The role of discharge variability in determining alluvial stratigraphy

We illustrate the potential for using physics-based modeling to link alluvial stratigraphy to large river morphology and dynamics. Model simulations, validated using Ground Penetrating Radar data from the Río Paraná, Argentina, demonstrate a strong 30 relationship between bar-scale set thickness and...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Nicholas, Andrew P., Sambrook Smith, Gregory H., Amsler, Mario Luis, Ashworth, Philip J., Best, James L., Hardy, Richard J., Lane, Stuart N., Orfeo, Oscar, Parsons, Daniel R., Reesink, Arnold J., Sandbach, Stevend D., Simpson, Christopher J., Szupiany, Ricardo Nicolas
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/28326
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/28326
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:ALLUVIAL STRATIGRAPHY
DISCHARGE VARIABILITY
GPR
PARANA RIVER
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Descripción
Sumario:We illustrate the potential for using physics-based modeling to link alluvial stratigraphy to large river morphology and dynamics. Model simulations, validated using Ground Penetrating Radar data from the Río Paraná, Argentina, demonstrate a strong 30 relationship between bar-scale set thickness and channel depth, which applies across a wide range of river patterns and bar types. We show that hydrologic regime, indexed by discharge variability and flood duration, exerts a first-order influence on morphodynamics and hence bar set thickness, and that planform morphology alone may be a misleading variable for interpreting deposits. Indeed, our results illustrate that rivers evolving under contrasting hydrologic regimes may have very similar morphology, yet be characterized by marked differences in stratigraphy. This realization represents an important limitation on the application of established theory that links river topography to alluvial deposits, and highlights the need to obtain field evidence of discharge variability when developing paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Model simulations demonstrate the potential for deriving such evidence using metrics of paleocurrent variance.

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