季节性河流体系高流态沉积构造特征:以内蒙古岱海湖半滩子河为例

高流态尤其是超临界流动的水动力学机制及其床沙底形演化的研究相较于次临界流动具有一定的差距。季节性河流以高流态为主要沉积搬运过程,为超临界流的形成与保存提供了有利条件,是研究超临界流沉积的重要载体。在季节性河流沉积体系研究进展调研基础上,明确了其基本定义、判别标准及沉积特征。通过对内蒙古岱海湖北部典型季节性冲积体系——半滩子河流发育的沉积构造进行研究表明:随着低流态向高流态演化,沙丘底形(Dune)逐步向上部平坦床沙底形(Upper plane bed)过渡,形成了低角度/S型交错层理;在高流态初期,形成了上部平坦床沙成因的平行层理;随着流动强度逐渐增大,流动机制演变为超临界流,平坦床沙逐渐向逆行沙丘(Antidune)过渡,形成了与平行层理伴生的逆行沙丘交错层理;当流动强度进一步增大,携带沉积物的流体发生较强的水力跳跃,形成了流槽与冲坑(Chute-and-Pool)。半滩子河流现代沉积中发育的高流态沉积与区域内气候变化具有明确的响应关系,表明河流沉积中广泛发育的高流态沉积构造指示了强烈季节性变化的气候特征。     

波—流相互作用机制与复合流的沉积构造鉴别标志*

波—流相互作用是复杂水动力条件下流体相互作用的主要方式之一,由波—流相互作用形成的复合流沉积是目前沉积学在流体相互作用这一领域研究较多的一种沉积类型。以已有的文献为基础,对波—流相互作用下细砂级颗粒的运动机制进行了综述,预测了波—流相互作用的沉积特征,总结了复合流的沉积构造鉴别标志。取得的主要认识有: (1)波—流相互作用总体上属于衰弱流(waning flow)悬浮沉积,其微观的沉积机制可分为5种: 越过崩落点的喷射沉积(S1)、残余涡动沉积(S2)、未到崩落点的喷射沉积(S3)、背流面的崩落沉积(S4)、垂直降落沉积(S5);(2)波—流相互作用的沉积过程总体上受悬砂量和沉积时间的控制,5种微观沉积机制在不同的悬砂量和沉积时间条件下可形成不同的沉积机制组合,从而导致不同的底床形态;(3)复合流沉积构造鉴别标志主要有: 复合流波痕、复合流层理、爬升型复合流层理、不对称丘状交错层理、准平行层理和频繁交替的不能充分发育的浪成波纹层理与流水层理等6类。上述认识对于复杂水动力条件下的沉积学研究及对深水、浅水沉积环境的识别均具有重要的意义。     

山东峡山湖东岸现代滩坝沉积模式及控制因素*

滩坝作为发育于滨岸带非常重要的沉积储集层类型之一,已成为隐蔽油气藏勘探的目标。为进一步明确峡山湖东岸滨浅湖滩坝沉积模式,以现代沉积考察为基础,结合探地雷达技术和粒度分析资料,对东岸研究区滩坝砂体的沉积特征以及控制因素进行详细分析。结果表明: 峡山湖东岸主要发育风成沙丘及滩坝2种沉积体系。早期风成沉积物以发育连续性好的大型板状交错层理细砂为主,分选较好,粒度概率曲线以两段式为特征;滩坝沉积物以发育连续性差的板状交错层理、平行层理中砂为主,主要为反粒序或者复合粒序,具冲刷构造,岩性较混杂并以砂泥薄互层为特征,发育大量植物根系,粒度概率曲线以三段式为主,跳跃组分分为2段,分选较好。探地雷达资料表明研究区下部主要以厚层层状反射结构砂体为主,与风成沙丘沉积反射特征较为一致,环境敏感粒度组分对滩坝沉积较强的水动力作用有较好的指示。总体上,风力作用控制了风成砂体的沉积发育并且改变了古地貌条件,风浪作用冲刷改造了早期砂体,为滩坝的发育提供了物源,控制了滩坝发育的规模和地理位置,可概括为“风运—湖改”滩坝沉积模式,可为滩坝体系的识别和有利储集层预测提供指导。     

