Sedimentary processes and facies of the waterlaid Anvil Spring Canyon alluvial fan, Death Valley, California

The Anvil Spring Canyon fan of the Panamint Range piedmont in central Death Valley was built entirely by water-flow processes, as revealed by an analysis of widespread 2- to 12-m-high stratigraphic cuts spanning the 9·7 km radial length of this 2·5–5·0° sloping fan. Two facies deposited from fan sheetfloods dominate the fan from apex to toe. The main one (60–95% of cuts) consists of sandy, granular, fine to medium pebble gravel that regularly and sharply alternates with cobbly coarse to very coarse pebble gravel in planar couplets 5–25 cm thick oriented parallel to the fan surface. The other facies (0–25% of cuts) comprises 10- to 60-cm-thick, wedge-planar and wedge-trough beds of pebbly sand and sandy pebble gravel in backsets sloping 3–28°. Both facies are interpreted as resulting from rare, sediment-charged flash floods from the catchment, and were deposited by supercritical standing waves of expanding sheetfloods on the fan. Standing waves were repeatedly initiated, enlarged, migrated, and then terminated either by gradually rejoining the flood or by more violent breakage and washout. The frequent autocyclic growth and destruction of standing waves during an individual sheetflood resulted in the deposition of multiple coarse and fine couplet and backset sequences 50–250 cm thick across the active depositional lobe of the fan. Erosional intensity during washout of the standing wave determined whether early-phase backset-bed deposits or washout-phase sheetflood couplet deposits were selectively preserved in a given cycle. Two minor facies are also found in the Anvil fan. Pebble–cobble gravel lags (0–20% of cuts) are present above erosional scours into the sheetflood couplet and backset deposits. They consist of coarse gravel concentrated through fine-fraction winnowing of the host sheetflood facies by sediment-deficient water flows. This reworking occurred during recessional flood stage or from non-catastrophic discharge during the long intervals between major flash floods. This facies is common at the surface, giving rise to a ‘braided-stream’ appearance. However, it is stratigraphically limited, present as thin, continuous to discontinuous beds or lenses that bound 50- to 250-cm-thick sheetflood sequences. The other minor facies of the Anvil fan consists of clast-supported and imbricated, thickly stratified, pebbly, cobbly, boulder gravel present in narrow, radially aligned ribbons nested within sheetflood deposits. This facies is interpreted as representing deposition in the incised channel of the fan, a subenvironment characterized by greater flow competence resulting from maintained depth from channel-wall confinement, and by more frequent water flows and winnowing events caused by its direct connection with the catchment feeder channel.     

Cause of dominance by sheetflood vs. debris-flow processes on two adjoining alluvial fans, Death Valley, California

Two large, adjoining alluvial fans of the Panamint Range piedmont, Death Valley, California, are composed of different facies assemblages deposited by contrasting sedimentary processes. The Anvil Spring fan was built solely by water-flow processes (incised-channel floods and sheetfloods), whereas the neighbouring Warm Spring fan has been constructed principally by debris flows. The boundary between these fans delineates a sharp provincial piedmont contact between sheetflood-dominated fans to the south and debris-flow-dominated fans to the north. Factors such as climate, catchment area, fan area, catchment relief, aspect, vegetation types and density, and neotectonic setting are essentially identical for these two fans. The key difference between them is that their catchments are underlain by dissimilar bedrock types, which weather to yield distinctive sediment suites. Weathering of the granite and andesite of the Anvil fan catchment produces significant volumes of medium to very coarse sand, granules, pebbles, cobbles and boulders, but minimal silt and clay. In contrast, the shale, quartzite and dolomite that dominate bedrock in the Warm Spring catchment weather to yield a wide suite of sedimentary particles spanning from clay to boulders. The abundance of mud, and the unsorted character of the yielded sediment, cause precipitation-induced slope failures in the Warm Spring catchment to transform readily into debris flows. This propensity is due to the low permeability of the colluvial sediment, which causes added water to become trapped quickly and pore pressure to rise rapidly, promoting transformations to debris flows. In contrast, the limited volume of sediment finer than medium sand yielded from the Anvil fan catchment causes the colluvium to have high permeability. This factor prevents the transformation of wet colluvium to a debris flow during hydrologically triggered slope failures, instead maintaining sediment transport as entrained bed load or suspended load in a water flow.     

