Alluvial fan

An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments shaped like a section of a shallow cone,[1] with its apex at a point source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment.[2] They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates,[3][4] but are also found in more humid environments subject to intense rainfall[1] and in areas of modern glaciation.[4] They range in area from less than 1 square kilometre (0.39 sq mi)[4][5] to almost 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi).[6]

Alluvial fan in the French Pyrenees

Alluvial fans typically form where flow emerges from a confined channel and is free to spread out and infiltrate the surface. This reduces the carrying capacity of the flow and results in deposition of sediments.[1] The flow can take the form of infrequent debris flows or one or more ephemeral or perennial streams.[6]

Alluvial fans are common in the geologic record, such as in the Triassic basins of eastern North America and the New Red Sandstone of south Devon.[7] Such fan deposits likely contain the largest accumulations of gravel in the geologic record.[8]

Some of the largest alluvial fans are found along the Himalaya mountain front on the Indo-Gangetic plain.[6] A shift of the feeder channel (a nodal avulsion) can lead to catastrophic flooding, as occurred on the Kosi River fan in 2008.[9]

Size and geomorphology
Alluvial fan in Death Valley

Alluvial fans can exist on a wide spectrum of size scales, from only a few meters across at the base to as much as 150 kilometers across, with a slope of 1.5 to 25 degrees.[5] The slope measured from the apex is generally concave, with the steepest slope near the apex (the proximal fan[10] or fanhead[11]) and becoming less steep further out (the medial fan or midfan) and shallowing at the edges of the fan (the distal fan or outer fan). Sieve deposits, which are lobes of coarse gravel, may be present on the proximal fan. The sediments in an alluvial fan are usually coarse and poorly sorted, with the sediments becoming less coarse toward the distal fan.[4][1]

Large alluvial fan in Death Valley showing a "toe-trimmed" profile

When there is enough space in the alluvial plain for all of the sediment deposits to fan out without contacting other valleys walls or rivers, an unconfined alluvial fan develops. Unconfined alluvial fans allow sediments to naturally fan out and the shape of the fan is not influenced by other topological features.[12] When the alluvial plain is narrow or short parallel to depositional flow, the fan shape is ultimately affected.[13] Wave or channel erosion of the edge of the fan sometimes produces a "toe-trimmed" fan.[14]

When numerous rivers and streams exit a mountain front onto a plain, the fans can combine to form a continuous apron. In arid to semi-arid environments, this is referred to as a bajada[3] and in humid climates the continuous fan apron is called a piedmont alluvial fan.[12]

Formation

Alluvial fans usually form where a confined feeder channel exits a mountain front[15][16] or a glacier margin.[4] As the flow exits the feeder channel onto the fan surface, it is able to spread out into wide, shallow channels or to infiltrate the surface. This reduces the carrying power of the flow and results in deposition of sediments.[16]

A vast (60 km long) alluvial fan blossoms across the desolate landscape between the Kunlun and Altun mountain ranges that form the southern border of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang. The left side is the active part of the fan, and appears blue from water flowing in the many small streams

Flow in the proximal fan, where the slope is steepest, is usually confined to a single channel[4] (a fanhead trench[6]), which may be up to 30 meters (98 ft) deep.[4] This channel is subject to blockage by accumulated sediments or debris flows, which causes flow to periodically break out of its old channel (nodal avulsion) and shift to a part of the fan with a steeper gradient, where deposition resumes.[16] As a result, normally only part of the fan is active at any particular time, and the bypassed areas may undergo soil formation or erosion.[4]

Alluvial fans can be debris-flow-dominated or stream-flow-dominated.[10][17] Which kind of fan is formed is controlled by climate, tectonics, and the bedrock lithology in the area feeding the flow onto the fan.[18]

Debris-flow-dominated alluvial fans

Debris flows are a type of landslide that takes the form of a continuous, rapidly moving mass of water and material that is composed mainly of coarse debris. Typically, 20 to 80 percent of the particles in a debris flow are greater than 2 mm in diameter.[13]  

Debris-flow-dominated alluvial fans occur in all climates but are more common where the source rock is mudstone or matrix-rich saprolite rather than coarser, more permeable regolith. The abundance of fine-grained sediments encourages the initial hillslope failure and subsequent cohesive flow of debris. Saturation of clay-rich colluvium by locally intense thunderstorms initiates slope failure. The resulting debris flow travels down the feeder channel and onto the surface of the fan.