陆相湖盆三角洲—滩坝复合砂体分布模式及编图方法*

陆相湖盆与海洋环境不同,具有水体浅、能量弱、湖进湖退频繁等特点。综合应用高精度层序地层学和地震沉积学等关键技术,通过中国东部及中西部典型陆相湖盆的勘探实践、野外露头解剖和现代沉积考察,总结了陆相湖盆三角洲—滩坝复合砂体的分布模式,并提出了复合砂体地质编图法。研究结果表明:(1)陆相湖盆的“湖—陆过渡沉积体系”不仅发育分流河道,还发育河口坝和沿岸砂坝,这些不同时期的分流河道、河口坝和沿岸砂坝交织叠加在一起,在古代地层和现代沉积中得以保存;(2)地形平坦处,水体浅、波浪作用不强、河流作用为主,形成河道砂体;湖岸较陡处,波浪作用强,分流河道砂体被波浪改造,形成沿湖岸分布的滩坝砂体;(3)在高频湖平面变化背景下,岸线的迁移导致沉积坡折的迁移,形成了多期垂直于岸线分布的树枝状三角洲分流河道砂体,和多期平行于岸线呈带状分布的沿岸滩坝砂体相互交织的陆相湖盆三角洲—滩坝复合砂体的特殊结构;(4)复合砂体地质编图法基于传统单因素法,以复合砂体分布模式为指导,主要针对发育在水体较浅、地形平坦开阔背景下的陆相湖盆三角洲—滩坝砂体。     

超临界浊流之地貌动力学和沉积特征

超临界流在现代沉积环境中几乎无处不在,但相关沉积物却极少从地层记录中被辨识出来,这是当前沉积学研究所面临的一个困境,文中称之为“超临界流沉积问题”。按弗劳德数增大顺序,超临界流可依次形成稳定逆行沙丘、不稳定逆行沙丘、急滩—深潭及周期阶坎等底形,相应的地貌动力学也从同相位体制(逆行沙丘)逐渐过渡为水跃体制(急滩—深潭和周期阶坎)。相对于明渠流,浊流因折算密度低而更易成为超临界流。超临界浊流底形的长波长、低幅度、逆流(坡)迁移特性,决定了其沉积物发育特征的后积层理、近平行—低角度交错层理、与水跃有关的快速堆积及冲刷—充填和建造—充填构造。超临界浊流沉积可以通过沉积体的几何形态(包括波长/波高比、平面和剖面形态等)和内部沉积特征(包括波脊逆坡迁移、沉积构造、粒度变化趋势及沉积相组合等)的综合分析加以鉴别。露头、岩心分析与高分辨率地震、浅剖、多波束测深等地球物理资料的综合,是准确鉴别超临界浊流沉积单元的重要途径。本文对超临界浊流地貌动力学研究进展进行综述,并对地层记录中超临界浊流沉积的鉴别标志及相关问题进行探讨。     