U-Series Chronology of Lacustrine Deposits in Death Valley, California

Uranium-series dating on a 186-m core (DV93-1) drilled from Badwater Basin in Death Valley, California, and on calcareous tufas from nearby strandlines shows that Lake Manly, the lake that periodically flooded Death Valley during the late Pleistocene, experienced large fluctuations in depth and chemistry over the last 200,000 yr. Death Valley has been occupied by a long-standing deep lake, perennial shallow saline lakes, and a desiccated salt pan similar to the modern valley floor. The average sedimentation rate of about 1 mm/yr for core DV93-1 was punctuated by episodes of more-rapid accumulation of halite. Arid conditions similar to the modern conditions prevailed during the entire Holocene and between 120,000 and 60,000 yr B.P. From 35,000 yr B.P. to the beginning of the Holocene, a perennial saline lake existed, over 70 m at its deepest. A much deeper and longer lasting perennial Lake Manly existed from about 185,000 to 128,000 yr B.P., with water depths reaching about 175 m, if not 330 m. This lake had two significant “dry” excursions of 10²–10³yr duration about 166,000 and 146,000 yr B.P., and it began to shrink to the point of halite precipitation between 128,000 and 120,000 yr B.P. The two perennial lake periods correspond to marine oxygen isotopic stages (OIS) 2 and 6. Based on the shoreline tufa ages, we do not rule out the possible existence 200,000 yr ago of yet a third perennial lake comparable in size to the OIS 6 lake. The²³⁴U/²³⁸U data suggest that U in tufa owes its origin mainly to Ca-rich springs fed by groundwater that emanated along lake shorelines in southern Death Valley, and that an increase of this spring-water input relative to the river-water input apparently occurred during OIS 6.     

Measuring alluvial fan sensitivity to past climate changes using a self‐similarity approach to grain‐size fining,Death Valley,California

The effects of climate change on eroding landscapes and the terrestrial sedimentary record are poorly understood. Using mountain catchment–alluvial fan systems as simple analogues for larger landscapes, a wide range of theoretical studies, numerical models and physical experiments have hypothesized that a change in precipitation rate could leave a characteristic signal in alluvial fan sediment flux, grain size and down‐system fining rate. However, this hypothesis remains largely untested in real landscapes. This study measures grain‐size fining rates from apex to toe on two alluvial fan systems in northern Death Valley, California, USA, which each have well‐exposed modern and ca 70 ka surfaces, and where the long‐term tectonic boundary conditions can be constrained. Between them, these surfaces capture a well‐constrained temporal gradient in climate. A grain‐size fining model is adapted, based on self‐similarity and selective deposition, for application to these alluvial fans. This model is then integrated with cosmogenic nuclide constraints on catchment erosion rates, and observed grain‐size fining data from two catchment‐fan systems, to estimate the change in sediment flux from canyon to alluvial fan that occurred between mid‐glacial and modern interglacial conditions. In a fan system with negligible sediment recycling, a ca 30% decrease in precipitation rate led to a 20% decrease in sediment flux and a clear increase in the down‐fan rate of fining, supporting existing landscape evolution models. Consequently, this study shows that small mountain catchments and their alluvial fan stratigraphy can be highly sensitive to orbital climate changes over <10⁵ year timescales. However, in the second fan system it is observed that this sensitivity is completely lost when sediment is remobilized and recycled over a time period longer than the duration of the climatic perturbation. These analyses offer a new approach to quantitatively reconstructing the effects of past climate changes on sedimentation, using simple grain‐size data measured in the field.     

