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Large rivers are characterized by large water discharges, high suspended sediment fluxes and low slope, and typically display multiple channels that are separated by large complex bars. The most common channel style found in these rivers is characterized by the alternating presence of single and multiple channel threads. Mid‐channel compound bars separate a main deeper channel from shallower secondary channels, leading to low‐order braiding and low to moderate sinuosity. Despite the importance of this type of river for global terrestrial sediment transport and the interpretation of ancient fluvial successions, integrated depositional models for large multi‐channel rivers are still not fully developed. This paper interprets the channel morphodynamics and depositional architecture of such large rivers by investigating the distinctive features of their laterally‐accreting mid‐channel bars in the Solimões–Amazonas River. This is achieved by examination of temporal series of satellite images, quantification of bedforms using multibeam echosounding surveys, analysis of shallow seismic and ground penetrating radar surveys of selected areas, and on‐site field observations and sample collections. Such mid‐channel bars produce directional variability in planform scroll bar accretion of up to 180°. As these bars – and their associated channels – evolve, they become progressively shallower, due to the bifurcation of the two channels and the resultant partitioning of discharge that leads to a gradual reduction in transport capacity within the outer channel. The preserved successions of this process in the alluvial plain are characterized by fining‐upward trends, with larger cross‐strata sets at mid‐depths and internal erosional surfaces marking distinct cycles of bar development with potentially differing palaeocurrent trends. The new depositional models proposed for these mid‐channel bars and channels constitute a basis for the recognition of large multi‐channel river deposits in the ancient rock record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cone penetration tests, a method that is typically used to determine the engineering properties of soils, can be used as an effective tool for refined subsurface stratigraphic investigations of alluvial and coastal plains, aside from the geographic location. High‐resolution calibration of piezocone penetration tests (CPTU) with 20 sediment cores enabled the detailed characterization of alluvial, deltaic and coastal depositional systems of the Po Plain. Twelve cored facies associations, typical of alluvial and coastal plain environments, were characterized based on four distinct CPTU profiles: basic cone resistance (Qc), sleeve friction (Fs), water pore pressure (U) and friction ratio (FR). Sandy facies associations (fluvial/distributary channel, bay‐head delta, transgressive barrier, delta‐front/beach‐ridge) typically have high (>4 MPa) Qc, low‐to‐negative U and low (<2%) FR. Muddy deposits (well‐drained/poorly‐drained floodplain, swamp, lagoon and prodelta) exhibit opposite trends. Heterolithic facies associations (crevasse‐levée, offshore/delta‐front transition) display characteristic seesaw profiles. Plotting of late Quaternary deposits onto the latest version of the cone penetration test typical soil behaviour chart (Robertson, 2010) enables the identification of distinctive facies associations reflecting distinctive grain size. CPTU interpretation leads to sedimentary facies recognition well beyond the simple lithological differentiation and, in particular, allows the refined characterization of clay‐rich and silt‐rich depositional units (swamp clays and peats, central‐inner and outer lagoon, proximal/distal prodelta deposits) that exhibit only subtle differences in lithology. CPTU data can also serve for the accurate detection of key stratigraphic surfaces with potential engineering applications, such as the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary. This latter, a common feature of several alluvial and coastal plain successions, is commonly marked by an abrupt upward decrease of basic cone resistance and sleeve friction from Late Pleistocene, pedogenized, stiff strata to overlying Holocene, organic‐rich, soft deposits. This study offers an updated CPTU‐facies characterization method that could be suitable for subsurface investigations of modern alluvial and coastal plains worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subsurface fluvial deposits in coastline‐proximal settings record the spatiotemporal evolution of the coastal landscape and may be viable repositories of sediment for future coastal restoration projects. However, quantitative linkages between the geomorphic form and stratigraphic expression of coastal plain fluvial elements remain lacking, complicating coastal stratigraphic interpretations and subsurface resource assessment. This study explores the expression and preservation of fluvial coastal plain geomorphic features through outcrop‐scale seismic stratigraphic analysis of ultra‐high‐resolution chirp acoustic reflection data from the north‐western Gulf of Mexico inner continental shelf, offshore the Brazos River, Texas, USA. The chirp data exhibit decimetre‐scale vertical resolution within the upper 35 m of the shelf, evincing the preservation of two distinct types of coexisting fluvial channel‐forms: Type 