Evidence of multiple late-Wisconsin floods from glacial Lake Missoula in Badger Coulee,Washington

Catastrophic floods from glacial Lake Missoula entered the Pasco Basin in south-central Washington and backflooded its marginal valleys. Badger Coulee, one such valley, contains beds of fine-grained slackwater sediment deposited by these floods. The slackwater sediment contains two ash layers of the Mount St. Helens set S tephra, about 13,000 yr old. The ash was deposited on a ground surface developed atop slackwater sediment deposited during preash flooding. Evidence of the former ground surface includes the reworked ash, inferred trace fossils, stream and debris-flow deposits, slopewash and/or eolian sediment, and colluvium at the ash horizon. These features and the ash were buried by slackwater sediment deposited during postash flooding. Nonflood, subaerial deposits are not present atop other beds. Instead, beds commonly are reversely graded across “contacts,” suggesting that multiple beds were continuously deposited. The exposed beds thus record at least two late-Wisconsin floods, one preash, the other postash. The pre- and postash floods may be correlative with earlier-reported floods thought to have occurred 17,500-14,000 and 14,000–13,000 yr B.P., respectively.     

Types of sedimentary environment in alluvial sediments distinguished on the basis of its chemical constitution: the example of the lower course of the Obra river (Western Poland)

Research concerning chemical constitution of alluvial sediments was done in the lower course of the Obra river (Western Poland). The fragment of vertical profile, which consisted of various alluvial sediments (fine sands, peats, and sandy silts) was chosen for detailed analysis. The main research problem was to determine if lithology and chemical constitution of alluvial deposits are interconnected in a distinct way within studied section of the Obra river valley, and, if changes of chemical elements’ concentration could be used to illustrate depositional processes, which take place in riverbed and floodplain. Concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ca, Mg, and K were determined in collected sediment samples. Next, geochemical groups of alluvial sediments were distinguished using cluster analysis. Investigated changes of chemical elements’ concentration show that there is a distinct border between the environment of organic sediments, which marks the place of former functioning of the Obra riverbed, and sandy silts, which were deposited within floodplain during floods. Besides, floodplain sediments, riverbed sediments, and reductive environment within peat deposits were singled out on the basis of the analysis.     

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.     

Flow dynamics,sedimentation and erosion of glacial lake outburst floods along the Middle Pleistocene Scandinavian Ice Sheet (northern central Europe)

During the Middle Pleistocene late Saalian glaciation of northern central Europe numerous pro‐glacial lakes formed along the southwestern margin of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet. Little is known about the drainage history of these lakes, the pathways of glacial lake outburst floods and their impacts on erosion, sedimentation and landscape evolution. This study investigated the impact of the late Saalian Weser and Münsterland Lake (Germany) outburst floods. In particular, we reconstructed the routing and flow dynamics of the lake outburst flood and analysed the flood related sediments. We employed one‐dimensional hydraulic modelling to calculate glacial lake outburst flood hydrographs. We modelled the flow pathway and local flow conditions along the pathway based on the boundary conditions of two different hydrographs and two different ice‐margin positions. The modelling results were compared with geomorphological and sedimentological field data in order to estimate the magnitude and impact of the flood on erosion and sedimentation. Two major lake drainage events are reconstructed for the study area, during which approximately 90–50 km³ of water was released. Modelling results indicate that the lake outburst floods created a high‐energy flood wave with a height of 35–50 m in confined valley areas that rapidly spread out into the Lower Rhine Embayment eventually flowing into the North Sea basin. The sedimentary record of the outburst floods comprises poorly sorted coarse‐grained gravel bars, long‐wavelength bedforms and sandy bedforms deposited by supercritical and subcritical flows. Some parts of the sandy flood deposits are rich in reworked mammoth bones or mammoth and horse teeth, pointing to reworking of older fluvial sediments, hydraulic concentration and subsequent re‐sedimentation of vertebrate remains. These deposits are preserved in sheltered areas or at high elevations, well above the influence of postglacial fluvial erosion. The flood‐related erosional features include up to 80‐m‐deep scour pools, alluvial channels and streamlined hills.     