Pre-vegetation alluvial fan facies and processes: an example from the Cambro-Ordovician Rozel Conglomerate Formation, Jersey, Channel Islands

Prior to the Silurian a lack of land vegetation is expected to have influenced the processes of sedimentation on alluvial fans, principally by causing increased rates of run-off and erosion in the fan catchments. In the Cambro-Ordovician Rozel Conglomerate Formation, this effect was central to the generation of alluvial fan deposits that are unusually deficient in sand and clay, despite being sourced from a catchment dominated by sandstone and mudstone. Seven facies are identified, interpreted as representing the deposits of: (i) shallow stream and sheetfloods, (ii) channelized, non-cohesive debrisflows, (iii) sub-aerial mud-rich debrisflows, (iv) sub-aqueous mud-rich debrisflows, (v) low energy streams that reworked abandoned fan sectors, (vi) a sandflat-playa lake system and (vii) talus slopes. The first two facies are both clast-supported conglomerate, comprise 98% of the deposit, and represent deposition on active depositional lobes and in the fan head trench. The remaining facies are the products of infrequent sedimentary processes, fan abandonment processes and marginal sub-environments. The facies assemblage in many ways mimics that of a modern-day, water-lain, arid region fan. However, the palaeolatitude of these fans was high and the climate is inferred to have been cool and wet. The near absence of sandstone and mudstone beds with few mudflows is ascribed to rapid hinterland uplift and high rates of erosion resulting in minimal chemical breakdown of source rocks in the catchments. Such high rates of erosion are in turn ascribed to a combination of frequent rainstorms and an absence of vegetation cover.     

Facies analysis of tertiary alluvial fan deposits in the Jundiaí region, São Paulo, southeastern Brazil

This article presents an analysis of facies of sedimentary sequences that occur as discontinuous bodies in the Jundiaí region, west of the main Tertiary continental basins of the southeastern Brazil continental rift. Nine identified sedimentary facies, grouped into four associations, suggest the existence of an ancient alluvial fan system whose source area was the Japi mountain range (Serra do Japi). The deposits are considered Tertiary in age and chronocorrelated with those identified in the Atibaia region and at other sites up to 100 km east and northeast of Jundiaí. The depositional model adopted to explain the filling of the basin proposes that the alluvial fans, which directly derive from the source area, terminated in a braided channel longitudinal to the basin axis that flowed to northwest, in a similar configuration to that of the present day. This basin may have extended to the Atibaia region or formed a set of small basins laterally contiguous to the faults associated with the rift. Such occurrences show that the formation of rift basins was broader than the area presently occupied by the main deposits.     

Contrasting morphodynamics in alluvial fans and fan deltas: effect of the downstream boundary

Alluvial fans and fan deltas can, in principle, have exactly the same upstream conditions, but fan deltas by definition have ponding water at their downstream boundary. This ponding creates effects on the autogenic behaviour of fan deltas, such as backwater adaptation, mouth bars and backward sedimentation, whereas alluvial fans may lack these effects. Hence the present authors hypothesize that morphodynamics on alluvial fans are determined primarily by upstream boundary conditions, whereas morphodynamics on fan deltas are determined by both the upstream and the downstream boundary condition and changes therein. To isolate the effects of the upstream and downstream boundaries, five new alluvial fan experiments are compared with the details of three fan deltas published earlier that were formed under very similar and simple conditions. Similar to the fan deltas, the alluvial fans build up by sheet flow, whilst quasi‐regular periods of incision cause temporary channelized flow. Incision is followed by channel backfilling, after which the fan returns to sheet flow. The channelization and backfilling in alluvial fans is markedly less pronounced and more prone to autogenic disturbance than in fan deltas. The difference is caused by morphodynamics at the downstream boundary. In a fan delta, the flow expansion of the channel causes deposition of all the sediment, which forms a mouth bar and causes strong backfilling. In an alluvial fan, on the other hand, the slope break at the fan perimeter causes some deposition, but transport is not reduced to zero. Consequently, the backfilling in alluvial fans is less pronounced than in fan deltas. Other published experiments support this trend: removal of the mouth bar by a river leads to permanent channelization, whilst pronounced mouth‐bar formation in highly channelized deltas promotes backward sedimentation. The experimental results for this study predict that, when alluvial fans prograde into lakes or deep rivers, they transition to fan deltas with increasingly deeper channels and thicker backfill deposits.     

