Origins of the Geosynclinal Borderland theory

Charles Schuchert developed the geosynclinal concept ofHall andDana into a paleogeographic model of North America which included borderlands on the oceanic side of each geosyncline. These lands were the source of thick clastic sediments which accumulated in the geosynclines. As early as 1841 H. D.Rogers inferred a southeastern source for clastic sediments in the Appalachian Mountains.Hall (1859) proposed that folded mountains form only where sediments have accumulated to great thickness in narrow bands along the margin of continents. Dana named such belts geosynclinals. He advocated a theory of continental growth by accretion of rocks around a primitive nucleus. In 1890 he recognized Archaean protaxes east of the Appalachians, west of the Rocky Mountains, and probably in the Cascade-Sierra Nevada range. C. D. Walcott showed Dana's Archaean highlands on maps which related the thickness of Cambrian deposits to times of submergence. H. S.Williams named the eastern land Appalachia in 1897. Details for other periods were mapped by B. Willis and by A. W. Grabau in 1909, neither of whom showed any western borderland.A series of maps for short time intervals bySchuchert (1910) show numerous positive areas including a large Cascadia west of the Cordilleran trough. Faunal relationships implied that the Appalachain geosyncline was largely isolated from the Atlantic Ocean during the Paleozoic. In 1923Schuchert insisted that geosynclines were part of the continent, not ocean margins nor mediterraneans, and that the sediments implied borderlands that had repeatedly been elevated and eroded.

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Zusammenfassung Charles Schuchert hat den Geosynklinal-Begriff J.Halls und J. D.Danas zu einem paläogeographischen Entwurf Nordamerikas entwickelt, in dem Borderlands (Grenzländer) zwischen Geosynklinale und Tiefsee lagen. Diese Länder waren die Quelle der mächtigen klastischen Sedimentgesteine der Geosynklinale. Schon im Jahre 1841 schloß H. D.Rogers auf eine Sediment-Quelle südöstlich der Appalachen. 1859 vertratHall die Ansicht, daß Faltengebirge sich nur dort bilden, wo mächtige Sedimentablagerungen sich in engen Streifen am Rande des Kontinents angehäuft haben. Dana hat solche Streifen Geosynklinalen genannt. Er unterstützte eine Theorie über Wachstum der Kontinente durch Zunahme von Gesteinen um einen Ur-Kern. Im Jahre 1890 hat er Archaische Protaxes östlich der Appalachen, westlich der Rocky-Mountain-Kette, und vermutlich in den Cascade- und Sierra Nevada-Gebirgen der westlichen Vereinigten Staaten anerkannt.C. D. Walcott hat diese Urgebirge von Dana auf einer Karte dargestellt, die die Mächtigkeit der kambrischen Sediment-Gesteine in Verbindung mit Überschwemmungen gebracht haben. H. S.Williams hat 1897 das östliche Land Appalachia genannt. Paläogeographischen Karten für andere Zeitabschnitte von B.Willis und von A.Grabau in 1909 zeigen östliche, aber keine westlichen Borderlands. Schuchert (1910) hat eine Reihe paläographischer Karten für kleine Abschnitte des Phanerozoischen Zeitalters veröffentlicht, welche zahlreiche hochstehende Gebiete zeigen, ein großes Cascadia westlich der kordillerischen Geosynklinale eingeschlossen. Die faunistischen Verwandtschaften zeigen, daß die Appalachen-Geosynklinalen größtenteils von dem Atlantischen Meer des Paläozoischen Zeitalters isoliert war. Im Jahre 1923 betontSchuchert, daß die Geosynklinalen Teile des Kontinents sind, weder Ränder der Meere, noch mittelländische Meere. Die Sediment-Ablagerungen der Geosynklinalen deuten auf Borderlands, die wiederholt gehoben und erodiert wurden.

