Evolution and deposits of a gravelly braid bar, Sagavanirktok River, Alaska

The evolution, migration and deposits of a gravelly braid bar in the Sagavanirktok River, northern Alaska, are described in unprecedented detail using annual aerial photographs, ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) profiles, trenches and cores. Compound braid bars in the Sagavanirktok River form by chute cut‐off of point bars and by growth of mid‐channel unit bars. Subsequent growth is primarily by accretion of unit bars onto their lateral and downstream margins. The upstream ends of braid bars may be sites of erosion or unit bar deposition. Compound braid bar deposits vary in thickness laterally and are thickest in medial sections and near cut banks. Compound bar deposits are typically composed of three to seven sets of simple large‐scale inclined strata, each simple set formed by a unit bar. The simple large‐scale strata contain medium‐scale cross‐strata (from dune migration) and planar strata (from migration of bedload sheets). The upstream and medial parts of compound braid bar deposits show very little vertical variation in grain size, but downstream and lateral margins tend to fine upwards. The deposits are mostly poorly sorted sands and gravels, although sands tend to be deposited at the top of the braid bar, and open‐framework gravels preferentially occur near the top and base of the braid bar. The patterns of braid bar growth and migration, and the nature of the deposits, described from the Sagavanirktok River are generally similar to other sandy and gravelly braided rivers, and consistent with the theoretical braid bar model of Bridge (1993).     

Evolution and sedimentology of a channel fill in the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River and its comparison to the deposits of an adjacent compound bar

The depositional stratigraphy of within‐channel deposits in sandy braided rivers is dominated by a variety of barforms (both singular ‘unit’ bars and complex ‘compound’ bars), as well as the infill of individual channels (herein termed ‘channel fills’). The deposits of bars and channel fills define the key components of facies models for braided rivers and their within‐channel heterogeneity, knowledge of which is important for reservoir characterization. However, few studies have sought to address the question of whether the deposits of bars and channel fills can be readily differentiated from each other. This paper presents the first quantitative study to achieve this aim, using aerial images of an evolving modern sandy braided river and geophysical imaging of its subsurface deposits. Aerial photographs taken between 2000 and 2004 document the abandonment and fill of a 1·3 km long, 80 m wide anabranch channel in the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River, Canada. Upstream river regulation traps the majority of very fine sediment and there is little clay (< 1%) in the bed sediments. Channel abandonment was initiated by a series of unit bars that stalled and progressively blocked the anabranch entrance, together with dune deposition and stacking at the anabranch entrance and exit. Complete channel abandonment and subsequent fill of up to 3 m of sediment took approximately two years. Thirteen kilometres of ground‐penetrating radar surveys, coupled with 18 cores, were obtained over the channel fill and an adjacent 750 m long, 400 m wide, compound bar, enabling a quantitative analysis of the channel and bar deposits. Results show that, in terms of grain‐size trends, facies proportions and scale of deposits, there are only subtle differences between the channel fill and bar deposits which, therefore, renders them indistinguishable. Thus, it may be inappropriate to assign different geometric and sedimentological attributes to channel fill and bar facies in object‐based models of sandy braided river alluvial architecture.     

The alluvial architecture of a suspended sediment dominated meandering river: the Río Bermejo,Argentina