Open-coast intertidal deposits and the preservation potential of individual laminae: a case study from east-central China

Monitoring of sedimentation and erosion was conducted on an open coastal tidal flat on the southern flank of the Yangtze delta. Various elevation references were established in the intertidal zone and monitored intensively for 4 months in order to examine fortnightly and seasonal (calm weather and storm season) sedimentation and erosion. Longer term (100 years) sedimentation and preservation were investigated through examination of cores and trenches. Two different vertical grouping patterns of tidal bedding were distinguished with thinner and thicker sandy laminae. The number of sand-dominated layers and individual muddy and sandy lamina in the cores were compared with theoretically derived sedimentation rates in order to assess long-term preservation potential. Waves, especially high storm waves, have a significant influence on sedimentation and the preservation of intertidal deposits along the open-coast tidal flat. Monitoring during one season indicated that the sand-dominated layer was directly related to storm deposits, while the mud-dominated layer was deposited during calm weather conditions. The variation in sandy lamina thickness was not related to spring–neap tidal cycles during the monitoring period. The assumption of 100% preservation of sandy laminae deposited during every tidal cycle, which has been assumed in previous time-series analyses for the identification of palaeotidal periodicity, was found to be unrealistic along this open-coast tidal flat. Preservation potential decreases as temporal scale increases. During one neap–spring tidal cycle, the preservation potential of individual sandy and muddy laminae was of the order of 10%. Over a period of 100 years, the estimated preservation potential of individual laminae, including both calm weather and storm deposits, decreased to 0·2%. The 100-year preservation potential of storm-induced, sand-dominated layers was estimated to be of the order of 10%.     

ESR/OSL ages of long-debated subtill fossil-bearing marine deposits from the southern Kola Peninsula: stratigraphic implications

The occurrence of sandy clay deposited in a warm marine environment just below the till of the last glaciation has created controversy about its age and stratigraphic position in the sedimentary basin of the Kola Peninsula. Data on marine microfauna, diatoms, malacofauna and pollen composition indicate that during the period when the sandy clay was deposited the climate was similar or even warmer than at present. According to ¹⁴ C dates, sedimentation of the sandy clay occurred around 40 ka BP. Based on these data, some researchers have attributed these marine deposits to the third Late Pleistocene Belomorian (sensu Lavrova 1960) interglacial transgression. At the same time there are geological indications suggesting re-deposition of these subtill sediments. To solve this problem we have reinvestigated the subtill interglacial marine deposits from the Varzuga section (∼66.4° N and 36.6° E). Four different marine shell species and enclosing sandy clay sediments taken from the subtill marine unit of the section were dated by the electron spin resonance (ESR) and optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) methods at about 103 and 104 ka, respectively. The results indicate that the subtill marine deposits belong to the first Late Pleistocene Boreal transgression that, according to our previous studies of the marginal areas of the Eurasian North, has occurred in the time interval from approximately 145 to 70 ka BP.     

Sedimentary facies analysis and depositional model of gravity-flow deposits of the Yanchang Formation,southwestern Ordos Basin,NW China