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Résumé Charles Schuchert a développé la notion de géosynclinal, idée conçue par J.Hall et J. D.Dana, dans un modèle paléogéographique de l'Amérique du Nord incluant des »borderlands«sur le bord océanique de chaque géosynclinal. Ces régions ont été les sources de sédiments élastiques épais qui s'accumulèrent dans les géosynclinaux. Déjà en 1841 H. D.Rogers avait déduit la provenance sud-est des depôts clastiques des Appalaches.Hall (1859) a proposé que les montagnes plissées se forment seulement où une grande epaisseur de sédiments s'est accumulée en une bande étroite le long du bord continental. Dana a appelé ces bandes »géosynclinal«. Il a soutenu une théorie de l'accroissement des continents par l'addition de roches autour d'un noyau ancien, En 1890 il reconnaît la présence de protoaxes archéens à l'est des Appalaches, à l'ouest des Montagnes Rocheuses, et, probablement, dans la Sierra Nevada et les Cascades. C. D.Walcott a figuré ces hauts plateaux archéens sur des cartes qui rapportent l'épaisseur des dépots cambriens aux époques de la submersion. H. S.Williams a dénommé »Appalaches« le borderland oriental en 1897. D'autres cartes paléogéographiques par B.Willis et par A.Grabau (1909) ont été dressées sans qu'un borderland occidental y soit montré.Une série de cartes parSchuchert (1910), pour de courtes périodes, montre de nombreuses terres soulevées, y compris une grande Cascadia à l'ouest du géosynclinal de la Cordillère. Les relations fauniques indiquent que le géosynclinal appalachien fut largement isolé de l'Atlantique pendant le Paléozoique. En 1923Schuchert a maintenu que les géosynclinaux faisaient partie des continents, et n'étaient ni en bordure des océans, ni des mers méditerranéennes. Leurs sédiments indiquent des borderlands soulevés et érodés à pluseurs reprises.

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J. Hall'a J. Dana, Charles Schuchert , (Borderlands) . . 1841 . 1859 Hall , , . . . 1890 , ( ) , , Cascade Sierra Nevada .. D. Walcott , . H. S. Williams . (Willis, Grabau, 1909). Schuchert (1910) , , Cascadia . , . 1923 Schuchert , , , . , .

     

Geosynclinal evolution of the Epi-Baykalian platform of Central Brazil

Evidences of geosynclinal polarity (orogenic and sedimentary) in foldbelts of Central Brazil led the authors to the recognition of seven tectonic isopic zones as parts of a wide geosynclinal system policyclically developed during a long Baykalian Cycle of 1,500-500 m. y. ago. Tectonic and stratigraphic evolutions are reinterpreted on the light of the new concepts.The orogenic polarity of contiguous miogeosynclinal and eugeosynclinal foldbelts provided the basis for enlarging the Brasiliane Cycle of short duration (850–550 m. y.) to a Brasiliane Cycle of 1,500-550 m.y. (= Baykalian Cycle). The Minas Cycle is viewed as a phase within a distinct platform-making process.

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Zusammenfassung Die PolaritÄt orogener und sedimentÄrer Erscheinungen in Geosynklinalen der Faltengürtel Zentralbrasiliens veranla\te die Autoren, sieben tektonische Zonen als Teile eines gro\rÄumigen geosynklinalen Systems, das wÄhrend eines langen Baykalischen Zyklusses vor 1500 bis 500 Millionen Jahren entstand, zu unterscheiden. Tektonische und stratigraphische Entwicklungen werden im Lichte dieser neuen Auffassung neu interpretiert.Die orogene PolaritÄt von aneinandergrenzenden miogeosynklinalen und eugeosynklinalen Faltengürteln lieferte die Grundlage für die Erweiterung des Brasilianischen Zyklusses von kurzer Dauer (850-550 Millionen Jahre) zu einem Brasilianischen Zyklus von 1500-500 Millionen Jahren (=Baykalischer Zyklus). Der Minas-Zyklus wird als eine Phase innerhalb eines Plattform bildenden Prozesses angesehen.

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Résumé Certaines évidences de polarité géosynclinale (orogéniques et sedimentaires) dans les régions plissées du Brésil Central ont conduit les auteurs a établir sept zones tectoniques rassemblées dans un seul système géosynclinal, qui s'est développé policycliquement au cours d'un Cycle Baykalien de 1500 à 500 millions d'années. Les évolutions stratigraphiques et tectoniques sont réinterprétées à la lumière de nouveaux concepts.La polarité orogénique du couple eugéosynclinal-miogéosynclinal de ces zones plissées a fourni des données suffisantes pour étendre les limites du Cycle Brésilien (= Baykalien) de 850–550 millions d'années à 1500–550 millions d'années: le Cycle Minas est devenu simplement une phase dans ce processus de formation de plateformes.