1, a 1 km wide and 9 m deep single‐storey channel belt filled with sand‐rich lateral accretion deposits and channel fills; and Type 2, numerous 10 to 800 m wide and 1 to 20 m deep incisional floodplain channels filled with extensive drapes of overbank‐derived sediments. The chirp data resolve fluvial geomorphic elements including lateral accretion surfaces, levées, floodplain deposits and abandoned channel fills. Rollover of lateral accretion surfaces, widespread draping of seismic reflectors within channel fills, and quantitative comparison between the interpreted stratigraphic forms and analogous features on the nearby Texas Coastal Plain suggest near‐complete stratigraphic preservation of the geomorphic form of both channel belt and floodplain channel elements. Rapid aggradation of the coastal plain by the Brazos River in this region during the Holocene transgression is hypothesized as a mechanism for the high degree of preservation achieved. This study proposes the first recognition criteria for the seismic stratigraphic expression of coastal floodplain channels and provides direct linkages between the geomorphic and stratigraphic expression of a coastal plain fluvial landscape, promoting improved coastal stratigraphic interpretations and assessment of subsurface lithofacies distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increased application of subsurface datasets below the limits of seismic resolution, reconstructing near‐surface deformation of shallow key stratigraphic markers beneath modern alluvial and coastal plains through sediment core analysis has received little attention. Highly resolved stratigraphy of Upper Pleistocene to Holocene (Marine Isotope Stage 5e to Marine Isotope Stage 1) alluvial, deltaic and coastal depositional systems across the southern Po Plain, down to 150 m depth, provides an unambiguous documentation on the deformation of previously flat‐lying strata that goes back in time beyond the limits of morphological, historical and palaeoseismic records. Five prominent key horizons, accurately selected on the basis of their sedimentological characteristics and typified for their fossil content, were used as highly effective stratigraphic markers (M1 to M5) that can be tracked for tens of kilometres across the basin. A facies‐controlled approach tied to a robust chronology (102 radiocarbon dates) reveals considerable deformation of laterally extensive nearshore (M1), continental (M2 and M3) and lagoon (M4 and M5) marker beds originally deposited in a horizontal position (M1, M4 and M5). The areas where antiformal geometries are best observed are remarkably coincident with the axes of buried ramp anticlines, across which new seismic images reveal substantially warped stratal geometries of Lower Pleistocene strata. The striking spatial coincidence of fold crests with the epicentres of historic and instrumental seismicity suggests that deformation of marker beds M1 to M5 might reflect, in part at least, syntectonically generated relief and, thus, active tectonism. Precise identification and lateral tracing of chronologically constrained stratigraphic markers in the 14C time window through combined sedimentological and palaeoecological data may delineate late Quaternary subsurface stratigraphic architecture at an unprecedented level of detail, outlining cryptic stratal geometries at the sub‐seismic scale. This approach is highly reproducible in tectonically active Quaternary depositional systems and can help to assess patterns of active deformation in the subsurface of modern alluvial and coastal plains worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed descriptions of the architecture of dryland‐river deposits are few, which hinders the understanding of stratigraphic development in aggradational settings. The aim of this study was to obtain new insight into the depositional dynamics and resultant stratigraphy of steep, high‐energy dryland rivers in particular. The study site is within the Luni River, the largest river in the Thar Desert, India. A 700 m wide section, 5 m deep, was logged and the dated‐stratification related to the flow regimen. Seasonal discharges may reach 14 000 m3 sec−1 but the bed is usually dry. The deposits consist mainly of sandy upper‐stage plane bed lamination and low‐angle stratification deposited in supercritical flows with some strata showing gravel‐lense antidune signatures. Estimated hydraulic parameters indicate a dominance of the upper‐stage plane bed state. Less frequent dune trough cross‐sets occur at all depths, yet commonly as isolated sets with erosive upper boundaries. Localized deep scour causes slumping and soft‐sediment deformation. Scour holes adjacent to older bedded deposits are rapidly infilled, often by massive deposits. Repeated deep scour results in units of deposition of different ages (50 to 500 a bp) and different facies found at similar shallow depths (2 to 3 m). Older dates (1 to 2 ka bp) occur in lower strata (4 to 5 m depths) at which depths younger units also are preserved locally. The steep, high‐energy depositional environment promotes the unusual preservation and predominance of upper‐stage facies, in contrast to a relative paucity of lower‐stage facies. Frequent local deep‐scour during floods means that specific facies rarely can be traced across the river channel for more than a few metres, but are replaced by other facies in close proximity. These