During the deposition of the Chang-7 (Ch-7) and Chang-6 (Ch-6) units in the Upper Triassic, gravity flows were developed widely in a deep lake in the southwestern Ordos Basin, China. Based on cores, outcrops, well-logs and well-testing data, this paper documents the sedimentary characteristics of the gravity-flow deposits and constructs a depositional model. Gravity-flow deposits in the study area comprise seven lithofacies types, which are categorised into four groups: slides and slumps, debris-flow-dominated lithofacies, turbidity-current-dominated lithofacies, and deep-water mudstone-dominated lithofacies. The seven lithofacies form two sedimentary entities: sub-lacustrine fan and the slump olistolith, made up of three and two lithofacies associations, respectively. Lithofacies association 1 is a channel–levee complex with fining-/thinning-upward sequences whose main part is characterised by sandy debris flow-dominated, thick-bedded massive sandstones. Lithofacies association 2 represents distributary channelised lobes of sub-lacustrine fans, which can be further subdivided into distributary channel, channel lateral margin and inter-channel. Lithofacies association 3 is marked by non-channelised lobes of sub-lacustrine fans, including sheet-like turbidites and deep-lake mudstones. Lithofacies association 4 is represented by proximal lobes of slump olistolith, consisting of slides and slumps. Lithofacies association 5 is marked by distal lobes of slump olistolith, comprising tongue-shaped debris flow lobes and turbidite lobes. It is characterised by sandy debris flow, muddy debris flow-dominated sandstone and sandstone with classic Bouma sequences. Several factors caused the generation of gravity flows in the Ordos Basin, including sediment supply, terrain slope and external triggers, such as volcanisms, earthquakes and seasonal floods. The sediment supply of sub-lacustrine fan was most likely from seasonal floods with a high net-to-gross and incised channels. Triggered by volcanisms and earthquakes, the slump olistolith is deposited by the slumping and secondary transport of unconsolidated sediments in the delta front or prodelta with a low net-to-gross and no incised channels.     

Relationship between the Malan Loess and the Salawusu Formation in the Salawusu River Area,Ordos,and Their Geological Ages

In the middle and lower reaches of the Salawusu River. the Salawusu Formation regarded traditionallyas fluvio-lacustrine deposits actually includes a series of strata which mainly consist of eolian sandy depositsnamed as "Chengchuan Formation" by the authors. The eolian sand of the Chengchuan Formation and theMalan loess distributed in the upper reaches of the Salawusu River are deposits of sand and loess faciesformed by wind action during the same period. The relationship of the Chengchuan Formation and theMalan Loess with the Salawusu Formation which is really of fluvio-lacustrine deposits is that the formertwo superpose the latter. This can be demonstrated by the difference of the extinct species proportion of thefaunas in different strata. In this area. the Salawusu formed during the early period of Late Pleistocene.while the Malan Loess and the Chengchuan Formation deposited during the late period of the LatePleistocene.     

The Paleoenvironment and Lithic Taphonomy of Shi’Bat Dihya 1, a Middle Paleolithic Site in Wadi Surdud,Yemen

The Shi'bat Dihya 1 site in western Yemen, dated by optically stimulated luminescence to 55 ka, provides insight into the Middle Paleolithic peopling of the Arabian Peninsula. The archaeological layer is interstratified within thick, sandy silt floodplain deposits filling a piedmont basin. Luminescence dates, lack of soil development, and gypsum precipitation indicate a high accretion rate of the floodplain during Marine Isotope Stage 3, in connection with a (semi)‐arid environment. Rapid overbank sedimentation was likely a result of the remobilization of loess material deposited on the Yemeni Great Escarpment at the periphery of the adjacent Tihama coastal sand desert or of other sources. Fabric and size analyses of the lithic artifacts, together with spatial projections, indicate site modifications by floods. Primary modifications include (1) selective accumulation of medium‐sized lithic pieces as a result of hydraulic sorting, (2) bimodal orientation of artifacts, and (3) ripple‐like arrangement of lithics and bone/tooth fragments. The overrepresentation of teeth may also be a consequence of sorting. Although floods have distorted the original site patterning, long‐distance transport of artifacts by water can be excluded, as indicated by relatively high refitting rate, close proximity of artifacts derived from the same block of raw material, and lack of abrasion of the pieces. Therefore, the site is considered “geologically” in situ because its remobilization by water occurred shortly after human abandonment. This study also stresses that the effective preservation of a site cannot be assessed without careful taphonomic study, even in a potentially favorable depositional context such as silty alluvium.     