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Storm sedimentation

Storm-driven currents can carry sand from the shoreline tens of kilometres out onto the continental shelves where it is moulded by storm waves into a storm-sand bed showing distinctive sedimentary structures, including hummocky crossstratification. An understanding of the nature of the depositional currents and the processes that form hummocky cross-stratification comes from the work of oceanographers, observations by geologists and experimental studies in the laboratory, although the conclusions reached are sometimes conflicting. Storm-sandstone beds provide valuable information about sediment dispersal and depositional systems in nearshore and shelf environments. Hummocky crossstratification indicates the activity of storm waves and hence the approximate depth of ancient shelf seas.     

关于时间、沉积与地层学的几点思考

地层学与其他自然科学中的时间概念可区分为存在的时间和演化的时间两类,地层学就是依据这两类时间概念和标志构建地质学的时间坐标。选定百万年为地质学的基本时间单位在某种意义上来说是地层学的武断和盲从,它在一定程度上降低了地质学对精确性、严谨性的不懈追求。地层学完全能够在“存在的时间”和“演化的时间”中,依据自然规律和需要构建地质学的时间单位谱,如天、月、年以及岁差、斜度、偏心率周期等,建立与人类社会接轨的时间单位和地质学时间坐标。地层的形成作用可以区分为垂向加积和侧向加积作用以及它们的复合类型--生物加积和热侵位加积作用。由垂向加积作用形成的地层序列遵循地层学三定律(上新下老;水平叠置;侧向连续),岩性界面通常与等时面平行;由侧向加积作用形成的地层序列遵循瓦尔特相律和岩石地层单位穿时的普遍性原理,岩性界面通常与等时面斜交;而由生物加积和岩浆侵位加积作用形成的地层,其岩性界面与等时面的关系需要具体情况具体分析。     

A stochastic model of sedimentation

A mathematical model is presented which describes the origin of the earth's geological record in terms of a stochastic process involving random events of sedimentation and erosion. The model yields quantitative predictions of the percentages of the earth's land area in which sediments of one geological period directly overlie those of any given earlier period. It also predicts the total amount of sediment dating from each geological period, and the percentage of the earth's surface marked by outcrops of this sediment. These computed quantities are shown to correlate well with corresponding quantities derived from empirical investigation.     

Quantitative analysis of Phanerozoic sedimentation

This paper is the conclusion of many years of study of Phanerozoic sedimentation over the area of the present continents (without Antarctica). The compilation of the schematic lithological-paleogeographical maps for each section of the Phanerozoic systems (except the Quaternary) is taken as a basis for these studies; Ronov calculated areas of distribution and volumes of different groups of sedimentary and volcanogenic rocks within platforms and geosynclines, as well as changes in a mean rate of accumulation and intensity of volcanic activity.The volume of geosynclinal sediments of the whole of the Phanerozoic is 457 · 10⁶ km³. The volume of platformal sediments is 182 · 10⁶ km³.Our data confirm a periodic character in changes in the area, volume and rate of accumulation of sedimentary and volcanic deposits, concurrent with tectonic periodicity; the Hercynian and Alpine cycles being the most pronounced, the Caledonian weaker and the Salairian (Sardian) and Kimmerian cycles weaker still. The high rates of sedimentation and the high general intensity of volcanism are characteristic of the initial parts of tectonic cycles. The major transgressions and the peaks of carbonate accumulation fall in their middle parts. The high rates of sedimentation and the increase of clastic sediments corresponds to their final parts.Side by side with this cyclic character, our data reveal a certain time trend in the Phanerozoic changes under review. This is a general reduction of sea-covered area within the present continents and an increase of volume of sediments and of mean rates of subsidence. Since the changes within platforms and geosynclines have the same trend, they are obviously controlled by global processes. The global rhythm exists in spite of obviously uncoordinated movements of separate major blocks of the lithosphere, in particular of continental platforms. This is indicative of a global tendency predominating over regional ones.     

History of sedimentation rates in the sea-ice sedimentation zone during the last 130 ka

Based on literature and our data, analysis of sedimentation rates during the last glacial/interglacial cycle (during the last 130 ka) is given for the Norwegian-Greenland Basin, the Arctic Ocean, Bering and Okhotsk seas, as well as a number of seas in the Southern Ocean. Sedimentation rates in the studied zone are controlled by the development of continental ice sheets, sea ice covers, and biogenic sedimentation, which, in turn, depends on climate variations.     