扬子克拉通北缘中元古界神农架群沉积特征*

神农架群(约1400—1000 Ma)发育于扬子克拉通北缘鄂西北地区,自下而上发育有下亚群(大岩坪组、马槽园组、乱石沟组、大窝坑组和矿石山组)、中亚群(台子组、野马河组、温水河组和石槽河组)及上亚群(送子园组和瓦岗溪组)。每亚群均由相对较深水相碎屑岩和浅水碳酸盐岩组成。一系列岩石组合特征、宏微观沉积组构和沉积构造等表明,神农架群发育环潮坪相藻碳酸盐岩、浅海相碎屑岩、台缘浅滩颗粒碳酸盐岩和台缘斜坡砾屑碳酸盐岩等4类沉积组合,形成于远端变陡型缓坡型碳酸盐岩台地背景。环潮坪沉积分布最广,遍布于所有碳酸盐岩地层,不同类型叠层石发育,构成向上变浅沉积序列;进积作用强烈,干裂构造、蒸发岩等常见;沉积相带由浅潮下、潮坪及潮上带组成。浅海碎屑岩沉积组合主要见于台子组及大岩坪组,由砂岩、粉砂岩与泥岩组成,石英砂岩分选和磨圆较好,自生海绿石常见,平行层理、水平—波状层理发育,泥岩中自生黄铁矿发育,总体经历了滨岸浅滩—浅海陆棚—碎屑潮坪—局限台地等的高频变化。台缘浅滩颗粒碳酸盐岩以鲕粒白云岩、砾屑白云岩(及内碎屑白云岩)和斜歪锥、柱状叠层石为特征,主要见于乱石沟组、野马河组;大窝坑组及石槽河组以鲕粒和砂—砾屑白云岩及藻碎屑(团块或凝块石)为特征;大中型板状交错层理、递变—平行层理和冲刷—侵蚀构造普遍,表明浅潮下带强水动力条件环境。台缘斜坡砾屑碳酸盐岩发育在大岩坪组中上部及马槽园组,由滑塌堆积的透镜状、巨厚层状巨—粗—细砾岩和砂岩组成,砾岩成分以白云岩等为主,可见大型交错层理、波痕和侵蚀—冲刷等沉积构造。对神农架群沉积序列、沉积特征及沉积演化过程的研究,为扬子克拉通中元古代晚期的盆地演化与重建、沉积充填过程及地层—沉积对比研究提供了基础资料及依据。     

惠民凹陷中央隆起带沙四上亚段滩坝与风暴岩组合沉积

惠民凹陷沙四上亚段沉积时期,盆地边缘发育三角洲和扇三角洲沉积,受波浪和沿岸流的影响,在中央隆起带滨浅湖区形成了与岸线走向平行或斜交的滩坝砂体和风暴沉积。滩坝沉积成熟度较高,泥质含量少,岩性以中细砂岩和粉砂岩为主,也有少量砾石,砂岩中常见含双壳类化石、生物碎屑和炭屑。滩坝沉积可分为砂坝、砂滩和滩坝间微相,平面上该区滩坝砂体可分为近岸砂滩、近岸砂坝、坝间砂滩、远岸砂坝、远岸砂滩、水下隆起处砂坝和水下隆起处砂滩。此外,受风暴浪的影响,在浪基面和风暴浪基面之间的地带形成风暴沉积,主要由块状层理段、递变层理段、丘状交错层理段、平行层理段和块状泥岩段构成。该组合沉积体系的形成主要受古地形、物源性质、湖平面变化等方面的影响。     

丘状和似丘状交错层理成因机制研究进展

丘状交错层理多和风暴沉积相关,似丘状交错层理多和浊流沉积相关,随着研究的深入,早已打破了丘状(似丘状)交错层理分别只存在于浅水(深水)沉积环境中的界线,故近年来丘状(似丘状)交错层理在作为沉积环境判别标志方面出现了很大的争议和混淆,究其原因则在于对丘状交错层理和似丘状交错层理的成因机制缺乏明确的认识。在详细总结丘状(似丘状)交错层理的结构、形态特征和垂向序列的基础上发现: (1)丘状交错层理底界常为剥蚀面,内部削切关系发育且与洼状交错层理关系密切;垂向序列常出现层段缺失和丘状交错层理叠置。(2)似丘状交错层理纹层厚度变化多样;丘状层可镶嵌于平行层理或小型交错层理之中,且为连续沉积;垂向序列往往出现高流态沉积构造与低流态沉积构造交替叠置。依据这些特征并结合水槽实验的相关研究成果,从流体力学角度可将丘状(似丘状)交错层理的形成机制分为水动力机制和沉积机制两部分。两者的水动力机制完全相同,即为立轴漩涡形成,在自然界中一般为斜压波动引起。两者的沉积机制完全不同: 丘状交错层理为剥蚀悬砂沉积机制,而似丘状交错层理则为悬砂降落沉积机制。由于2种沉积机制所形成的沉积物悬浮浓度及其对沉积流体能量的要求不同,故形成丘状和似丘状交错层理各自不同的沉积特征。这对于从流体演化方面判断沉积环境具有非常重要的意义。     