Using fossil spring deposits in the Death Valley region,USA to evaluate palaeoflowpaths

Spring deposits reveal the timing and environment of past groundwater discharge. Herein, however, the potential for fossil spring deposits to infer water sources and palaeoflowpaths through trace elements and stable and radiogenic isotopes is examined. Past discharge (70 to 285 ka) in the Tecopa Basin in the Death Valley region of southeastern California is represented by tufa deposits, including mounds, pools, cemented ledges and rare calcite feeder veins. δ¹⁸O values indicate that spring discharge was a mixture of far‐travelled (regional) water with a significant, and perhaps dominant contribution of local recharge on a nearby range front and alluvial pediment, rather than simply representing an elevated regional water table. δ¹³C values indicate regional water had a high TDS, whereas solute data imply low overall solute contents, consistent with dilution by a large component of local recharge. Radiogenic isotope data (U‐series, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) for tufa indicate that siliciclastic rocks (a regional aquitard) interacted with discharging water. To access this aquitard, regional flow was probably partitioned into a permeable north–south damage zone of a north–south range‐bounding fault along the foot of the Resting Spring Range, which ultimately controlled the location of groundwater discharge. Existing models for modern discharge in the Tecopa Basin, by contrast, call upon westward interbasin flow in carbonate rocks from the Spring Mountains through the intervening (and nearly perpendicular) Nopah and Resting Spring Ranges. Understanding the controls on regional groundwater flow is critical in this and other arid regions where water is, by definition, a scarce resource. Thus, although it is a case study, this report highlights a fruitful approach to palaeohydrology that can be widely applied. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The hydrogeochemistry of a heavily used aquifer in the Mexican wine-producing Guadalupe Valley, Baja California

The Guadalupe Valley aquifer is the only water source for one of the most important wine industries in Mexico, and also the main public water supply for the nearby city of Ensenada. This groundwater is monitored for major ion, N-NO₃, P-PO₄, Fe, As, Se, Mo, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn and Sb concentrations, as well as TDS, pH, dissolved oxygen and temperature. High concentrations of N-NO₃ (26 mg l⁻¹), Se (70 μg l⁻¹), Mo (18 μg l⁻¹) and Cu (4.3 μg l⁻¹) suggest that groundwater is being polluted by the use of fertilizers only in the western section of the aquifer, known as El Porvenir graben. Unlike the sites located near the main recharge area to the East of the aquifer, the water in El Porvenir graben has low tritium concentrations (<1.9 TU), indicating a pre-modern age, and thus longer water residence time. No significant variations in water quality (generally <10%) were detected throughout 2001–2002 in the aquifer, suggesting that reduced rainfall and recharge during this dry period did not significantly affect water quality. However, the wells nearest to the main recharge area in the Eastern aquifer show a slight but constant increase in TDS with time, probably as a result of the high (∼200 L S⁻¹) uninterrupted extraction of water at this specific recharge site. Relatively high As concentrations for the aquifer (10.5 μg l⁻¹) are only found near the northern limit of the basin associated with a geological fault.     

Hurricane-induced landslide activity on an alluvial fan along Meadow Run, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia (eastern USA)

Although intense rainfall and localized flooding occurred as Hurricane Isabel tracked inland northwestardly across the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia on September 18–19, 2003, few landslides occurred. However, the hurricane reactivated a dormant landslide along a bluff of an incised alluvial fan along Meadow Run on the western flanks of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Subsequent monitoring showed retrogressive movement involving several landslide blocks for the next several months. Using dendrochronology, aerial photography, and stream discharge records revealed periods of landslide activity. The annual variation of growth rings on trees within the landslide suggested previous slope instability in 1937, 1972, 1993, 1997, and 1999, which correlated with periods of local flood events. The avulsive and migrating nature of Meadow Run, combined with strong erosional force potential during flood stages, indicates that landslides are common along the bluff-channel bank interface, locally posing landslide hazards to relatively few structures within this farming region.     