The alluvial architecture of fine‐grained (silt‐bed) meandering rivers remains poorly understood in comparison to the extensive study given to sand‐bed and gravel‐bed channels. This paucity of knowledge stems, in part, from the difficulty of studying such modern rivers and deriving analogue information from which to inform facies models for ancient sediments. This paper employs a new technique, the parametric echosounder, to quantify the subsurface structure of the Río Bermejo, Argentina, which is a predominantly silt‐bed river with a large suspended sediment load. These results show that the parametric echosounder can provide high‐resolution (decimetre) subsurface imaging from fine‐grained rivers that is equivalent to the more commonly used ground‐penetrating radar that has been shown to work well in coarser‐grained rivers. Analysis of the data reveals that the alluvial architecture of the Río Bermejo is characterized by large‐scale inclined heterolithic stratification generated by point‐bar evolution, and associated large‐scale scour surfaces that result from channel migration. The small‐scale and medium‐scale structure of the sedimentary architecture is generated by vertical accretion deposits, bed sets associated with small bars, dunes and climbing ripples and the cut and fill from small cross‐bar channels. This style of alluvial architecture is very different from other modern fine‐grained rivers reported in the literature that emphasize the presence of oblique accretion. The Río Bermejo differs from these other rivers because it is much more active, with very high rates of bank erosion and channel migration. Modern examples of this type of highly active fine‐grained river have been reported rarely in the literature, although ancient examples are more prevalent and show similarities with the alluvial architecture of the Río Bermejo, which thus represents a useful analogue for their identification and interpretation. Although the full spectrum of the sedimentology of fine‐grained rivers has yet to be revealed, meandering rivers dominated by lateral or oblique accretion probably represent end members of such channels, with the specific style of sedimentation being controlled by grain size and sediment load characteristics.     

Bar structure in an arid ephemeral stream

This study describes the structure of gravel bars in Nahal Zin, an ephemeral stream in the Negev desert. The internal structure of the bars was examined along trenches and in shallow pits. Gravel sheets and unit bars form during transporting flow events in the main channel, on intra-bar channels and near bar heads. Unit bars are dominated by the Go facies. Compound bars develop from accretion around, and modification of, unit bars. Compound bars are active under the current flow regime and the average depth of the fill layer is about 35 cm. The structure of compound bars is dominated by Gm (massive), containing large amounts of sand. The second most common facies is clast-supported, openwork, and well sorted sediments of the Go (pebbles) facies. Bar formation, and the development of the range of facies evident in the bars is controlled by sediment supply, particularly the high volumes of sand-sized sediment, the passage of gravel sheets and bedforms during floods, and the lateral and vertical instability of the channel. Repeated scour and fill events have produced a diverse arrangement of facies, with numerous erosional contacts between depositional units. Lateral and downstream shifts in the pattern of scour and fill due to flow and antecedent conditions shape the channel morphology and bar internal structure. Ephemeral river bars differ from those of humid and proglacial rivers in terms of the dominant facies present, the arrangement of the facies within the bars, and the sedimentary structures developed within the depositional units and on the bar surface.     

Formation of braided river floodplains, Waimakariri River, New Zealand

Floodplains along the braided gravel-bed Waimakariri River are discontinuous although generally extensive landforms composed predominantly of gravel bars capped with vertically accreted fines. In order of importance, three mechanisms lead to floodplain formation. River bed abandonment by lateral migration of the braid-train initiates the formation of the largest floodpiains, which usually occur downstream of tributary fans and valley bedrock spurs. In the headwater reaches, localized river bed aggradation during high magnitude events leads to floodplain formation by producing a surface resistant to erosion by lesser events due to either the coarse nature of the deposit, or by its elevation over the river bed, or both. The least important mechanism initiating floodplain development is localized river or channel incision. A six stage model is proposed for the sequential development of floodplains on the Waimakariri River from: (i) active river bed; (ii) stabilizing bar; (iii) incipient floodplain; (iv) established floodplain; (v) mature floodplain; and to (vi) terrace. Two mechanisms, lateral migration by the braid-train and reactivation of abandoned channels within floodplains, operating separately or in combination, are responsible for floodplain reworking and their relatively young age (<250 years). Clearly, braided rivers can construct substantial areas of well developed floodplain.     