Debris-flow-dominated alluvial fans are found to consist of a network of mostly inactive distributary channels in the upper fan that gives way to mid- to lower-level lobes. The channels tend to be filled by subsequent cohesive debris flows. Usually only one lobe is active at a time, and inactive lobes may develop desert varnish or develop a soil profile from eolian dust deposition, on time scales of 1,000 to 10,000 years.[19] Because of their high viscosity, debris flows tend to be confined to the proximal and medial fan even in a debris-flow-dominated alluvial fan, and streamfloods dominate the distal fan.[7] However, some debris-flow-dominated fans in arid climates consist almost entirely of debris flows and lag gravels from eolian winnowing of debris flows, with no evidence of sheetflood or sieve deposits.[20] Debris-flow-dominated fans tend to be steep and poorly vegetated.[21]

Stream-flow-dominated alluvial fans

Stream flow processes take place on all alluvial fans but are the main process for sediment transport on stream-flow-dominated alluvial fans.[21]

Stream-flow-dominated alluvial fans occur where there is perennial, seasonal, or ephemeral stream flow that feeds a system of distributary channels on the fan. In arid or semiarid climates, deposition is dominated by infrequent but intense rainfall that produces flash floods in the feeder channel.[7] This results in sheetfloods on the alluvial fan, where sediment-laden water leaves its channel confines and spreads across the fan surface. These may include hyperconcentrated flows containing 20% to 45% sediments.[21] As the flood recedes, it often leaves a lag of gravel deposits that have the appearance of a network of braided streams.[7]

Where the flow is more continuous, as with spring snow melt, incised-channel flow in channels 1–4 meters (3.3–13.1 ft) high takes place in a true network of braided streams.[21] Such stream-flow-dominated alluvial fans tend to have a shallower slope but can become enormous,[7] and include the Kosi and other fans along the Himalaya mountain front in the Indo-Gangetic plain.[22] Here, continued movement on the Main Boundary Thrust over the last ten million years has focused the drainage of 750 kilometres (470 mi) of mountain frontage into just three enormous fans.[6]

An example of an active stream-flow-dominated alluvial fan is found in the semi-arid region between the Kunlun and Altun mountain ranges that form the southern border of the Taklamakan Desert in northwest China.[13] This particular fan is 60 kilometres (37 miles) in total length. One lobe of the fan has flowing streams that are continually depositing sediment so that the fan is still prograding into the alluvial plain. The feeder channels consist of straight channels as well as instances of braided channels because of the large volume of sediment sourced from the local uplands.[13]  

Alluvial fans in the geologic record

Alluvial fans are common in the geologic record, but may have been particularly important before the evolution of land plants in the mid-Paleozoic.[23] They are characteristic of fault-bounded basins and can be 5,000 meters (16,000 ft) or more thick due to tectonic subsidence of the basin and uplift of the mountain front. Most are red from hematite produced by diagenetic alteration of iron-rich minerals in a shallow, oxidizing environment. Examples of paleofans include the Triassic basins of eastern North America and the New Red Sandstone of south Devon,[7] the Devonian Hornelen Basin of Norway, and the Devonian-Carboniferous in the Gaspé Peninsula of Canada.[23] Such fan deposit likely contain the largest accumulations of gravel in the geologic record.[8]