Autogenic incision‐backfilling cycles and lobe formation during the growth of alluvial fans with supercritical distributaries

Autogenic cycles of channelization, terminal deposit formation, channel backfilling and channel abandonment have been observed in the formation of fans and deltas. In subcritical flow, these terminal deposits are characterized as mouth bars that lead to flow bifurcation, backwater and eventual channel backfilling. Similar, although less well characterized, cycles also take place on supercritical subaerial and submarine fans. This study investigates the hydraulics and morphodynamics of autogenic incision and backfilling cycles associated with supercritical distributive channel flow in alluvial fans. The research questions of the study are: (i) how are supercritical autogenic cycles on alluvial fans different from the subcritical cycles; (ii) what are the hydraulic and sediment transport characteristics at the various stages of autogenic feedback cycles; and (iii) what role do the cycles play in the overall fan evolution? These questions are investigated in the laboratory, and emphasis is placed on measuring the hydraulic and topographic evolution of the systems during the cycles. The cycles arise quasi‐periodically under constant water and sediment discharge. Periods of sheet‐like flow are competent to move sediment () but not competent enough to carry the full imposed load. The net result is preferential deposition near the inlet, resulting in fan steepening and an increase in flow competency with time. At a sediment supply to capacity ratio of , the sheet‐like flow is unstable to small erosional events near the inlet, resulting in the collapse of the distributed flow to a strong channelized state. During channelization, a graded () supercritical (Fr > 1) channel develops and transports eroded and fed sediment up to and through the fan front – extending the fan, initiating a lobe shaped deposit and reducing the local slope. The slopes defined by a sheet‐like flow with and channelized flow with set the maximum and minimum slopes on the fan, respectively. Once formed, graded channels act as bypass conduits linking the inlet with the terminal deposit. On average, deposits are up to six channel depths in thickness and have volumes approximately five times that of the excavated channel. The main distinctive characteristics of the supercritical cycles relate to how the flow interacts with the terminal deposit. At the channel to deposit transition, the flow undergoes a weak hydraulic jump, resulting in rapid sedimentation, dechannelization and lateral expansion of the flow, and deposition of any remaining sediment on top of the channel fill and floodplain. This process often caps the channel as the deposit propagates up channel erasing memory of the excavated channel.     

Processes of alluvial fan sedimentation,basal rozel conglomerate formation,la têcte des hougues,Jersey, Channel Islands

The Rozel Conglomerate Formation, a coarse alluvial fan deposit, overlies the Bouley Rhyolite Formation beneath the headland called La Tete des Hougues, on the north coast of Jersey, Channel Islands. Here the rhyolites form an exhumed palaeotopography which in places is smoothly, but irregularly, eroded. Locally however, there is preservation of a deep Lower Palaeozoic weathering profile. Breccia is preserved spalled from these weathered profiles as a fossil scree deposit, which has subsequently been hydraulically reworked in a palaeotopographic low. Overlying the breccia is a prograding succession of alluvial fan sediments. A 4m thick, upwards-coarsening sequence of silty sandstones and fine pebble conglomerates is succeeded by the incision of a 3m deep channel. This is overlain by a 28m thick, upwards-fining sequence of coarse debris flow and streamflood conglomerates. The lower unit is interpreted as a prograding fan sector of reworked fan material, whilst the upper unit is thought to reflect the avulsive initiation and gradual abandonment of a fan lobe sourced from a northern hinterland.     