砾岩沉积与构造环境

砾岩是沉积大地构造和盆地研究的重点内容，它不仅记录了物源区的岩石组成，而且在一定程度上反映区域构造演化过程。砾岩形成于不同沉积和构造环境，主要发育在冲积扇、辫状河、扇三角洲和水下扇等沉积体系内。地层中的砾岩层被认为是强烈构造活动的沉积响应，因此常用来限定构造带挤压逆冲和构造抬升的时间和剥蚀过程。然而，这种简单的线性因果思维方式在盆 山体系研究中可能导致错误的构造解释。砾岩沉积过程和空间分布受多种因素制约，包括盆地沉降速率、盆缘构造活动性质、物源区岩石组成、沉积物搬运途径以及气候条件和变化等。合理恢复和解释盆缘构造历史应对砾岩沉积体的时空变化进行详细分析，不应简单地将砾岩沉积与构造活动在成因上直接对应。本文对砾岩沉积环境进行了简要总结，讨论了大陆伸展、挤压和走滑构造环境下砾岩沉积过程以及如何根据砾岩沉积的时空变化来恢复区域构造活动。笔者对“磨拉石”术语的使用进行了讨论，建议避免用该术语来概括不同构造环境下形成的砾岩或粗粒碎屑沉积。     

Successive Eruption of Alkaline and Tholeiite Magmas in a Japanese Palaeozoic Geosynclinal Basalt Body with Special Reference to Rare Earth Element Features

Rare-earth element (REE) abundances and major chemical compositionsof six late Palaeozoic geosynclinal basalts at Nakaoku, theKii peninsula, southwest Japan are discussed from the generalviewpoint of geosynclinal basalt magma. The REE patterns ofbasalt samples are smoothly and progressively enriched relativeto Leedey chondrite. The lighter REE are considerably fractionated,whereas concentrations of heaviest REE remain approximatelyconstant. Each fractionation pattern probably corresponds toresidual liquid at different stages during the solidificationof magma in depth. The partition coefficients of REE betweenmagma (i.e. liquid) and crystallizing solid can be calculated,assuming that the partition coefficient of Lu is nearly unity,because the Lu contents show little change among samples. Byusing the REE contents and partition coefficients, solidifiedpercentages for various stages of the magmatic process werecalculated; the percentage shows a good correlation with thesolidification index calculated from major chemical compositions.Some major compositions are also correlative with the solidifiedpercentage calculated from REE data. The Nakaoku basalts when plotted on a silica-alkali diagramshow a change of type from tholeiitic to alkali basalt duringthe solidifying process in depth. These petrochemical aspectsof the Nakaoku basaltic body are compatible with the resultsof experimental melting study at moderate pressures of about10 kb carried out by Green & Ringwood (1967). The spatialcoexistence of tholeiitic and alkali basalt in the Japaneselate Palaeozoic geosyncline found by Sugisaki & Tanaka (1971b)and disclosed here in the Nakaoku basalts, is not uncommon phenomenon.     

Lead-zinc ores dependent on cyclic sedimentation

Lagoonal sediments of the upper part of the Wetterstein-limestone (Ladinian/Carnian, Alpine Triassic) of the lead-zinc deposit of Bleiberg-Kreuth were examined. They are influenced by cyclic successions, which show emersion periods. These emersions can also be found in similar rocks of the same age. The cyclothems are attributed to eustatic fluctuations. In the rocks, underlying the unconformity, karstic cavities were formed. The lead-zinc ores are thought to be mainly intra-karstic sediments, detrital and chemical deposits. The metal-concentration in the cavities seems to have originated from a directly preceding enrichment in the evaporitic phase, as well as from the erosion of this and other neighboured sediments.     

Devonian fluviodeltaic sedimentation in Hong Kong

Twenty-three distinct sedimentary facies have been distinguished in the Devonian Bluff Head Formation exposed around the Tolo Channel area of northeastern Hong Kong. These facies have been combined into five facies associations: channel, aeolian, sheetflood, deltaic and palaeosol, with the bulk of the formation belonging to the channel association. The lower part of the Bluff Head Formation, around Plover Cove, consists of upwards-coarsening cycles, each typically 3 m thick. The basal parts of some cycles contain distinctive marine fossils of Early to Middle Devonian age. Sedimentation occurred on a marine-influenced delta plain, with eustatic sea level rises controlling cycle development. The middle and upper parts of the formation contrast strongly with the lower part and show a distinct change to alluvial plain sedimentation. Upward-fining cycles, each approximately 40 m thick, comprise basal multistorey, braided, conglomerate-filled channel deposits at the base passing upwards into finer-grained sheetflood, aeolian and channel sandstones at the top. Palaeosols in the higher parts of the cycles indicate periods of non-deposition under semi-arid climatic conditions. These cycles represent repeated abandonments of the fluvial system which we suggest were controlled by tectonic pulses.     