Studies in fluviatile sedimentation: Bars,bar-complexes and sandstone sheets (low-sinuosity braided streams) in the brownstones (L. devonian), welsh borders

The fine to very coarse sandstones, gravelly sandstones and intraformational conglomerates of the mid to upper Brownstones are excellently exposed in large fresh road cuttings near Ross-on-Wye in the southern Welsh Borders. Detailed mapping of the cuttings reveals an hierarchically ordered system of mainly erosional bedding contacts which divide the beds into hierarchically structured packets. The smallest packets, involving cross-bedded or plane-bedded sediments or combinations of these, are consistent with deposition from strongly three-dimensional and often large, loosely periodic to non-repetitive bars. A locally developed facies of trough cross-bedded sandstones points to the infrequent occurrence of fields of three-dimensional dunes. The bar- and dune-related units are grouped into large complexes (related to the storeys of other workers), with an internal geometry consistent with lateral accretion (in places clearly symmetrical) combined with forward accretion on shoals (sand flats) within a braided channel, as in the South Saskatchewan River. In their turn, the complexes are combined into laterally extensive, conglomerate-floored sandstone sheets several metres thick. These seem to express the wandering of a braided channel across a mud-draped floodplain. To judge from the sedimentary structures and textures, the thickness of the lateral accretion deposits, and the size of the major scours, the bankfull discharge of the rivers was a few thousand cumecs each.     

Grain-size sorting within river bars in relation to downstream fining along a wandering channel

The textural variability of river bed gravels at bar scales is poorly understood, as are the relations between variability at this scale and at reach and river scales. Surface and subsurface grain‐size distributions were therefore examined at reach, bar and bedform scales along lower Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada. Grain‐size variations within compound bars are conditioned by longitudinal position, elevation and morphological setting. Surface and subsurface sediments tend to decrease in median size from bar head to bar tail by 33% and 17%, respectively. Sediment size is constrained at some upper limit that is inversely related to bar surface elevation and which is consistent with competence considerations. The surface sediments on unit bars are finer and better sorted than the bed materials in bar‐top channels and along the main bar edges. Secondary unit bars tend to have a lower sand content than other features, a consequence of sediment resorting. Individual unit bars and gravel sheets exhibit streamwise grain‐size fining and lee‐side sand deposition. Over time, significant amounts of cut and fill do not ipso facto cause changes in surface grain sizes; yet, sediment characteristics can change without any significant morphological adjustment taking place. At the reach scale there is a clear downstream fining trend, but local variability is consistently high due to within‐bar variations. The surface median grain‐size range on individual bars is, on average, 25% of that along the entire 50 km reach but is 68% on one bar. While the overall fining trend yields a downstream change in surface median size of 0·76 mm km^?1, the average value for ‘head‐to‐tail’ size reduction on individual bars is 6·3 mm km^?1, an order of magnitude difference that highlights the effectiveness of bar‐scale sorting processes in gravel‐bed rivers. Possibilities for modelling bar‐scale variability and the interaction of the different controls that are identified are discussed.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111000570

Mid-Cretaceous strata within the Tintina Trench.3 km west of the community of Ross River, contain evidence of deposition in two distinct,alternating,fluvial settings.Coal-bearing,mud-dominated strata are commonly associated with high-constructive sandy channel systems,with extensive overbank. levee and splay deposits.Channels are between 3 and 30 m wide and 0.4-7 m thick.They show repetitive development of side and in-channel bar-forms,as well as up-channel widening of the rivers by selective erosion of associated overbank and levee deposits.Levees extended for several hundred metres away from the channels.In this setting low-angle inclined stratification and epsilon cross stratification may reflect lateral migration of crevasse channels or small streams.The paucity of exposure prevents recognition of the channels as products of multiple channel anastomosed systems or single channel high-constructive systems. Gravel-dominated strata,inter-bedded with,and overlying coal-bearing units,are interpreted as deposits of wandering gravel-bed rivers,with sinuosity approaching 1.4.In most exposures they appear to be dominated by massive and thin planar-bedded granule to small pebble conglomerates,which would traditionally be interpreted as sheet-flood or longitudinal bar deposits of a high-gradient braided stream or alluvial fan.Architectural analysis of exposures in an open-pit shows that the predominance of flat bedding is an artefact of the geometry of the roadside exposures.In the pit the conglomerates are dominated by large scale cross stratification on a scale of 1-5.5 m.These appear to have developed as downstream and lateral accretion elements on side-bars and on in-channel bars in water depths of 2-12 m.Stacking of strata on domed 3rd order surfaces suggests development of longitudinal in-channel bar complexes similar to those observed in parts of the modern Rhone River system.Mudstone preserved in some of the channels reflects intervals of channel abandonment or avulsion.Minimum channel width is from 70 to 450 m.     