results should help interpretation of high‐energy sediment deposits widely and improve understanding of the stratigraphic development in modern dryland rivers, and in characterizing oil, gas and groundwater reservoirs in the dryland geological record more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the late Carnian (Late Triassic), a carbonate-clastic depositional system including a distal alluvial plain, flood basin and sabkha, tidal flat and shallow carbonate lagoon was established in the Dolomites (Northern Italy). The flood basin was a muddy supratidal environment where marine carbonates and continental siliciclastics interfingered. A dolomite phase made of sub-micrometre euhedral crystals with a mosaic microstructure of nanometre-scale domains was identified in stromatolitic laminae of the flood basin embedded in clay. This dolomite is interpreted here as primary and has a nearly stoichiometric composition, as opposed to younger early diagenetic (not primary) dolomite phases, which are commonly calcian. This primary dolomite was shielded from later diagenetic transformation by the clay. The stable isotopic composition of dolomite was analyzed along a depositional transect. The δ13C values range between ca −6‰ and +4‰, with the most 13C-depleted values in dolomites of the distal alluvial plain and flood basin, and the most 13C-enriched in dolomites of the tidal flat and lagoon. Uniform δ18O values ranging between 0‰ and +3‰ were found in all sedimentary facies. It is hypothesized that the primary dolomite with mosaic microstructure nucleated on extracellular polymeric substances secreted by sulphate reducing bacteria. A multi-step process involving sabkha and reflux dolomitization led to partial replacement and overgrowth of the primary dolomite, but replacement and overgrowth were facies-dependent. Dolomites of the landward, clay-rich portion of the sedimentary system were only moderately overgrown during late dolomitization steps, and partly retain an isotopic signature consistent with bacterial sulphate reduction with δ13C as low as −6‰. In contrast, dolomites of the marine, clay-free part of the system were probably transformed through sabkha and reflux diagenetic processes into calcian varieties, and exhibit δ13C values of ca +3‰. Major shifts of δ13C values strictly follow the lateral migration of facies and thus mark transgressions and regressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about controls on river avulsion at geological time scales longer than 104 years, primarily because it is difficult to link observed changes in alluvial architecture to well-defined allogenic mechanisms and to disentangle allogenic from autogenic processes. Recognition of Milankovitch-sale orbital forcing in alluvial stratigraphy would provide unprecedented age control in terrestrial deposits, and also exploit models of allogenic forcing enabling more rigorous testing of allocyclic and autocyclic controls. The Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin is a lower Eocene fluvial unit distinctive for its thick sequence of laterally extensive lithological cycles on a scale of 4 to 10 m. Intervals of red palaeosols that formed on overbank mudstones are related to periods of relative channel stability when gradients between channel belts and floodplains were low. The intervening drab, heterolithic intervals with weak palaeosol development are attributed to episodes of channel avulsion that occurred when channels became super-elevated above the floodplain. In the Deer Creek Amphitheater section in the McCullough Peaks area, these overbank and avulsion deposits alternate with a dominant cycle thickness of ca 7·1 m. Using integrated stratigraphic age constraints, this cyclicity has an estimated period of ca 21·6 kyr, which is in the range of the period of precession climate cycles in the early Eocene. Previous analyses of three older and younger sections in the Bighorn Basin showed a similar 7 to 8 m spacing of red palaeosol clusters with an estimated duration close to the precession period. Intervals of floodplain stability alternating with episodes of large-scale reorganization of the fluvial system could be entirely autogenic; however, the remarkable regularity and the match in time scales documented here indicate that these alternations were probably paced by allogenic, astronomically forced climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the distribution of channel-bed sediment facies in the lowermost Mississippi River is analysed using multibeam data, complemented by sidescan sonar and compressed high-intensity radar pulse seismic data, as well as grab and core samples of bed material. The channel bed is composed of a discontinuous layer of alluvial sediment and a relict substratum that is exposed on the channel bed and sidewalls. The consolidated substratum is made up of latest Pleistocene and Early Holocene fluvio-deltaic deposits and is preferentially exposed in the deepest thalweg segments and on channel sidewalls in river bends. The exposed substratum commonly displays a suite of erosional features, including flutes that are quantitatively similar in form to those produced under known laboratory conditions. A total of five bed facies are mapped, three of which include modern alluvial deposits and two facies that are associated with the relict substratum. A radius of curvature analysis applied to the Mississippi