Tectonics and sedimentation a century later

This paper is one of a series that commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists in 1926. At that time, thought about tectonics and sedimentation was dominated by the ruling hypothesis of continental accretion. Marginal geosynclines were thought to have been filled with sediments derived from borderlands of Precambrian rocks, and then welded tectonically to the continent. In the 1930s, the fundamental distinction noted by Bailey and Jones between graded graywacke- graptolitic slate suites and cross-bedded sandstone-shelly carbonate suites provided a prelude to Krynine's petrographic-tectonic sandstone clans. In the 1940s sedimentary petrography finally emerged from its heavy mineral era to broaden its vistas. Prior notions of evolutionary successions of sediment types linked to a supposed tectonic cycle (e.g. the European ophiolite-flysch-molasse sequence) became more explicit. Refinements of sandstone classifications by Folk, Pettijohn, Gilbert and others, coupled with Krynine's tectonic cycle and the stratigraphic syntheses of Krumbein, Sloss, Dapples, and others, led in the 1940s to the belief that tectonics is the ultimate sedimentary control.Meanwhile the geosyncline had been dissected by Stille and Kay (1936–1951). Ideas about sources of geosynclinal sediments and paleogeography were revised to include volcanic islands and tectonic lands raisedwithin geosynclines rather than borderlands of Precambrian rocks standing outside the geosynclines. In the 1950s and 1960s, sedimentologists exploited the turbidity current revolution and the combined paleocurrent-petrographic approach pioneered by Pettijohn to delineate in detail the paleography and provenances of orogenic belts. Provenance studies have recently reached a high level of sophistication thanks to the efforts of many workers (e.g. Blatt, Crook, Dickinson, Füchtbauer, McBride, Schwab, Suttner, etc.). This work has demonstrated clearly that the cratonic, volcanic and tectonic source land types proposed by Kay had all been important, but to varying degrees at different times and places. When plate tectonics arrived in the late 1960s, sedimentologists were all equipped to reinterpret their rocks using petrographic, paleocurrent and sedimentary structure analyses to help diagnose different types of plate boundaries and to aid in making palinspastic plate restorations. Thus the study of tectonics and sedimentation is alive and thriving a century later.     

Pre-orogenic sedimentation in the carpathian geosyncline

From the analysis of facies- and thickness distribution, and from the mapping of current directions in the flysch of the Polish Carpathian Mountains the following conclusions can be made.Source areas of detrital deposits were situated at first near the borders of the geosyncline, but at later stages a more important role was played by intrageosynclinal sources. The position of the marginal and intrageosynclinal sources was shifted during the sedimentary history of the basin from the west toward the east. Concurrently with the shift of the source areas also zones of maximal thickness were shifted. The detrital material was supplied in several sedimentary megarhythms, each beginning with coarse deposits and terminating with fine-grained sediments. This suggests intermittent sudden uplifts of source areas.The appearance and migration of the source areas is tentatively explained as not due to compressional stress but to the movements of the subcrustal material provoked by subsidence and isostatic readjustment.

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Zusammenfassung Aus der Analyse von Faziesanordnung, Mächtigkeitsverteilung und Strömungsrichtungen im Flysch der polnischen Karpaten kann man folgende Schlüsse ziehen.Die Herkunftsgebiete der klastischen Sedimente lagen zunächst nahe den Rändern der Geosynkline. Später aber spielten intrageosynklinale Liefergebiete eine bedeutendere Rolle. Die Lage der randlichen und der intrageosynklinalen Liefergebiete verschob sich während der Ablagerungsgeschichte des Beckens von Westen nach Osten. Gleichlaufend wanderten die Gebiete größter Sedimentmächtigkeit. Das Abtragungsmaterial wurde in mehreren Sedimentations-Megarhythmen angeliefert, wovon jeder mit grobkörnigen Sedimenten beginnt und mit feinkörnigen endet. Das deutet intermittierende rasche Hebungen der Liefergebiete an.Es wird versucht, das Hervortreten und die Wanderung der Liefergebiete nicht durch Einengungstektonik zu erklären, sondern durch subkrustale Massenbewegungen, die durch Trogsenkung und isostatischen Ausgleich hervorgerufen wurden.