Late Pleistocene aeolian and fluvial interactions in the development of the Nizzana dune field, Negev Desert, Israel

The interdunal areas in the Nizzana linear sand dune field contain both sandy and silty sediments. A series of trenches was excavated across the interdunal corridor exposing stacked sequences of silty and sandy units which are locally restricted to palaeodepressions. The silty units contain fining upward sequences and are interpreted as overbank deposits from the Nahal Nizzana. Thermoluminescence dating and identification of buried palaeosols indicates that the silt and clay layers were deposited over a period of several thousands of years in the late Pleistocene. The sands between the silt layers have been fluvially reworked and are not primary aeolian deposits. The stacked sequences of fluvial deposits indicate that the palaeodepressions persisted in the landscape for a significant time attesting to long-term stability of the interdunal areas. It also suggests that the linear dunes themselves have not moved laterally during this time despite climatic changes and devegetation. Since the end of the late Pleistocene the Nahal Nizzana has downcut and overbank deposition no longer occurs within the interdunal corridors. The playa deposits today are positive relief features indicating that topographic inversion has occurred and that the interdunal areas are geomorphically active.     

On the origin of non-tidal flaser bedding in point bar deposits of the river Ajay, Bihar and West Bengal, NE India

Flaser bedding of non-tidal origin has been described from point bar deposits of the Ajay river, NE India. Mud drapes are deposited during waning flood phases. The preferential accumulation of curled, desiccated mud laminae in ripple troughs during periods of exposure produces mud streaks resembling classical flaser bedding. This process of non-tidal flaser formation is unlike the common tidal origin related to flood and ebb cycles, and the less common mechanism of formation in fluvial systems by deposition of mud in ripple troughs after floods.     

Contained (reflected) turbidity currents from the Middle Ordovician Cloridorme Formation, Quebec, Canada: an alternative to the antidune hypothesis

The parautochthonous Cloridorme Formation is a syn-orogenic flysch succession that was deposited in an elongate foredeep basin as mainly lower middle-fan, outer-fan, and basin-floor deposits. The basin-floor deposits (about 1.5 km thick) are confined to members β1, β2 and γ1, and are characterized by graded, thick (1–10 m) mud-rich calcareous greywacke beds previously interpreted as deposits of concentrated, muddy, unidirectional turbidity currents that locally generated backset (antidune) lamination in internally stratified flows. The dominant flow directions were from east to west, but west to east transport also occurred, as seen in the orientation of ripples, climbing ripples, flutes, consistently overturned flames, and grain imbrication. We believe that the flows that deposited these thick calcareous greywacke beds reversed by roughly 180° one or more times during deposition of the lower sandy part of the beds. Flow reversals are consistent with the sharp grain-size breaks and mud partings within sandy divisions. Measurement of grain fabric relative to stratification in the most celebrated ‘antidune’ bedforms indicates flow from west to east; thus, the bedforms were produced by west-to-east migration of megaripples, not by the upcurrent migration of antidunes. The thick muddy beds were deposited by large-volume, muddy flows that were deflected and reflected from the side slopes and internal topographic highs of a confined basin floor, much like the ‘Contessa’ and similar beds of the Italian Apennines. Large quantities of suspended mud were ponded above the irregular basin floor and settled to produce the thick silty mudstone caps seen on each bed. Because of their mode of emplacement, we propose that these beds be called contained turbidites.     

鄂尔多斯盆地南部地区延长组深水沉积构造特征及地质意义

鄂尔多斯盆地南部地区上三叠统延长组长7段发育有典型的重力流沉积。对野外露头剖面进行大量调查研究,发现研究区重力流沉积发育丰富的沉积构造,底层面构造、软沉积变形构造是主要的两种类型。这种深水沉积构造组合能够很好地揭示研究区广泛发育的一定坡度背景下深水重力流沉积体系。滑移-滑塌沉积、砂质碎屑流沉积、浊流沉积是研究区发育最为广泛的深水重力流沉积类型,滑移-滑塌及软沉积变形构造为触发机制沉积响应,底层面构造为砂质碎屑流沉积及浊流沉积响应。综合分析研究区地层发育的大量凝灰岩夹层、深水泥岩中发育的植物碎屑、深水砂岩中发育的大量浅黄色泥砾等沉积特征,认为地震、火山喷发及季节性洪水为研究区深水重力流沉积最有利的触发因素。     

Monazite chemistry: evidence for a prehistoric journey

The chemistry of monazite from the black sand deposits of northern Sinai beach suggests that pegmatites and granites of the Eastern Desert of Egypt are the most likely source rocks. The floods associated with the pluvial periods prevailed in Egypt during the Pleistocene were able to erode the source rocks and liberate heavy minerals including monazite. The mineral grains were moved through several wadis and tributaries to the River Nile. At the confluence sites, these heavy minerals were mixed with the Ethiopian and central African heavy mineral assemblages. The grains continued to move together downriver until being deposited in their current locations.     