A quantitative, three-dimensional depositional model of gravelly braided rivers

A quantitative, three‐dimensional depositional model of gravelly, braided rivers has been developed based largely on the deposits of the Sagavanirktok River in northern Alaska. These deposits were described using cores, wireline logs, trenches and ground‐penetrating radar profiles. The origin of the deposits was inferred from observations of: (1) channel and bar formation and migration and channel filling, interpreted from aerial photographs; (2) water flow during floods; and (3) the topography and texture of the river bed at low‐flow stage. This depositional model quantitatively represents the geometry of the different scales of strataset, the spatial relationships among them and their sediment texture distribution. Porosity and permeability in the model are related to sediment texture. The geometry of a particular type and scale of strataset is related to the geometry and migration of the bedform type (e.g. ripples, dunes, bedload sheets, bars) associated with deposition of the strataset. In particular, the length‐to‐thickness ratio of stratasets is similar to the wavelength‐to‐height ratio of associated bedforms. Furthermore, the wavelength and height of bedforms such as dunes and bars are related to channel depth and width. Therefore, the thickness of a particular scale of strataset (i.e. medium‐scale cross‐sets and large‐scale sets of inclined strata) will vary with river dimensions. These relationships between the dimensions of stratasets, bedforms and channels mean that this depositional model can be applied to other gravelly fluvial deposits. The depositional model can be used to interpret the origin of ancient gravelly fluvial deposits and to aid in the characterization of gravelly fluvial aquifers and hydrocarbon reservoirs.     

Sedimentation in a meandering gravel-bed river: The River Tywi,South Wales

Previous studies of meandering gravel-bed rivers have illustrated a wide range of bar types. The River Tywi of South Wales shows that significant variations of accretionary style can also occur within a single river. There is a downstream decrease in the proportion of lateral bars to point bars and changes in the morphological characteristics of these point bars. Three types are recognized: simple, linguoid and multi-unit point bars. Sedimentation on the concave sides of meander bends is locally important. The changes of bar type are accompanied by different styles of channel behaviour. The River Tywi is interpreted to have deposited multilateral gravel sheets, composed of partially reworked and abandoned bars and dissected by palaeochannels and sloughs. Bar deposits consist of parallel-bedded gravel, inclined laterally-accreted gravel, local angle-of-repose foresets and inclined lenses of heterolithic beds. The proportion of the various sedimentary structures and the geometry of the abandoned bars varies along the Tywi valley because of the patterns of bar distribution and channel behaviour. The deposits of this river have strong affinities with Tertiary sequences in the Italian Apennines, previously interpreted as the deposits of meandering gravel-bed rivers. This type of river is not readily distinguished from ‘Scott type’ braided streams in the geological record, unless exposures are particularly good. In this respect, the presence of abundant, inclined heterolithic wedges and lenses may be a useful diagnostic criterion.     

Sedimentology and morphology of a low-sinuosity river: Calamus River, Nebraska Sand Hills