准噶尔盆地克拉玛依油田三叠系克下组洪积砾岩特征及洪积扇演化

通过岩心观察,将克拉玛依油田三叠系克下组砾岩分为杂基支撑角砾岩(砾石成分同基岩)、弱胶结砾岩(严格意义上未胶结成岩)、泥质杂基支撑砾岩、砂砾质支撑砾岩和分选极好的细砾岩几种类型。通过岩心岩石特征与现代洪积扇沉积物特征对比,确定了每一类砾岩的形成环境。克下组沉积早期,气候干旱,洪积扇为干旱型,可与现代扎伊尔山山麓洪积扇(堆)沉积物特征相类比。克下组沉积后期气候变得潮湿,洪积扇类型逐渐转变为以河流作用为主,可与阜康市白杨河洪积扇沉积物特征相类比。克下组洪积扇在垂向上为向扎伊尔山后退的沉积序列。     

Geotechnical mapping for alluvial fan deposits controlled by active faults: a case study in the Erzurum,NE Turkey

Erzurum, the biggest city of Eastern Anatolia Region in the Turkey, is located in Karasu Plain. Karasu Plain, located on the central segment of the Erzurum Fault Zone, is an intermountain sedimentary basin with a Miocene-Quaternary volcanic basement, andesitic-basaltic lava flows and fissure eruptions of basaltic lava. It was filled in the early Quaternary by lacustrine fan-delta deposits. The basin is characterized by NNE-SSW trending sinistral wrench faults on its eastern margin and ENE-WSW trending reverse faults on its southern margin. Both systems of active faults intersect very near to Erzurum, which is considered to be the most likely site for the epicenter of a probable future large earthquake. Historical records of destructive earthquakes, morphotectonic features formed by paleo-seismic events and instrument seismic data of region indicate to a very high regional seismicity. The residential areas of Erzurum are located on thick alluvial fan deposits forming under the control of faults on the central segment of the Erzurum Fault Zone, which is one of the most active fault belts of the East Anatolian Region. Over time, the housing estates of city such as Yenisehir and Yildizkent have been expanded toward to the west and southwest part of Erzurum as a consequence of rapid and massive construction during the last 30 years. Geotechnical investigation has therefore been undertaken the residential areas of city in order to characterize geotechnical properties over the varied lithologies examine the potential for geotechnical mapping and assess the foundation conditions of the present and future settlement areas. The geological field observations and operations have been performed to make the soil sampling and characterize the lateral and vertical changes in thickness of the alluvial deposits in trenches, excavations and deep holes with 6–12 m sections. The soil samples have been subjected to a series of tests under laboratory conditions to obtain physical and mechanical properties. Furthermore, the standard penetration tests have been applied to the soils under field conditions. The geological field observations, geotechnical data and distribution of bearing capacity have been considered for the geotechnical mapping. Based on the geotechnical map, there are five geotechnical zones distinguished in the study area.     

Are the Benches at Mormon Point, Death Valley, California, USA, Scarps or Strandlines?

The benches and risers at Mormon Point, Death Valley, USA, have long been interpreted as strandlines cut by still-stands of pluvial lakes correlative with oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 5e/6 (120,000–186,000 yr B.P.) and OIS-2 (10,000–35,000 yr B.P.). This study presents geologic mapping and geomorphic analyses (Gilbert's criteria, longitudinal profiles), which indicate that only the highest bench at Mormon Point (90 m above mean sea level (msl)) is a lake strandline. The other prominent benches on the north-descending slope immediately below this strandline are interpreted as fault scarps offsetting a lacustrine abrasion platform. The faults offsetting the abrasion platform most likely join downward into and slip sympathetically with the Mormon Point turtleback fault, implying late Quaternary slip on this low-angle normal fault. Our geomorphic reinterpretation implies that the OIS-5e/6 lake receded rapidly enough not to cut strandlines and was 90 m deep. Consistent with independent core studies of the salt pan, no evidence of OIS-2 lake strandlines was found at Mormon Point, which indicates that the maximum elevation of the OIS-2 lake surface was −30 m msl. Thus, as measured by pluvial lake depth, the OIS-2 effective precipitation was significantly less than during OIS-5e/6, a finding that is more consistent with other studies in the region. The changed geomorphic context indicates that previous surface exposure dates on fault scarps and benches at Mormon Point are uninterpretable with respect to lake history.     