Anastomosing river sedimentation in the Channel Country of central Australia

Anastomosing river plains of the Channel Country, central Australia, have aggraded slowly over the past 100 ka. Channel sediments accumulate mainly as accretionary benches of mud and sand, sandy channel-base sheets and vegetation-shadow deposits. The channels are laterally stable and the sediments have aggraded locally against erosional banks of tough floodplain muds. Channel sediments are profoundly affected by desiccation during dry periods and by bioturbation caused by within-channel trees and burrowing invertebrates, especially crayfish. Excavations show that mud-dominated channel bodies of low width:thickness ratio are generated by a combination of vertical and lateral accretion. Levees and braided surfaces, composed mainly of mud aggregates, border the channels and are activated during valley-wide floods which lay down distal mud sheets. Floodplain muds are converted to vertisols with gilgai, deep desiccation cracks, and impregnations of carbonate and gypsum. A fixed-channel facies model is applicable to the Channel Country river deposits. Anastomosis apparently results from the need for the system to move large volumes of water and moderate sediment loads across low-gradient interior basins.
Channels distant from upland source areas receive an abundant supply of pedogenic, sand-sized mud aggregates generated on adjacent floodplains and reworked into braid bars during valley-wide floods. Some quartz sand is provided from excavation of subsurface Pleistocene sands in deep channels and waterholes and from aeolian dunes on the floodplains. Adjacent gibber plains supply some gravel to the system.     

黄河下游漫滩高含沙洪水滩槽界定及泥沙时空沉积特性

黄河下游漫滩高含沙洪水河床调整剧烈,多数断面洪水后形成"相对窄深河槽",洪水前后河槽宽度发生明显变化。分别以观测断面洪水前后的河槽宽度为基准,计算漫滩高含沙洪水期泥沙时空沉积分布,结果表明,漫滩高含沙洪水与非漫滩高含沙洪水相比,能将主河槽内淤积泥沙量的59.3%搬运至嫩滩或滩地,减缓主河槽淤积。在分析研究基础上,建立了洪水后漫滩河段河槽相对缩窄率与洪水前期河槽宽度的量化关系,洪水后主槽宽度缩窄率为15.5%~44.0%;分析遴选了漫滩高含沙洪水滩地淤积量与主要水力因子间关联度及物理含义,给出了漫滩高含沙洪水滩地淤积量与相应水力因子间的响应函数;初步提出漫滩洪水河道塑槽淤滩的临界水沙配置指标,临界水沙系数取值为0.025~0.040。成果对高含沙洪水调控具有一定的指导意义。     

青藏高原周边地区与新生代盆地卤水活动有关铅锌矿床

青藏高原周边已发现大量的铅锌矿床,规模巨大,具有一些相似的成矿地质地球化学特征,均属于后生的、低温热液型矿床,具强烈层控性质,受控于特定的含矿地层（岩石）组合,下部为相对透水的砂岩、砂砾岩,上部为碳酸盐岩,发生广泛的蚀变作用,包括退色、白云石化等。这类矿床大体可与MVT矿床类比。矿床的形成与青藏高原隆升过程中盆地卤水的活动有关,圈闭在不整合面下的含贱金属元素与油气的卤水沿透水层运移,在适当位置沉淀成矿。由此决定了这些地区的主要找矿标志与找矿方向。随着地质认识的深入及勘查的进展,将会有更多更大规模的（MVT）铅锌矿床被发现。     

Cyclicity and prospects of the Jurassic oil-and-gas complex on the Barents Sea shelf