Depositional facies

Alluvial fans are characterized by coarse sedimentation, though with an overall proximal to distal fining. Gravels show well-developed imbrication with the pebbles dipping towards the apex.[7] Fan deposits typically show well-developed reverse grading caused by outbuilding of the fan. However, a few fans show normal grading indicating inactivity or even fan retreat. Normal or reverse grading sequences can be hundreds to thousands of meters in thickness.[23] Depositional facies that have been reported for alluvial fans include debris flows, sheet floods and upper regime stream floods, sieve deposits, and braided stream flows.[7][24]

Debris flow deposits are common in the proximal and medial fan.[7] These consist of coarse-grained massive gravel and blocks which contain relatively large portions of fine-grained matrix.[12] Debris flow deposits lack sedimentary structure, other than occasional reverse-graded bedding towards the base, and they are poorly sorted.[25] The proximal fan may also include gravel lobes that have been interpreted as sieve deposits, where runoff rapidly infiltrates and leaves behind only the coarse material. However, the gravel lobes have also been interpreted as debris flow deposits.[25] Conglomerate originating as debris flows on alluvial fans is described as fanglomerate.[26]

Stream flow deposits tend to be sheetlike, better sorted, and sometimes show well-developed sedimentary structures such as cross-bedding. These are more prevalent in the medial and distal fan.[21] In the distal fan, where channels are very shallow and braided, stream flow deposits consist of sandy interbeds with planar and trough slanted stratification.[27] The medial fan of a streamflow-dominated alluvial fan shows nearly the same depositional facies as ordinary fluvial environments, so that identification of ancient alluvial fans must be based on radial paleomorphology in a piedmont setting.[28]

Where alluvial fans are overlain by clay or marl sediments, they can be a potential trap for hydrocarbons and a possible exploration target.[12]

Controls on depositional system evolution

Alluvial fans are built in response to erosion induced by tectonic uplift,[12] and upwards coarsening of beds reflects cycles of erosion in the highlands feeding sediments to the fan. However, climate and changes in base level may be as important. Alluvial fans in the Himalayas show older fans entrenched and overlain by younger fans, which in turn are cut by deep incised valleys showing two terrace levels. Dating via optical stimulated thermoluminescence (OSL) suggests a hiatus of 70 to 80 thousand years between the old and new fans, with evidence of tectonic tilting at 45 thousand years ago and an end to fan deposition 20 thousand years ago. Both the hiatus and the more recent end to fan deposition are thought to be connected to periods of enhanced southwest monsoon precipitation. Dating of beds in Death Valley suggest that peaks of fan deposition during the last 25 thousand years occurred during times of rapid climate change, both from wet to dry and from dry to wet.[29]

In arid climates

Alluvial fans are often found in desert areas often subjected to periodic flash floods from nearby thunderstorms in local hills. The typical watercourse in an arid climate has a large, funnel-shaped basin at the top, leading to a narrow defile, which opens out into an alluvial fan at the bottom. Multiple braided streams are usually present and active during water flows.[3]

Phreatophytes (plants with long tap roots capable of reaching a deep water table) characteristically form fan-toe phreatophyte strips. The phreatophytes may form sinuous lines radiating from the fan toe. These trace buried channels of coarse sediments from the fan that have interfingered with impermeable playa sediments.[30]

In humid climates

Alluvial fans also develop in wetter climates. In Nepal the Koshi River has built a megafan covering some 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi) below its exit from Himalayan foothills onto the nearly level plains where the river traverses into India before joining the Ganges. Along the upper Koshi tributaries, tectonic forces elevate the Himalayas several millimeters annually. Uplift is approximately in equilibrium with erosion, so the river annually carries some 100 million cubic meters (3.5 billion cu ft) of sediment as it exits the mountains. Deposition of this magnitude over millions of years is more than sufficient to account for the megafan.[31]

In North America, streams flowing into California's Central Valley have deposited smaller but still extensive alluvial fans, such as that of the Kings River flowing out of the Sierra Nevada which creates a low divide, turning the south end of the San Joaquin Valley into an endorheic basin without a connection to the ocean.[32]

