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INTENSITY OF DEPOSITION FROM AVALANCHES AND THE LOOSE PACKING OF AVALANCHE DEPOSITS
Author(s) -
ALLEN J. R. L.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
sedimentology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.494
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1365-3091
pISSN - 0037-0746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3091.1972.tb00005.x
Subject(s) - deposition (geology) , geology , settling , mineralogy , geomorphology , sediment , physics , thermodynamics
An avalanche of granular solids deposits grains once its snout is arrested at the base of the surface of avalanching. During deposition the avalanche behaves as a settling column of dispersed particles; the surface of deposition within the column is marked by a distinct shadow, or continuity wave, which swiftly climbs the sliding mass. Empirically, the high intensities of deposition expected from avalanches behaving in this manner correspond to degrees of packing in the deposits that are very nearly the loosest possible for natural materials. This appears to explain why cross‐stratified sediments have low strengths and are readily deformed.