A study reach of the Calamus River, Nebraska Sand Hills, has a low sinuosity (less than 1.3) and braiding parameter (less than 1). Depending on sinuosity, the channel is occupied by alternate bars and point bars, the emergent parts of which form nuclei for midstream bars (islands). Channel migration occurs by bend expansion and translation, downstream and lateral growth of islands, and by chute cutoff. Channel-bed sediment is mainly medium-grained sand, but gravel and coarser sand sizes occur in thalweg areas adjacent to cutbanks and upstream parts of bars and islands, and finer sands occur on the downstream parts of bars and filling channels. Curved-crested dunes cover most of the channel bed at most flow stages, with ripples restricted to shallow areas near banks. Bed material is mostly large-scale cross-stratified, with small-scale cross-strata interbedded with plant debris occurring in topographically high areas near banks. Vibracores through channel bars show a basal erosion surface overlain by large-scale cross-stratified sands, in turn overlain by small-scale cross-stratified sand interbedded with plant debris. The overall sequence generally fines upwards, but the large-scale cross-stratified portion either fines upwards, coarsens upwards, or shows little grain size variation. Lithofacies distributions vary spatially within and between bars depending on position in the bar and local channel curvature/width, in a similar way to unbraided rivers elsewhere. Lithofacies of bar deposits are similar to those in the active channel, and the elevations of the basal erosion surface and adjacent channel thalweg correspond closely. Channels abandoned by chute cutoff are filled progressively from the upstream end, and comprise deposits similar to the downstream parts of bars (i.e. fining upwards). The downstream extremities of channel fills may contain large proportions of peat relative to sand, but little mud due to the paucity of such fine suspended load in the Calamus.     

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.     

Large-scale structure of Calamus River deposits (Nebraska, USA) revealed using ground-penetrating radar

The large-scale (i.e. bar-scale) structure of channel deposits of the braided, low-sinuosity Calamus River, Nebraska, is described using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiles combined with vibracores. Basal erosion surfaces are generally overlain by medium-scale, trough-cross-stratified (sets 3–25 cm thick), very coarse to medium sands, that are associated with relatively high amplitude, discontinuous GPR reflectors. Overlying deposits are bioturbated, small-scale cross-stratified (sets <3 cm thick) and vegetation-rich, fine to very-fine sands, that are associated with low-amplitude discontinuous reflectors. Near-surface peat and turf have no associated GPR reflectors. In along-stream profiles through braid and point bars, most GPR reflectors dip downstream at up to 2° relative to the basal erosion surface, but some reflectors in the upstream parts of bars are parallel to the basal erosion surface or dip upstream. In cross-stream profiles through bars, GPR reflectors are either approximately parallel to bar surfaces or have low-angle inclinations (up to 6°) towards cut banks of adjacent curved channels. Basal erosion surfaces become deeper towards cut banks of curved channels. These structures can be explained by lateral and downstream growth of bars combined with vertical accretion. Convex upwards forms up to 0·5 m high, several metres across and tens of metres long represent episodic accretion of unit bars (scroll bars and bar heads). Stratal patterns in channel fills record a complicated history of erosion and deposition during filling, including migration of relatively small bars. A revised facies model for this type of sandy, braided river has been constructed based on this new information on large-scale bedding structure.     

曲流串沟型江心洲形成机制与演化探讨

曲流串沟型江心洲是现代河流水利学研究关注的重要河流要素,不同于曲流河点坝和辫状河心滩,但在油气储层沉积学研究中鲜有关注。选取现代松花江典型河段,开展基于水动力学的沉积数值模拟,恢复曲流串沟型江心洲的演化过程,建立了曲流串沟型江心洲演化模式。研究结果表明:1）洪水期曲流河发生漫滩冲刷,串沟发育扩张,截弯取直,形成分汊河道及江心洲地貌;2）分汊偏移角、相对梯度优势可用于预测短期汊道存在的稳定性;3）串沟型江心洲形成于曲流点坝残余沉积之上,发育洲头侵蚀、洲尾加积、翼部双侧积,但垂向加积主要发育在顶部,不构成沉积主体结构。通过上述研究建立了曲流江心洲沉积模式,揭示了曲流河江心洲内部结构及分汊河道水动力特征,对现代河流治理和地下河流沉积储层刻画有指导意义。     

