholar
Sáez, A., Anadón, P., Herrero, M. J., and Moscariello, A. (2007). Variable style of transition between Palaeogene fluvial fan and lacustrine systems, southern Pyrenean foreland, NE Spain. Sedimentology, 54, 367–390.Google Scholar
Sadler, S. P. and Kelly, S. B. (1993). Fluvial processes and cyclicity in terminal fan deposits: an example from the Late Devonian of southwest Ireland. Sedimentary Geology, 85, 375–386.Google Scholar
Sanford, R. F. (1982). Preliminary model of regional Mesozoic groundwater flow and uranium deposition in the Colorado Plateau. Geology, 10, 348–352.Google Scholar
Schlunegger, F. and Norton, K. P. (2015). Climate vs. tectonics: the competing roles of Late Oligocene warming and Alpine orogenesis in constructing alluvial megafan sequences in the North Alpine foreland basin. Basin Research, 27, 230–245.Google Scholar
Schlunegger, F., Matter, A., Burbank, , D. et al. (1997). Sedimentary sequences, seismofacies and evolution of depositional systems of the Oligo/Miocene Lower Freshwater Molasse Group, Switzerland. Basin Research, 9, 1–26.Google Scholar
Schmitz, B. and Pujalte, B. (2007). Abrupt increase in seasonal extreme precipitation at the Paleocene–Eocene boundary. Geology, 35, 215–218.Google Scholar
Shanley, K. W. and McCabe, P. J. (1991). Predicting facies architecture through sequence stratigraphy – An example from the Kaiparowits Plateau, Utah. Geology, 19, 742–745.Google Scholar
Shukla, U. K., Singh, I. B., Sharma, M., and Sharma, S. (2001). A model of alluvial megafan sedimentation: Ganga Megafan. Sedimentary Geology, 144, 243–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silva, F. P., Silva, A., Martinius, A. W., and Weber, K. J. (1996). The Tórtola fluvial system: an analogue for the Upper Gharif of the Sultanate of Oman. GeoArabia, 1, 325–342.Google Scholar
Singh, H., Parkash, B. and Gohain, K. (1993). Facies analysis of the Kosi megafan deposits. Sedimentary Geology, 85, 87–113.Google Scholar
Sinha, R. and Friend, P. F. (1994). River systems and their sediment flux, Indo-Gangetic plains, Northern Bihar, India. Sedimentology, 41, 825–845.Google Scholar
Sinha, R., Sripriyanka, K., Jain, V., and Mukul, M. (2014). Avulsion threshold and planform dynamics of the Kosi River in north Bihar (India) and Nepal: a GIS framework. Geomorphology, 216, 157–170.Google Scholar
Slingerland, R. and Smith, N. D. (2004). River avulsions and their deposits. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 32, 257–285.Google Scholar
Smith, N. D. and Minter, W. E. (1980). Sedimentological controls of gold and uranium in two Witwatersrand paleoplacers. Economic Geology, 75, 1–14.Google Scholar
Smith, R. M. H. (1995). Changing fluvial environments across the Permian-Triassic boundary in the Karoo Basin, South Africa, and possible causes of tetrapod extinctions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 117, 81–104.Google Scholar
Stanistreet, I. G. and McCarthy, T. S. (1993). The Okavango Fan and the classification of subaerial fan systems. Sedimentary Geology, 85, 115–133.Google Scholar
Tooth, S. and McCarthy, T. S. (2007). Wetlands in drylands: geomorphological and sedimentological characteristics, with emphasis on examples from southern Africa. Progress in Physical Geography, 31, 3–41.Google Scholar
Trendell, A. M., Atchley, S. C., and Nordt, L. C. (2012). Depositional and diagenetic controls on reservoir attributes within a fluvial outcrop analog: Upper Triassic Sonsela Member of the Chinle Formation, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 96, 679–707.Google Scholar
Turner-Peterson, C. E. and Fishman, N. S. (1986). Geologic synthesis and genetic models for uranium mineralization in the Morrison Formation, Grants uranium region, New Mexico. In Turner-Peterson, C. E., Santos, E. S., and Fishman, N. S., eds., A Basin Analysis Case Study: The Morrison Formation, Grants Uranium Region. AAPG Studies in Geology, 22, 357–388.Google Scholar
Uba, C. E., Heubeck, C., and Hulka, C. (2005). Facies analysis and basin architecture of the Neogene Subandean synorogenic wedge, southern Bolivia. Sedimentary Geology, 180, 91–123.Google Scholar
Van Dijk, W. M., Densmore, A. L., Singh, A., et al. (2016). Linking the morphology of fluvial fan systems to aquifer stratigraphy in the Sutlej-Yamuna plain of northwest India. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 121, 201–222.Google Scholar
Ventra, D. and Clarke, L. E. (2018). Geology and geomorphology of alluvial and fluvial fans: current progress and research perspectives. In Ventra, D. and Clarke, L. E., eds., Geology and Geomorphology of Alluvial and Fluvial Fans: Terrestrial and Planetary Perspectives. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 440, 1–21.Google Scholar
