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Alluvial Fan Environments: Badwater Fan, Death Valley Mars

Alluvial fans are landforms characterized by steep slopes and deposition by debris flows and sheetfloods rather than rivers. They have steeper gradients than rivers and flow is nearly always supercritical. Smaller fans tend to be dominated by deposition from debris flows while larger, low-gradient fans can be dominated by hyperconcentrated flows and sheetfloods. Debris flows have a plastic rheology and high matrix strength allows them to carry large clasts despite having a yield strength. Clay content as little as 2-4% can provide matrix strength to debris flows.

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42 views13 pages

Alluvial Fan Environments: Badwater Fan, Death Valley Mars

Alluvial fans are landforms characterized by steep slopes and deposition by debris flows and sheetfloods rather than rivers. They have steeper gradients than rivers and flow is nearly always supercritical. Smaller fans tend to be dominated by deposition from debris flows while larger, low-gradient fans can be dominated by hyperconcentrated flows and sheetfloods. Debris flows have a plastic rheology and high matrix strength allows them to carry large clasts despite having a yield strength. Clay content as little as 2-4% can provide matrix strength to debris flows.

Uploaded by

AHMED
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Alluvial Fan Environments

Mars Badwater Fan, Death Valley


Alluvial fans vs. rivers
Distinct break in gradient Alluvial fans characterized by different
separates fans (steeper) from hydrodynamic processes and resulting
rivers (shallower) facies than rivers
Water flow nearly always supercritical on
fans

Supercritical flow

Subcritical
Alluvial fan sediments
Some alluvial fans, especially larger low-gradient fans, are dominated by
deposits from hyperconcentrated flows and from sheetflow
Hyperconcentrated Miocene sheetflood deposits, Fish Canyon,
California
flow
Differs from braided fluvial
system by lack of downstream
accretion elements and bar forms

Usually clast-supported,
imbricated
Crude normal grading
from unhindered
settling of grains in
turbulent flow

Turbulence creates
erosive base
Alluvial fan sediments
Smaller alluvial fans with higher Active depositional lobe
relief tend to be dominated by occasionally shifts laterally to
deposition from debris flows produce fan-shaped cone of
sediment
Debris flows are a type of sediment gravity flow (a mixture of water and
sediment particles transported by gravity without help from moving ambient
water)

Sediment gravity flows classified on basis of (1) rheology and (2) sediment-
support mechanism
Flow rheology
Rheology describes the deformation of a fluid under a given shear stress

For a Newtonian fluid like water,


t = m du/dy
Where m is the fluid viscosity
Flow rheology
Debris flows have a plastic rheology, with a yield strength

Yield strength means that the flow


will not move or deform until a
certain stress has been applied
Viscosity m also constant for
debris flow of given composition

t = k + m du/dy
Shear stress < yield strength causes
central part of flow to move as solid plug

Friction from interaction of


moving flow with the ground
(and air) creates shear stress
at base and top of flow

Laminar flow (due to high


viscosity) where shear stress >
yield strength
When driving force from gravity is too low (i.e. slope too gentle), shear
stress drops below yield strength and flow “freezes” in place
Sediment-support
mechanism
How can debris flows carry such large boulders?
What forces act on boulder in debris flow?

D, rs k
rm

Gravity: 4/3 p D3 rs g
Buoyancy: 4/3 p D3 rm g

Matrix Strength: Z k p D2
Gravity: 4/3 p D3 rs g Matrix density (rm) can be high (as
D, rs k much as 2 g/cm3, compared to 2.7-
Buoyancy: 4/3 p D3 rm g
rm
3.0 g/cm3 for rocks) due to the high
Matrix Strength: Z k p D2
sediment concentration

Additional buoyancy contribution in sediment-rich


mixtures: Upward force
on particles

Weight of overlying Pressure gradient


sediment+water
Gravity: 4/3 p D3 rs g
D, rs k
Buoyancy: 4/3 p D3 rm g
rm
Matrix Strength: Z k p D2

Debris flows can have high yield strength k – even large boulders do not
exert sufficient shear stress on fluid to overcome k

What gives a debris flow matrix strength?

Clay minerals form network by electrostatic or atomic forces

Matrix strength a function of clay content (possible at only 2-4% clay)


Holocene debris flow deposits
Baños, Ecuador

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