宁夏香山群徐家圈组发现深水复合流沉积构造

宁夏香山群徐家圈组是由灰绿、黄绿色轻微变质中—细粒砂岩、钙质砂岩及粉砂岩和页岩(板岩)组成的深水沉积。在上部灰绿色页岩所夹的中层钙质粉砂岩中发现了复合流层理、准平行层理、不对称小型丘状交错层理;在下部灰绿色厚层—块状中—细粒长石石英砂岩的顶面发现了小型波痕,波痕的形态、波长与波高的分布规律均表现出复合流(combined-flow)的沉积特征。本文根据水槽实验和现代海洋沉积观测所总结出的复合流底床相图和前人在研究地层中较浅海浊流(超重流)与波浪所形成的复合流沉积时给出的复合流沉积示意图,分别对徐家圈组所发现的①小型2D波痕至小型3D波痕的演化和②复合流层理、平行层理、准平行层理和小型丘状交错层理的叠置关系及其纹层所反映的流动方向与沉积时浊流方向的关系,进行了解释。结果表明,所发现的复合流层理、准平行层理、不对称小型丘状交错层理及小型波痕应为复合流沉积,并依据徐家圈组存在内波、内潮汐沉积的事实,推测为深水短周期内波与浊流形成的复合流沉积。这可能是地层中深水复合流沉积构造的首次发现,同时也是内波与浊流形成的复合流沉积的首次发现。     

扬子克拉通北缘中元古界神农架群台子组沉积特征*

有关扬子克拉通北缘神农架地区中元古界神农架群台子组沉积环境的认识一直存有分歧,文中基于野外和室内的综合研究讨论了台子组的沉积环境。台子组底部为蛋青色砂砾岩,下部为灰色、肉粉色细粉晶白云岩,中部为灰绿色、浅灰色石英中—细砂岩、粉砂岩与深灰色粉砂岩、粉砂质泥岩和泥质粉砂岩组合,上部则是粉砂岩—泥岩韵律。同时,台子组石英砂岩中以发育块状层理和平行层理为主,粉砂岩和泥岩则发育丰富的水平层理和透镜状层理。砂岩粒度概率累计曲线显示斜率较大,跳跃组分为主,悬浮组分含量低,无滚动组分,其中跳跃组分又以二段或多段式为特征。上述沉积指相标志和粒度分析均表明,台子组形成于滨岸与潮坪沉积环境,同时纵向沉积序列上,碎屑岩沉积物粒度表现为粗—细—粗—细演化特征,沉积相由下部到上部呈现滨岸相—碳酸盐岩缓坡台地相—潟湖相—潮坪相—潟湖相的演替规律,总体上构成由退积—进积—退积—进积的沉积序列。     

Morphodynamics and sedimentary structures of bedforms under supercritical‐flow conditions: New insights from flume experiments

Supercritical‐flow phenomena are fairly common in modern sedimentary environments, yet their recognition and analysis remain difficult in the stratigraphic record. This fact is commonly ascribed to the poor preservation potential of deposits from high‐energy supercritical flows. However, the number of flume data sets on supercritical‐flow dynamics and sedimentary structures is very limited in comparison with available data for subcritical flows, which hampers the recognition and interpretation of such deposits. The results of systematic flume experiments spanning a broad range of supercritical‐flow bedforms (antidunes, chutes‐and‐pools and cyclic steps) developed in mobile sand beds of variable grain sizes are presented. Flow character and related bedform patterns are constrained through time‐series measurements of bed configurations, flow depths, flow velocities and Froude numbers. The results allow the refinement and extension of some widely used bedform stability diagrams in the supercritical‐flow domain, clarifying in particular the morphodynamic relations between antidunes and cyclic steps. The onset of antidunes is controlled by flows exceeding a threshold Froude number. The transition from antidunes to cyclic steps in fine to medium‐grained sand occurs at a threshold mobility parameter. Sedimentary structures associated with supercritical bedforms developed under variable aggradation rates are revealed by means of combining flume results and synthetic stratigraphy. The sedimentary structures are compared with examples from field and other flume studies. Aggradation rate is seen to exert an important control on the geometry of supercritical‐flow structures and should be considered when identifying supercritical bedforms in the sedimentary record.     