Flood hazards

The biggest natural hazard on alluvial fans are floods, hyperconcentrated flows, and debris flows, typically resulting from heavy and prolonged rainfall. Floods commonly take the form of short (several hours) but energetic flash floods that occur with little or no warning. These are characterized by high velocities and capacity for sediment transport. Debris flows resemble freshly poured concrete, consisting mostly of coarse debris. Hyperconcentrated flows are intermediate between floods and debris flows, with a water content between 40 and 80 weight percent. Floods may transition to hyperconcentrated flows as they entrain sediments, while debris flows may become hyperconcentrated flows if they are diluted by water. Because flooding on alluvial fans carries large quantities of sediment, channels can rapidly become blocked, creating great uncertainty about flow paths that magnifies the dangers.[13][33]

In August 2008 high monsoon flows breached the embankment of the Koshi River, diverting most of the river into an unprotected ancient channel and across surrounding lands with high population density that had been stable for over 200 years.[9] Over a million people were rendered homeless, about a thousand lost their lives and thousands of hectares of crops were destroyed.[34][35][36] The Koshi is known as the Sorrow of Bihar for contributing disproportionately to India's death tolls in flooding, which exceed those of all countries except Bangladesh.[37]

In the Solar System

Mars
Large alluvial ban at the base of the rim of Gale crater, Mars

Alluvial fans are also found on Mars descending from some crater rims over their flatter floors.[38] Three alluvial fans have been found in Saheki Crater. These fans confirmed past fluvial flow on the planet and further supported the theory that liquid water was once present in some form on the Martian surface.[5] In addition, observations of fans in Gale crater made by satellites from orbit have now been confirmed by the discovery of fluvial sediments by the Curiosity rover.[39]

Titan

Alluvial fans have been observed by the Cassini-Huygens mission on Titan using the Cassini orbiter's synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument. These fans are more common in the drier mid-latitudes at the end of methane/ethane rivers where it is thought that frequent wetting and drying occur due to precipitation, much like arid fans on Earth. Radar imaging suggests that fan material is most likely composed of round grains of water ice or solid organic compounds about two centimetres in diameter.[40]

See also
  • Alluvium – Loose soil or sediment that is eroded and redeposited in a non-marine setting
  • Alluvial plain – Region on which rivers have deposited sediment
  • Floodplain – Land adjacent to a stream or river which is flooded during periods of high discharge
  • Placer deposit
  • River delta – Silt deposition landform at the mouth of a river
  • Subaqueous fan