Geomorphological analysis of neotectonic deformation,northern Owens Valley,California

At the western edge of the Basin and Range Province, the Owens Valley is the site of active seismicity and deformation. Morphometric analyses of three geomorphological features are used to determine the patterns and rates of neotectonic deformation: (l) a network of Pleistocene channels cut on top of the Bishop Tuff; (2) uplifted terraces of the Owens River; and (3) alluvial fans of the White Mountain front.In the Owens Valley, the three analyses are consistent with the same solution: net eastward tilt of the Owens Valley block at a rate of between 3.5 and 6.1°/Ma. Given the dip on the basement determined from geophysical data and extrapolating the rate of tilt in the Owens Valley back in time, it is inferred that the break-up of the Sierra Nevada and the northern Owens Valley occurred in the Pliocene, between around 2 and 4 Ma ago. The pattern of deformation in the northern Owens Valley matches anticlinal flexure on the Coyote warp, near the front of the Sierra Nevada, and faulting across the Volcanic Tableland is consistent with flexural extension. It is proposed that the Coyote warp is an expression of the tectonic hinge between westward rotation of the Sierra Nevada and eastward rotation of the Owens Valley since the Pliocene.     

Controls on forearc basin architecture from seismic and sequence stratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Great Valley Group,central Sacramento Basin,California

Seismic and sequence stratigraphic analysis of deep-marine forearc basin fill (Great Valley Group) in the central Sacramento Basin, California, reveals eight third-order sequence boundaries within the Cenomanian to mid-Campanian second-order sequences. The third-order sequence boundaries are of two types: Bevelling Type, a relationship between underlying strata and onlapping high-density turbidites; and Entrenching Type, a significantly incised surface marked by deep channels and canyons carved during sediment bypass down-slope. Condensed sections of hemipelagic strata draping bathymetric highs and onlapped by turbidites form a third important type of sequence-bounding element, Onlapped Drapes. Five tectonic and sedimentary processes explain this stratigraphic architecture: (1) subduction-related tectonic tilting and deformation of the basin; (2) avulsion of principal loci of submarine fan sedimentation in response to basin tilting; (3) deep incision and sediment bypass; (4) erosive grading and bevelling of tectonically modified topography by sand-rich, high-density turbidite systems; and (5) background hemipelagic sedimentation. The basin-fill architecture supports a model of subduction-related flexure as the principal driver of forearc subsidence and uplift during the Late Cretaceous. Subduction-related tilting of the forearc and growth of the accretionary wedge largely controlled whether and where the Great Valley turbiditic sediments accumulated in the basin. Deeply incised surfaces of erosion, including submarine canyons and channels, indicate periods of turbidity current bypass to deeper parts of the forearc basin or the trench. Fluctuations in sediment supply likely also played an important role in evolution of basin fill, but effects of eustatic fluctuations were overwhelmed by the impact of basin tectonics and sediment supply and capture. Eventual filling and shoaling of the Great Valley forearc during early Campanian time, coupled with dramatically reduced subsidence, correlate with a change in plate convergence, presumed flat-slab subduction, cessation of Sierran arc volcanism, and onset of Laramide orogeny in the retroarc.     

Depositional character of a dry-climate alluvial fan system from Palaeoproterozoic rift setting using facies architecture and palaeohydraulics: Example from the Par Formation,Gwalior Group,central India