吐哈盆地WM油田辫状河三角洲前缘砂体分析

湖盆可容空间较小时,辫状河三角洲相对发育,水下分支河道横向迁移频繁,易形成席状分布的砂体 (水下分支河道复合体 )。可容空间增大时,辫状河三角洲相对不发育,水下分支河道延伸不远,河道砂体较孤立,河口坝相对比较发育。文中根据水流和波浪强弱提出九种水下分支河道与河口坝的关系图,基本上总结了吐哈盆地WM油田三间房组河口坝的形态;并对水下分支河道复合体的形成机制提出了独特的推理。     

Reappraisal of Precambrian sheet‐braided rivers: Evidence for 1·9 Ga deep‐channelled drainage

The repetitive sedimentology of many Precambrian sheet‐dominated fluvial sandstones favoured their attribution to unconfined depositional processes. This article presents outcrop evidence for deep‐channelled drainage in the 1·9 Ga Burnside River Formation of Kilohigok Basin, Arctic Canada. On the ground, sheet‐like sandbodies with ubiquitous cross‐bedding are at first consistent with classic, unconfined depositional models. However, satellite and oblique‐aerial imagery of sections up to 15 km wide and 500 m thick reveals the occurrence of incised palaeovalleys hosting clustered, kilometre‐scale, channel bodies with attached large foreset bars pointing to downstream‐lateral accretion, sand sheets with aspect ratios (i.e. width to thickness) as high as 2500, and scattered aeolian intervals. The genetic association of these architectural elements points to aggradational fluvial piedmonts composed of low‐relief unit bars generated by braidplain channels several metres deep. Preservation of aeolianites was facilitated by fluctuating groundwater table and accommodation. Fluvial piedmonts were transected by weakly sinuous channel belts up to 25 m deep and characterized by through‐going or tributary planform. Aspect ratios comparable with those of late Palaeozoic to modern braided channels disprove the inference that all Precambrian streams readily widened in response to increased discharge. Previous facies models for large‐scale Precambrian sheet‐braided rivers failed to depict entire channel forms, possibly because they could not be resolved by ground‐based observations. Based on their limited geomorphic variability and abundance of architectural elements with very high aspect ratios, this study recommends that large sheet‐braided fluvial systems should still be considered separately from their post‐Silurian (i.e. vegetated) braided counterparts. Parallels between sheet‐braided and modern dryland rivers do not, however, reconcile with the deep, perennial, channelized processes described here. Yet, distal sand‐bed and perennial reaches of modern sandur plains remain the closest analogue to sheet‐braided rivers. This conjecture contradicts the assumption that all Precambrian rivers were prone to simulate seasonal behaviours independently from their actual climate regime.     

远源浅水辫状河三角洲前缘储层构型模式研究:以冀中坳陷饶阳凹陷留西油田L18断块为例*

利用渤海湾盆地冀中坳陷饶阳凹陷留西油田留18断块内岩心、录井、测井、三维地震以及生产动态资料,应用层次分析的方法,对远源浅水辫状河三角洲前缘进行了相带划分,对砂体构型进行了解剖,明确了各相带内沉积构型样式的特征,建立了远源浅水辫状河三角洲前缘精细的沉积构型模式。研究表明: (1)研究区水体整体较浅,远源浅水辫状河三角洲前缘亚相广泛发育,并进一步分为前缘近端、前缘中端和前缘远端3个相带,不同相带在砂体厚度、岩性组合特征和砂体横向连通性等方面存在差异。(2)前缘远端水下分流河道水动力较弱,所携带沉积物较少,形成横向连通性较差的小规模河口坝,河口坝之间的厚层泥质披覆夹层为主要的夹层类型。(3)前缘中端分流河道水动力强度中等,形成串珠状或分叉树枝状的河口坝,单一河口坝由2~4期前积增生体构成,前积倾角约2.2°,增生体间的泥质披覆夹层为主要的夹层类型。(4)前缘近端分流河道水流强度较大,下切作用较强,所携带沉积物较多;下伏河口坝互相叠置切割,形成连片分布的复合体;单个河口坝由多个前积增生体构成,前积倾角约3.5°,增生体内的漫溢夹层及增生体间的泥质披覆夹层为主要夹层类型。     