Upper flow regime sheets, lenses and scour fills: Extending the range of architectural elements for fluvial sediment bodies

Fluvial strata dominated internally by sedimentary structures of interpreted upper flow regime origin are moderately common in the rock record, yet their abundance is not appreciated and many examples may go unnoticed. A spectrum of sedimentary structures is recognised, all of which occur over a wide range of scale: 1. cross-bedding with humpback, sigmoidal and ultimately low-angle cross-sectional foreset geometries (interpreted as recording the transition from dune to upper plane bed bedform stability field), 2. planar/flat lamination with parting lineation, characteristic of the upper plane bed phase, 3. flat and low-angle lamination with minor convex-upward elements, characteristic of the transition from upper plane bed to antidune stability fields, 4. convex-upward bedforms, down- and up-palaeocurrent-dipping, low-angle cross-bedding and symmetrical drapes, interpreted as the product of antidunes, and 5. backsets terminating updip against an upstream-dipping erosion surface, interpreted as recording chute and pool conditions. In some fluvial successions, the entirety or substantial portions of channel sandstone bodies may be made up of such structures. These Upper Flow Regime Sheets, Lenses and Scour Fills (UFR) are defined herein as an extension of Miall's [Miall, A.D., 1985. Architectural-element analysis: a new method of facies analysis applied to fluvial deposits. Earth Sci. Rev. 22: 261–308.] Laminated Sand Sheets architectural element. Given the conditions that favour preservation of upper flow regime structures (rapid changes in flow strength), it is suggested that the presence of UFR elements in ancient fluvial successions may indicate sediment accumulation under the influence of a strongly seasonal palaeoclimate that involves a pronounced seasonal peak in precipitation and runoff.     

Morphological expression of bedforms formed by supercritical sediment density flows on four fjord‐lake deltas of the south‐eastern Canadian Shield (Eastern Canada)

High‐resolution swath bathymetry data collected in fjord‐lakes Pentecôte, Walker and Pasteur (eastern Québec, Canada) allowed imaging in great detail the deltas of four rivers in order to understand the factors controlling the formation and downslope evolution of bedforms present on their slopes. The morphometry and morphology of 199 bedforms reflect the behaviour of sediment density flows. The shape of the bedforms, mostly crescentic, and the relationships between their morphological properties indicate that they were formed by supercritical density flows and that they are cyclic steps. The crescentic shape suggests an upslope migration while the aspect ratios and increasing wavelengths with distance from the shore (and decreasing slopes) are compatible with a cyclic step origin. At the rollover point, the acceleration of the density flows on steep slopes produces tightly spaced hydraulic jumps and favours short wavelength and symmetrical bedforms. Further downslope, decreasing slopes and increasing specific discharge increase the wavelength and asymmetry of the bedforms. The wavelength and asymmetry are increased because density flows require longer distances to become supercritical again on lower slopes after each successive hydraulic jump. Bedform morphometry and morphology are used to reconstruct density flow behaviour downslope. Froude numbers are high near the rollover point and gradually decrease downslope as the slope becomes gentler. Conversely, the specific discharge and flow depth are low near the rollover point and gradually increase downslope as the flow either erodes sediments or becomes more dilute due to sediment deposition and water entrainment. The supercritical density flows are believed to be triggered mainly by hyperpycnal flows but some evidence of delta‐front slope failures is also observed. The differences in delta morphology and bedform development between the four deltas are linked to basin morphology and watershed hydrology, but also mainly to the fjord heritage of the lakes that allowed the focusing of sediment at the delta front.     