Weber, K. J. and Van Geuns, L. (1990). Framework for constructing clastic reservoir simulation models. Journal of Petroleum Technology, 42, 1248–1297.Google Scholar
Weissmann, G. S., Bennett, G. L., and Lansdale, A. L. (2005). Factors controlling sequence development on Quaternary fluvial fans, San Joaquin Basin, California, USA. In Harvey, A. M., Mather, A. E., and Stokes, M. Alluvial Fans: Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Dynamics. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 251, 169–186.Google Scholar
Weissmann, G. S., Hartley, A. J., Nichols, G. J., et al. (2010). Fluvial form in modern continental sedimentary basins: Distributive fluvial systems. Geology, 38, 39–42.Google Scholar
Weissmann, G. S., Hartley, A. J., Nichols, G. J., et al. (2011). Alluvial facies distributions in continental sedimentary basins – Distributive fluvial systems. In Davidson, S. K., Leleu, S., and North, C. P., eds., From River to Rock Record: The Preservation of Fluvial Sediments and their Subsequent Interpretation. SEPM Special Publication, 97, 325–356.Google Scholar
Weissmann, G. S., Hartley, A. J., Scuderi, L. A., et al. (2013). Prograding distributive fluvial systems – Geomorphic models and ancient examples. In Driese, S., ed., New Frontiers in Paleopedology and Terrestrial Paleoclimatology. SEPM Special Publication, 104, 131–147.Google Scholar
Weissmann, G. S., Hartley, A. J., Scuderi, L. A., et al. (2015). Fluvial geomorphic elements in modern sedimentary basins and their potential preservation in the rock record: a review. Geomorphology, 250, 187–219.Google Scholar
Wells, N. A. and Dorr, J. A. (1987a). A reconnaissance of sedimentation on the Kosi alluvial fan of India. In Flores, R. M. and Harvey, M. D., eds., Recent Developments in Fluvial Sedimentology. SEPM Special Publication, 39, 51–61.Google Scholar
Wells, N. A. and Dorr, J. A. (1987b). Shifting of the Kosi River, northern India. Geology, 15, 204–207.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, M. J., Cameron, N. R., and Burke, K. (2002). Global geomorphic surveys of large modern subaerial fans: distribution and exploration implications. Houston Geological Society Bulletin, 44, 11–13.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, M. J., Marshall, L. G., and Lundberg, J. G. (2006). River behavior on megafans and potential influences on diversification and distribution of aquatic organisms. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 21, 151–172.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, M. J., Marshall, L. G., Lundberg, J. G., and Kreslavsky, M. H. (2010). Megafan environments in northern South America and their impact on Amazon Neogene aquatic ecosystems. In Hoorn, C. and Wesselingh, F. P., eds., Amazonia, Landscape and Species Evolution: A Look into the Past. Blackwell, London, 162–184.Google Scholar
Willis, B. (1993). Ancient river systems in the Himalayan foredeep, Chinji Village area, northern Pakistan. Sedimentary Geology, 88, 1–76.Google Scholar
Willis, B. J. and Bridge, J. S. (1988). Evolution of Catskill River systems, New York state. In McMillan, N. J., Embry, A. F., and Glass, D. J., eds., Devonian of the World. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, 14, 85–106.Google Scholar
Wilson, A., Flint, S., Payenberg, T., Tohver, E., and Lanci, L. (2014). Architectural styles and sedimentology of the fluvial lower Beaufort Group, Karoo Basin, South Africa. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 84, 326–348.Google Scholar
Yonge, D. and Hesse, P. P. (2009). Geomorphic environments, drainage breakdown and channel and floodplain evolution on the lower Macquarie River, central-western New South Wales. Australian Journal of Earth Science, 56, S35–S53.Google Scholar
Zaleha, M. J. (1997a). Intra- and extrabasinal controls on fluvial deposition in the Miocene Indo-Gangetic foreland basin, northern Pakistan. Sedimentology, 44, 369–390.Google Scholar
Zaleha, M. J. (1997b). Fluvial and lacustrine palaeoenvironments of the Miocene Siwalik Group, Khaur area, northern Pakistan. Sedimentology, 44, 349–368.Google Scholar
Zani, H., Assine, M. L., and McGlue, M. M. (2012). Remote sensing analysis of depositional landforms in alluvial settings: method development and application to the Taquari megafan, Pantanal (Brazil). Geomorphology, 161–162, 82–92.Google Scholar
Zheng, H., Huang, X., and Butcher, K. (2006). Lithostratigraphy, petrography and facies analysis of the Late Cenozoic sediments in the foreland basin of the West Kunlun. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 241, 61–78.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×