River centreline demonstrates that the reach-scale distribution of channel-bed facies is related to river planform. From a broader perspective, the distribution of channel-bed facies is related to channel sinuosity - higher sinuosity promotes greater substratum exposure at the expense of alluvial sediment. For example, the ratio of alluvial cover to substratum is ca 1·5:1 for a 45 km segment of the river that has a sinuosity of 1·76 and this ratio increases to ca 3:1 for a 120 km segment of the river that has a sinuosity of 1·21. The exposed substratum is interpreted as bedrock and, given the relative coverage of alluvial sediment in the channel, the lowermost Mississippi River can be classified as a mixed bedrock-alluvial channel. The analyses demonstrate that a mixed bedrock-alluvial channel boundary can be associated with low-gradient and sand-bed rivers near their marine outlet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A numerical model presented here develops a three-dimensional image of alluvial media on an elementary scale significant for groundwater flow modelling. The model was tested on the alluvial plain of the Rhône River (France), on a scale of several kilometres and, from geomorphological observations and dating, reproduced the construction of this alluvial plain from ≈15 000 years BP to the present. The history of the alluvial plain during the Late Glacial and Holocene periods is summarized. Through most of this time, the River Rhône has maintained a braided pattern, with the exception of two incising phases with a meander pattern. The model does not use any physically based equations or water representation. The main processes governing the construction of the plain are modelled by simple rules chosen according to geometrical or empirical laws taken from the literature or as modelling assumptions. Using multi-agent concepts of distribution and interaction of elementary entities, these sedimentary rules are applied to ‘sediment’ entities or to conceptual ‘erosion’ entities that simulate local deposition and erosion of sediments. The sedimentation model reproduces the various climatic periods during which the sediments were deposited by simulating genetic periods and associated modelled processes. For each period, the model was constrained by quantitative field data such as altitude of ancient channels and deposits or thickness of sediments. The general geometry of the alluvial deposits was satisfactorily reproduced. During the simulation, characteristic large-scale features emerge despite the use of local rules. The model results are discussed with reference to other approaches, such as geostatistical or Boolean models, and the applicability of the model to other less documented alluvial plains is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the anatomy and evolution of a Lower Cretaceous alluvial plain in the upper Blairmore Group in Alberta, Canada. Recognition of five types of palaeosols in the upper Blairmore Group based on lithology, the presence of pedogenic features and degree of horizonization; Regional distribution of various types of palaeosols.

Blackband iron formations are essentially thin (approximately 0.75 m thick) siderite-rich (total iron up to 40%), carbonaceous, laminated mudrocks which commonly occur in grey coal bearing sequences in close proximity to coal seams. They exhibit a conspicuous laminated macrotexture made up of carbonaceous and siderite-rich laminae together with primary textures such as root-disturbed laminae, sideritized unflattened spores and preservation of plant cell detail. These all point to formation of siderite soon after deposition, in some cases before significant compaction. Their enclosing sediments clearly show that they were deposited in environments intermediate between delta top alluvial floodplains and coastal plain swamps in which small areas were subjected to periods of lacustrine deposition. The presence of varved mudrocks and oil shales in the beds directly above many of the blackband iron formations and the distinctive fine lamination of the blackbands are evidence of such depositional environments. The blackband iron formations are considered to have been formed in a similar way to Recent bog iron ores and are therefore interpreted as fossil bog iron ores. A model for their mode of formation is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed lithostratigraphical, palynological and [sup14]C analyses have served to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment during two main, mid-Holocene, regional phases of increased fluvial clay and sand deposition in the Rhine/Meuse deltaic plain. The investigated location lies in a broad area transitional to the upstream fluviatile and the downstream marine (lagoon/tidal flat) deposition zones. The palaeoenvironment appears to have been extensive, permanent open water intersected by the wooded natural levees of many small river channels. The term fluviolagoon is proposed for this typical environment, as illustrated here by three-dimensional oblique landscape drawings. A present-day example is found in the Magdalena river deltaic plain, Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a Markov chain analysis applied to an ancient alluvial plain succession. Sedimentary successions laid down under the control of Markovian processes; Analysis of key issues of interest; Implications on sedimentology.