Froude supercritical flow bedforms in deepwater slope channels? Field examples in conglomerates,sandstones and fine‐grained deposits

Active margin continental slope outcrops from the Eocene Juncal Formation, the Eocene La Jolla Group and the Miocene Capistrano Formation display sedimentary structures and depositional geometries that suggest deposition from Froude supercritical flow, based on comparison to strata produced by flume experiments. These deposits range from boulder‐size soft clasts and cobble‐size hard clasts to silt and mud, and display long‐wavelength and low‐amplitude convex‐up and concave‐up geometries that range from centimetre to hundreds of metres scale, low‐angle foresets and backsets, and common internal and bounding erosion surfaces from centimetres to tens of metres in depth. In places, planar laminations, structureless beds and normally graded beds are laterally or vertically associated with such structures. In other places, consistent backsets or deep and steep‐sided scours occur. This study aimed to discuss the origin of the observed bedforms, contributed to recognition of supercritical flow deposits on continental slopes and expanded the outcrop examples of supercritical flow deposits to silt and mud. This work implies that the erosive and powerful Froude supercritical flow turbidity currents may have a substantial impact on erosional and depositional dynamics on deepwater slopes, especially on active margins due to the steep gradients and high sediment supply.     

Sedimentology of the Upper Burdekin River of North Queensland, Australia—an example of a tropical, variable discharge river

The Burdekin River is an example of a class of tropical streams which experience two to four orders of magnitude variation in discharge, in response to seasonal but erratic monsoonal rainfall. Floods of the Burdekin rise abruptly, reaching peak discharges of up to 40,000 m³ s^-1 in less than 24 h; maintain peak flow for up to a few days, and recede exponentially. The geomorphology and deposits of these rivers reflect the extreme discharge fluctuations, and have not previously been described. A stretch of the upper Burdekin River comprising four bends and one straight reach was examined near the town of Charters Towers. The river bed is largely exposed for most of any year, with a small, misfit perennial channel carrying low stage flow. Major geomorphic elements of bends include point bars with ridge-and-swale topography, three distinct types of chute channels, avalanche slipfaces up to 5 m or more high around the downstream edges of bars, and on the outer part of one point bar an elevated, vegetated ridge. Straight reaches are flat or gently inclined, sand- and gravel-covered surfaces. Much of the river bed is covered by well sorted, in places gravelly, coarse to very coarse-grained sand with local accumulations of pebble to boulder gravel. Lower parts of the river bed are periodically draped by mud which is desiccated on exposure. Dunes and plane beds are the most commonly occurring bedforms, with local development of gravelly antidunes. Most bank tops and upper, vegetated bars are covered by silt and fine-grained sand. The river bed also hosts a low-diversity but locally high-abundance, flood-tolerant flora dominated by the paperbark tree Melaleuca argentea, which plays an important role in controlling the distribution of sediment. The gross geomorphology of the river bed and most of the sedimentary features are interpreted as having formed during major (bankfull or near bankfull) flows, which have a recurrence of about 18 years (based on 65 years hydrographic data). The initial rapid drop in discharge following flood peaks appears to preserve flood peak features on upper bars more or less intact, whereas lower areas are subjected to variable degrees of modification during falling stage and by more frequent, non-bankfull discharge events.     

Flow conditions of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand,inferred from capping bedforms and sedimentary structures

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami deposited a sheet of sand with surficial bedforms at the Andaman coast of Thailand. Here we show the recognition of bedforms and the key internal sedimentary structures as criteria of the tsunami supercritical flow condition. The presence of well‐preserved capping bedforms implied a dominant tsunami inflow. Sets of internal sedimentary structures including parallel lamination, seaward and landward inclined‐laminations, and downstream dipping laminae indicated antidune structures that were generated by a supercritical flow current in a depositional stage during the inflow. A set of seaward dipping cross‐laminations containing sand with mud drape on the surface of one depositional layer are a unique indication of an outflow structure. A majority of deposits show normal grading, but in some areas, localized reverse grading was also observed. The recognition of these capping bedforms and determination of the internal sedimentary structures provides new key criteria to help derive a better understanding of tsunami flow conditions.     