The ∼20 m thick coarse-grained clastic succession in the basal part of Palaeoproterozoic Par Formation, Gwalior Group has been investigated using process-based sedimentology and deductive palaeohydraulics. Bounded between granitic basement at its base and shallow marine succession at the top, the studied stratigraphic interval represents products of an alluvial fan and its strike-wise co-existent braided river system that possibly acted as a tributary for the fan. Detailed facies, facies association analysis allowed identification of two anatomical parts for the fan system viz. proximal and mid fan. While thin proximal fan is represented by products of rock avalanche and hyperconcentrated flows with widely varying rheology, the mid fan is represented by products of sheet floods and flows within streamlets. The interpretation found support from palaeoslope estimation carried out on the fluvial part of the mid fan that plot dominantly within the alluvial fan field demarcated by Blair and McPherson (1994). Dry climatic condition suggested from dominance of stream flow over mass flow deposition within the Par alluvial fan. Strike-wise, the fan is discontinuous and juxtaposed with a braid plain system. In contrast to the fluvial part of fan system, the palaeoslope data from the braid plain system dominantly plot within the ‘natural depositional gap’ defined by Blair and McPherson. A raised palaeoslope for the river systems, as suggested from Proterozoic braid plain deposits around the Globe, is found valid for the Par braid plain system as well. From preponderance of granular and sandy sediments within the alluvial fan and braid plain systems and a pervasive north-westward palaeocurrent pattern within the fluvial systems the present study infers a gently sloping bevelled source area in the south-southeast of the basin with occurrence of steep cliffs only locally.     

Facies architecture of a submarine fan channel–levee complex: the Juniper Ridge Conglomerate, Coalinga, California

The Upper Cretaceous Juniper Ridge Conglomerate (JRC) near Coalinga, California, provides a rare, high-quality exposure of a submarine channel to overbank transition. The facies architecture of the JRC comprises a thick, predominantly mudstone sequence overlain by a channellized conglomerate package. Conglomeratic bounding surfaces truncate successions of interbedded turbiditic sandstones and mudstones both vertically and laterally. Thick-bedded, massive sandstones are interbedded with conglomerates. Facies architecture, palaeocurrent indicators, slump features, sandstone percentages and sandstone bed thickness trends lead to the interpretation that these elements comprise channel and overbank facies. A vertical sequence with conglomerate at the base, followed by thick-bedded sandstone, and capped by interbedded turbiditic sandstone and mudstone form a fining-upward lithofacies association that is interpreted as a single channel-fill/overbank system. Three similar lithofacies associations can be related to autocyclic processes of thalweg migration and submarine fan aggradation or to allocyclically driven changes in sediment calibre.     

Submarine fan facies of the Upper Cretaceous Great Valley sequence,northern and central California

The Upper Cretaceous part of the Great Valley Sequence provides a unique opportunity to study deep-marine sedimentation within an arc-trench gap. Facies analysis delineates submarine fan facies similar to those described from other ancient basins. Fan models and facies of Mutti and Ricci-Lucchi allow reconstruction of the following depositional environments: basin plain, outer fan, midfan, inner fan, and slope. Basin plain deposits are characterized by hemipelagic mudstone with randomly interbedded thin sandstone beds exhibiting distal turbidite characteristics. Outer fan deposits are characterized by regularly interbedded sandstone and mudstone, and commonly exhibit thickening-upward (negative) cycles that constitute depositional lobes. The sandstone occurs as proximal to distal turbidites without channeling. Midfan deposits are characterized by the predominance of coarse-grained, thick, channelized sandstone beds that commonly are amalgamated. Thinning-upward (positive) cycles and braided channelization also are common. Inner fan deposits are characterized by major channel-fill complexes (conglomerate, pebbly sandstone, and pebbly mudstone) enclosed in mudstone and siltstone. Positive cycles occur within these channel-fill complexes. Much of the fine-grained material consists of levee (overbank) deposits that are characterized by rhythmically interbedded thin mudstone and irregular sandstone beds with climbing and starved ripples. Slope deposits are characterized by mudstone with little interbedded sandstone; slumping and contortion of bedding is common. Progressions of fan facies associations can be described as retrogradational and progradational suites that correspond, respectively, to onlapping and offlapping relations in the basin. The paleoenvironments, fan facies associations, and tectonic setting of the Late Cretaceous fore-arc basin are similar to those of modern arc—trench systems.