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Flume tank study of surface morphology and stratigraphy of a fan delta
Author(s) -
Wang Junhui,
Jiang Zaixing,
Zhang Yuanfu,
Gao Liming,
Wei Xiaojie,
Zhang Wenzhao,
Liang Yu,
Zhang Haiying
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
terra nova
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.353
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-3121
pISSN - 0954-4879
DOI - 10.1111/ter.12131
Subject(s) - geology , progradation , mouth bar , aggradation , flume , delta , geomorphology , beach morphodynamics , sedimentary rock , river mouth , channel (broadcasting) , facies , geotechnical engineering , sedimentary structures , sediment , fluvial , paleontology , sediment transport , flow (mathematics) , geometry , structural basin , mathematics , electrical engineering , aerospace engineering , engineering
The morphodynamics of a river flood on a fan delta and its resultant stratigraphic and sedimentary signatures have been studied by means of a flume experiment under controlled boundary conditions. The experiment revealed that deposition was dominant in flood periods when the channels were highly loaded with sediments. In contrast, erosion was dominant in periods of low flow. Mouth bars were formed when a subaqueous channel began to backfill. The development of a mouth bar began with progradation in the down‐dip direction and proceeded by aggradation, then retrogradation and finally transverse growth. A channel bifurcated in multiple stages by sequentially forming mouth bars or by simultaneously forming arrays of mouth bars. During the bifurcation, the diffluent point moved upstream, which resulted in channel migration and the development of a delta lobe. Flood events triggered fan‐delta front slide‐slump deposits.