     

Lead-210 sedimentation in Lake Ontario

The sedimentation rates and diffusive sediment mixing coefficients at several Lake Ontario locations have been derived from measurements of unsupported²¹⁰Pb profiles in sediment cores. The values of mixing coefficients obtained in the present study are significantly lower than those obtained previously through an analysis of porosity profiles. The present estimates, however, are consistent with the rather well-preserved pollutant profiles at some of these locations. It is observed that the more realistic value of the mixing coefficient, obtained by inclusion of the sedimentation rate parameter, follows the sign opposite to that for the constant obtained by regression analysis of the porosity data. Further work is required to delineate this apparent relationship between two important physical characteristics of deposited sediments.Analysis of available suspended sediment data shows that Niagara River supplies about 1.8 million tonnes of sediment annually to Lake Ontario. This value is significantly lower than that (4.6 mt/yr) used previously in constructing sediment and pollutant budgets for Lake Ontario. From the presently derived sedimentation rate and suspended solid discharge estimates, an average value of 441 km² (range 220-938 km²) is obtained for the minimum area of Lake Ontario over which the Niagara River-supplied fine sediment is deposited.     

Permian intermontane basin sedimentation in southern Scotland

Towards the end of the Carboniferous period, several isolated basins were eroded into Carboniferous sediments lying within the Lower Palaeozoic Southern Uplands massif. Eruption of basaltic lava flows ensued, followed by deposition of thin pediment breccias as desert conditions became established, leading to the development of extensive aeolian sands which interfinger with alluvial fan breccias at the basin margins. Such intermontane desert basins have rarely been documented in the stratigraphic record and the Permian deposits are here compared to similar deposits and processes operating in Recent intermontane desert basins. A number of breccia types have been distinguished, some attributable to secondary reworking of deflation areas on alluvial fans, and the deposits of streamfloods, braided streams, sheetfloods and desert-floor ephemeral streams have been recognised.     

Computer simulation of sedimentation in meandering streams

A dynamic mathematical model for simulation of sedimentation in meandering streams is briefly described. This is composed of component mathematical models which are formulated to predict the following aspects of the system for a given physical situation and a single time increment. (1) The characteristics of the plan form of the meander; (2) the movement of the meander in plan, and definition of cross-sections across the meander in which erosion and deposition are considered in detail; (3) the hydraulic properties of the channel in the bend and the erosional and depositional activity within the channel as defined in specific cross-sections; (4) the nature and occurrence of cut-off; (5) a relative measure of the discharge during a seasonal high water period, which is used in (3) and (4); (6) aggradation. The model, in the form of a FORTRAN IV computer program, has been used to simulate various aspects of sedimentation in meandering streams by performing a set of experiments with the program under different input conditions. The geometry of simulated point bar sediments, as controlled by channel migration over floodplains with variable sediment type, agrees broadly with the natural situation, however extensive sheets of point bar sediment cannot be simulated because large scale meander-belt movements are not accounted for. In the simulated sediments, successive surfaces of the point bar before falling stage deposition (lateral and vertical) may be picked out, and these delineate the epsilon cross-stratification of Allen (1963b). The epsilon unit thickness is that measured from bankfull stage down to the lowest channel position existing prior to deposition. The model records the characteristic fining upwards of grain sizes in the point bar, and the systematic distribution of sedimentary structures. Channel migration combined with seasonal scouring and filling across the channel section produces a characteristic relief in the basal scoured surfaces and facies boundaries (as defined by variation in grain size and sedimentary structure). A related lensing and inter-fingering of the facies may also be present. The model also records large-scale lateral changes in grain size and sedimentary structure associated with changes in the shape of developing meanders. When channel migration is combined with a constant aggradation rate the model predicts a general slope (relative to the land surface) of facies boundaries and scoured basal surfaces upward in the direction of channel movement. If aggradation sufficiently increases the thickness of fine-grained overbank material, there is a channel stabilization effect. It is shown that a complete sequence of point bar sediments capped by overbank sediments would rarely be preserved in the moving-phase situation. Such preservation only becomes likely when an aggrading section lies out of range of an eroding channel for a considerably longer time span than it takes a meander to move one half-wavelength downvalley. Deep channel scours have a higher preservation potential than contemporary shallower ones. Where appropriate field data exist the model can be used in the more accurate recognition of ancient fluviatile sediments. Inferences may be made about the erosion-deposition processes operating in the ancient channel system, and the geometry and hydraulics of the system can be alluded to. A representative application of the model to the quantitative interpretation of an ancient point bar deposit is illustrated. There is reasonable agreement between the natural and the simulated deposits, and a broad quantitative picture of the palaeoenvironment of sedimentation is obtained.