Precambrian snapshots: Morphodynamics of Torridonian fluvial braid bars revealed by three‐dimensional photogrammetry and outcrop sedimentology

Pre‐vegetation fluvial channels have long been considered predominantly sheet‐like in geometry, owing to hydraulic sections that rapidly widened rather than incise during floods. This motif has been paralleled to that of modern dryland rivers subject to sharp discharge fluctuations during ephemeral floods. However, a number of Precambrian fluvial successions have been recently appraised as the product of deep‐channelled systems characterized by relatively stable – probably perennial – discharge regimes. One such example is the ca 1·0 Ga Applecross Formation, part of the well‐studied Torridon Group of Scotland. To contribute to this debate and to provide refined morphodynamic models for the Applecross Formation, this article presents an integration of three‐dimensional photogrammetry and outcrop sedimentology applied to key exposures at Stoer Peninsula, north‐western Scottish Highlands. Analysis of selected sandbodies reveals that high‐relief fluvial sand bars, both mid‐channel and bank‐attached, evolved within deep, braided‐channel belts. These bars grew through complex mechanisms of accretion and reactivation related to different flood stages: upstream and downstream accretion probably occurred during waning‐flood stages characterized by high hydrograph levels and abundant sediment availability; lateral accretion took place during later waning‐flood stages, and it was associated in some cases with helical recirculation and increase in bend sinuosity. Overall, the depicted morphodynamics are consistent with prolonged flood events that cannot be reconciled with sharply fluctuating discharge regimes. Critical comparisons between the internal geometry of the studied bars and modern counterparts corroborate the findings herein. Thus, this study recommends stricter comparisons between the products of modern braided channels and Precambrian fluvial rock records featuring thick and well‐developed bar forms.     

Fluvial and lacustrine palaeoenvironments of the Miocene Siwalik Group, Khaur area, northern Pakistan

The Miocene Siwalik Group (upsection, the Chinji, Nagri, and Dhok Pathan Formations) in northern Pakistan records fluvial and lacustrine environments within the Himalayan foreland basin. Thick (5 m to tens of metres) sandstones are composed of channel bar and fill deposits of low-sinuousity (1·08–1·19), single-channel meandering and braided rivers which formed large, low-gradient sediment fans (or ‘megafans’). River flow was dominantly toward the south-east and likely perennial. Palaeohydraulic reconstructions indicate that Chinji and Dhok Pathan rivers were small relative to Nagri rivers. Bankfull channel depths of Chinji and Dhok Pathan rivers were generally ≤ 15 m, and up to 33 m for Nagri rivers. Widths of channel segments (including single channels of meandering rivers and individual channels around braid bars) were 320–710 m for Chinji rivers, 320–1050 m for Nagri rivers, and 270–340 m for Dhok Pathan rivers. Mean channel bed slopes were on the order of 0·000056–0·00011. Bankfull discharges of channel segments for Chinji and Dhok Pathan rivers were generally 700–800 m³s^?1, with full river discharges possibly up to 2400 m³s^?1. Bankfull discharges of channel segments for Nagri rivers were generally 1800–3500 m³s^?1, with discharges of some larger channel segments possibly on the order of 9000–32 000 m³s^?1. Full river discharges of some of the largest Nagri braided rivers may have been twice these values. Thin (decimetres to a few metres) sandstones represent deposits of levees, crevasse channels and splays, floodplain channels, and large sheet floods. Laminated mudstones represent floodplain and lacustrine deposits. Lakes were both perennial and short-lived, and likely less than 10 m deep with maximum fetches on the order of a few tens of kilometres. Trace fossils and body fossils within all facies indicate the former existence of terrestrial vertebrates, molluscs (bivalves and gastropods), arthropods (including insects), worms, aquatic fauna (e.g. fish, turtles, crocodiles), trees, bushes, grasses, and aquatic flora. Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions are consistent with previous palaeoclimatic interpretations of monsoonal conditions.