The oil and gas potential of Jurassic deposits of the shelf zone of the Barents Sea is confirmed by the discovery of a series of fields, both in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea, and in the Norwegian one. Along with known large gas and gas-condensate fields, the first oil field was opened in the western Norwegian part in April 2011. Peculiarities of the stratigraphy of the Jurassic complex indicate that cyclicity occurred in the development of the basin. The results of the works that were carried out demonstrate that the search for oil and gas fields in sandy reservoirs, deposited at the periods of regression is promising. Regionally extended clayey beds, which were deposited during periods of transgression, are considered as a seal. New oil and gas fields can be found, not only in the anticline structures, but also in lithological traps.     

Palaeoenvironmental significance of fluvial facies and archives of Late Quaternary deposits in the floodplain of Damodar River,India

Statigraphic exposures, fluvial archives and borehole data have been allowed to reconstruct the alluvial history of Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene and climate changes in the monsoonal wet–dry region of lower Damodar Basin (West Bengal, India). The facies architectures and climate proxies suggest that five to six climate changes occurred in between ～14 and 6 kiloannum (ka). Supporting evidence from the floodplain of Damodar River demonstrates that the successive phases of aggradation and incision were linked to the south-west monsoonal variability of Late Quaternary period. The onset of semi-arid climate was associated with caliches, pond and backswamp deposits of waning low-energy floods. The relatively warm-humid climate was associated with sandy bedforms, valley fills, slack water deposits and ferruginous nodules. This paper presents a synthesis of the available palaeoclimatic records from the lower Ganga Basin and the rivers of western and central India for the palaeoenvironmental significance of Late Quaternary deposits and discusses the influence of palaeoclimatic controls on the fluvial architectures and archives that developed below the floodplain of Damodar River. We have taken some representative studies from the region to reveal the spatial variability in fluvial successions in response to climate changes during this period.     

Architecture of pre-vegetation sandy-braided perennial and ephemeral river deposits in the Paleoproterozoic Athabasca Group, northern Saskatchewan, Canada as indicators of Precambrian fluvial style

The Late Paleoproterozoic Athabasca Basin contains more than 1.5 km of predominantly sandy strata, most of which are of braided fluvial origin. In the eastern part of the basin, at McClean Lake, sandstones and minor conglomerates of the Read Formation at the base of the succession are preserved within a steep-walled valley system. They consist predominantly of meter-scale sheet elements, characterized by massive and flat-laminated fine- to very coarse-grained sandstone with minor discontinuous cobble and boulder conglomerate along lower set boundaries. These are interpreted as sheet-flood and stream-flood deposits of a terminal dry-land system, deposited in an arid climatic setting. Analysis of closely spaced drill-core indicates that late stage run-off was confined to small shallow channels, typically only a few tens of meters wide and a few meters deep. Overlying strata of the Bird Member of the Manitou Falls Formation are predominantly coarse- to very coarse-grained sandstones with abundant small-scale cross-stratification and minor granule and small pebble conglomerate. At McClean Lake, these appear to have been deposited as sheet-elements by semi-ephemeral to perennial braided rivers under more humid conditions. At Key Lake, 160 km to the southwest, architectural analysis of a 184 m wide section indicates that at least part of the Bird Member was deposited in deeper, sandy-braided rivers characterized by seasonally varied flow. The closest modern analogue is the South Saskatchewan River, in which large simple flow-transverse bedforms become exposed and dissected during falling stage, and act as nuclei for sand-flat development. The presence of numerous low-relief 4th order surfaces suggests continued reworking of bar-tops during rising stage. The incremental character of downstream accretionary elements suggests periodic migration of barforms during peak-flood stages, separated by periods of low flow. This indicates similarities with modern perennial braided systems, and is counter to the idea that all pre-Devonian fluvial systems should consist of stacked sheets formed by individual flood events. Thin gravel layers accumulated as lags on fourth order surfaces, with discontinuous mud layers suggesting deposition within temporary ponds in channel thalwegs after major floods. Strata in overlying units indicate a return to semi-perennial conditions.