Depositional processes,bedform development and hybrid bed formation in rapidly decelerated cohesive (mud–sand) sediment flows

Flows with high suspended sediment concentrations are common in many sedimentary environments, and their flow properties may show a transitional behaviour between fully turbulent and quasi‐laminar plug flows. The characteristics of these transitional flows are known to be a function of both clay concentration and type, as well as the applied fluid stress, but so far the interaction of these transitional flows with a loose sediment bed has received little attention. Information on this type of interaction is essential for the recognition and prediction of sedimentary structures formed by cohesive transitional flows in, for example, fluvial, estuarine and deep‐marine deposits. This paper investigates the behaviour of rapidly decelerated to steady flows that contain a mixture of sand, silt and clay, and explores the effect of different clay (kaolin) concentrations on the dynamics of flow over a mobile bed, and the bedforms and stratification produced. Experiments were conducted in a recirculating slurry flume capable of transporting high clay concentrations. Ultrasonic Doppler velocity profiling was used to measure the flow velocity within these concentrated suspension flows. The development of current ripples under decelerated flows of differing kaolin concentration was documented and evolution of their height, wavelength and migration rate quantified. This work confirms past work over smooth, fixed beds which showed that, as clay concentration rises, a distinct sequence of flow types is generated: turbulent flow, turbulence‐enhanced transitional flow, lower transitional plug flow, upper transitional plug flow and a quasi‐laminar plug flow. Each of these flow types produces an initial flat bed upon rapid flow deceleration, followed by reworking of these deposits through the development of current ripples during the subsequent steady flow in turbulent flow, turbulence‐enhanced transitional flow and lower transitional plug flow. The initial flat beds are structureless, but have diagnostic textural properties, caused by differential settling of sand, silt and cohesive mud, which forms characteristic bipartite beds that initially consist of sand overlain by silt or clay. As clay concentration in the formative flow increases, ripples first increase in mean height and wavelength under turbulence‐enhanced transitional flow and lower transitional plug‐flow regimes, which is attributed to the additional turbulence generated under these flows that subsequently causes greater lee side erosion. As clay concentration increases further from a lower transitional plug flow, ripples cease to exist under the upper transitional plug flow and quasi‐laminar plug flow conditions investigated herein. This disappearance of ripples appears due to both turbulence suppression at higher clay concentrations, as well as the increasing shear strength of the bed sediment that becomes more difficult to erode as clay concentration increases. The stratification within the ripples formed after rapid deceleration of the transitional flows reflects the availability of sediment from the bipartite bed. The exact nature of the ripple cross‐stratification in these flows is a direct function of the duration of the formative flow and the texture of the initial flat bed, and ripples do not form in cohesive flows with a Reynolds number smaller than ca 12 000. Examples are given of how the unique properties of the current ripples and plane beds, developing below decelerated transitional flows, could aid in the interpretation of depositional processes in modern and ancient sediments. This interpretation includes a new model for hybrid beds that explains their formation in terms of a combination of vertical grain‐size segregation and longitudinal flow transformation.     

A unified model for bedform development and equilibrium under unidirectional,oscillatory and combined‐flows

The development of bedforms under unidirectional, oscillatory and combined‐flows results from temporal changes in sediment transport, flow and morphological response. In such flows, the bedform characteristics (for example, height, wavelength and shape) change over time, from their initiation to equilibrium with the imposed conditions, even if the flow conditions remain unchanged. These variations in bedform morphology during development are reflected in the sedimentary structures preserved in the rock record. Hence, understanding the time and morphological development in which bedforms evolve to an equilibrium stage is critical for informed reconstruction of the ancient sedimentary record. This article presents results from a laboratory flume study on bedform development and equilibrium development time conducted under purely unidirectional, purely oscillatory and combined‐flow conditions, which aimed to test and extend an empirical model developed in past work solely for unidirectional ripples. The present results yield a unified model for bedform development and equilibrium under unidirectional, oscillatory and combined‐flows. The experimental results show that the processes of bedform genesis and growth are common to all types of flows, and can be characterized into four stages: (i) incipient bedforms; (ii) growing bedforms; (iii) stabilizing bedforms; and (iv) fully developed bedforms. Furthermore, the development path of bedform; growth exhibits the same general trend for different flow types (for example, unidirectional, oscillatory and combined‐flows), bedform size (for example, small versus large ripples), bedform shape (for example, symmetrical or rounded), bedform planform geometry (for example, two‐dimensional versus three‐dimensional), flow velocities and sediment grain sizes. The equilibrium time for a wide range of bed configurations was determined and found to be inversely proportional to the sediment transport flux occurring for that flow condition.