References and notes
  1. Boggs, Sam, Jr. (2006). Principles of sedimentology and stratigraphy (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 246–250. ISBN 0131547283.
  2. Leeder, Mike (2011). Sedimentology and sedimentary basins : from turbulence to tectonics (2nd ed.). Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 282–294. ISBN 9781405177832.
  3. Shelton, John S. (1966). Geology Illustrated. San Francisco and London: W.H. Freeman and Company. p. 154.
  4. Blatt, Harvey; Middletone, Gerard; Murray, Raymond (1980). Origin of sedimentary rocks (2d ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. pp. 629–632. ISBN 0136427103.
  5. Morgan, A. M.; Howard, A. D.; Hobley, D. E. J.; Moore, J. M.; Dietrich, W. E.; Williams, R. M. E.; Burr, D. M.; Grant, J. A.; Wilson, S. A. (February 1, 2014). "Sedimentology and climatic environment of alluvial fans in the martian Saheki crater and a comparison with terrestrial fans in the Atacama Desert" (PDF). Icarus. 229: 131–156. Bibcode:2014Icar..229..131M. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2013.11.007.
  6. Leeder 2011, p.285
  7. Blatt et al. 1980, p.631
  8. Leeder 2011, p.290
  9. Leeder 2011, p.289
  10. Boggs 2006, p.247
  11. Blatt et al. 1980, p.629
  12. American Geological Institute. Dictionary of Geological Terms. New York: Dolphin Books, 1962.
  13. Committee on Alluvial Fan Flooding, Water Science and Technology Board, Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, National Research Council. (1996). Alluvial fan flooding. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. ISBN 978-0-309-05542-0.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  14. Leeder 2011, p. 282
  15. Boggs 2006, pp.246-248
  16. Leeder 2011, pp.285-289
  17. Leeder 2011, pp.287-289
  18. Nichols, Gary; Thompson, Ben (2005). "Bedrock lithology control on contemporaneous alluvial fan facies, Oligo-Miocene, southern Pyrenees, Spain". Sedimentology. 52 (3): 571–585. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3091.2005.00711.x.
  19. Leeder 2011, pp.287-288
  20. Blair, Terence C.; Mcpherson, John G. (June 1, 1992). "The Trollheim alluvial fan and facies model revisited". GSA Bulletin. 104 (6): 762–769. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1992)104<0762:TTAFAF>2.3.CO;2.
  21. Boggs 2006, p.248
  22. Leeder 2011, pp.288-289
  23. Boggs 2006, p.249
  24. Mack, Greg H.; Rasmussen, Keith A. (January 1, 1984). "Alluvial-fan sedimentation of the Cutler Formation (Permo-Pennsylvanian) near Gateway, Colorado". GSA Bulletin. 95 (1): 109–116. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1984)95<109:ASOTCF>2.0.CO;2.
  25. Boggs 2006, pp.247-249
  26. Bates, Robert L.; Jackson, J.A. (1987). Glossary of geology (3rd ed.). Alexandria, Va.: American Geological Institute. ISBN 0913312894.
  27. Blatt et al. 1980, p.630
  28. Ghinassi, Massimiliano; Ielpi, Alessandro (2018). "Morphodynamics and facies architecture of streamflow-dominated, sand-rich alluvial fans, Pleistocene Upper Valdarno Basin, Italy". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 440 (1): 175–200. doi:10.1144/SP440.1. S2CID 132662919.
  29. Leeder 2011, pp.291-293
  30. Mann Jr, J.F. (1957). "Estimating quantity and quality of ground water in dry regions using airphotos" (PDF). Intern. Ass. Sci. Hydrol. Gen. Ass. Toronto. 2: 128–132. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  31. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. "Geomorphology from Space; Fluvial Landforms, Chapter 4: Plate F-19". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2009.
  32. Croft, M.G. and Gordon, G.V. (April 10, 1968). "Geology, hydrology and quality of water in the Hanford-Visalia area" (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved March 9, 2018.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. Larsen, M.C.; Wieczorek, G.F.; Eaton, L.S.; Torres-Sierra, H. (2001). "Natural hazards on alluvial fans: the debris flow and flash flood disaster of December 1999, Vargas state, Venezuela." (PDF). In Sylva, W. (ed.). Proceedings of the Sixth Caribbean Islands Water Resources Congress. Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. pp. 1–7. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  34. "Half of Bihar under water, 30 lakh suffer;". CNN IBN. January 9, 2008. Archived from the original on September 3, 2008. Retrieved September 1, 2008.
  35. SITUATION REPORT BIHAR FLOODS 2008 Archived 3 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  36. Michael Coggan in New Delhi (August 29, 2008). "Death toll rises from Indian floods – Just In – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Abc.net.au.
  37. Bapalu, G. V., Sinha, R. (2005). "GIS in Flood Hazard Mapping: a case study of Koshi River Basin, India" (PDF). GIS Development Weekly. 1 (13): 1–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2013.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  38. Kraal, Erin R.; Asphaug, Erik; Moore, Jeffery M.; Howard, Alan; Bredt, Adam (March 2008). "Catalogue of large alluvial fans in martian impact craters". Icarus. 194 (1): 101–110. Bibcode:2008Icar..194..101K. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2007.09.028. ISSN 0019-1035.
  39. Harwood, William; Wall, Mike (September 27, 2012). "Mars rover Curiosity finds ancient stream bed". CBS News. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  40. J. Radebaugh; et al. (2013). "Alluvial Fans on Titan Reveal Materials, Processes and Regional Conditions" (PDF). 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
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