Introduccin

Los sistemas fluviales recogen y transportan principalmente sedimentos en las cuencas

lacustres o marinas. Sin embargo, en ciertos sistemas de cuencas favorecedoras de la
acumulacin subaerial de sedimentos, tales como las llanuras costeras, las cuencas
inter montaas y las zonas tectnicas, los sistemas de deposicin fluvial pueden
convertirse en un componente principal o incluso dominante del relleno de la cuenca.
Incluso cuando sus volmenes son menores, las facies fluviales suelen ser
desproporcionadamente importantes como huspedes para depsitos de combustibles
minerales, en particular petrleo y uranio.
Los sistemas deposicionales fluviales son principalmente agradacionales. La
progradacin localizada y la acrecin lateral ocurren en ambientes especficos. El lugar
de deposicin de la carga de fondo y la caracterstica ms importante de la superficie
aluvial de agradacin es el canal.

En vista en planta, los segmentos de canal forman un espectro que va desde

geometras de baja sinuosidad hasta alta sinuosidad (Fig. 4.1). El trenzado es tpico del
lecho de arena, canales de baja sinuosidad en los que el flujo durante la etapa del bajo-
ro teje entre barras mltiples. Las barras de canal se sumergen y se convierten en
macroformas de cama a gran escala durante el flujo alto. En el extremo opuesto del
espectro, los canales fangosos muestran una baja sinuosidad y se caracterizan por las
ondas de arena sumergidas o migratorias o las barras laterales alternadas (Fig. 4.1).
Los segmentos verdaderos de canales rectos de gran longitud son raros.
Los canales moderadamente a muy sinuosos que llenan el centro del espectro se
describen generalmente como meandros.

Las corrientes de la cama de la grava son distintas. El efecto de blindaje de la grava,

que requiere una gran potencia de corriente para el transporte, aumenta la estabilidad
del canal. Los canales gruesos y graveros de los ros suelen ser moderadamente
sinuosos (Knighton, 1984; Reading y Orton, 1991).

Dos patrones de canales mltiples, anastomosados y distributivos, son comunes en los

sistemas fluviales agresivos. Los patrones anastomosados se producen en las ramas
contemporneas de un solo ro tejen alrededor de las islas, comnmente permanentes
con vegetacin o segmentos inconexos de llanura de inundacin (Fig.4.1). Los patrones
anastomosados son ms comunes en las llanuras aluviales de extremo bajo gradiente
donde el poder de la corriente es bajo y los bancos consisten en sedimento fangoso o
cohesivo o estn altamente vegetados (Schumm 1968a, Nanson y Croke, 1992).

Los segmentos de canal individuales dentro de la red anastomosada pueden ser rectos
o sinuosos. Los patrones distributarios son caractersticos de ciertos tipos superficies
aluviales de agradacin rpida, incluyendo llanuras deltaicas y grandes abanicos
aluviales y delantales. Tanto en las redes de canales anastomosados como en las de
distribucin, el flujo se separa en dos o ms canales. La presencia de mltiples canales
contemporneos, si se documenta en un antiguo sistema fluvial, tiene una
considerable importancia paleogeogrfica y sedimentolgica.

Procesos Deposicionales
El sistema fluvial clasifica eficientemente la carga heterognea de sedimentos que
recibe. Varios procesos se combinan para segregar la carga de lecho y la carga
suspendida en entornos de deposicin especficos y preferentemente atrapar y retener
la fraccin de carga de lecho.

Canal de flujo

El flujo dentro de un canal, y su efecto sobre la erosin, el transporte y la deposicin de

sedimentos, est determinado por las distribuciones de velocidad y turbulencia. Las
reas de mxima velocidad y turbulencia son sitios probables de erosin y derivacin
de sedimentos; Por el contrario, reas de velocidad y turbulencia relativamente bajas
son reas probables de estabilidad o deposicin de lecho.

Fig. 4.1. Patrones de canales mostrados por segmentos de un solo canal y el espectro de variables asociadas.
(Modificado de Schumm 1985; Lectura y Orton 1991)
En un canal sinuoso en condiciones de bajo flujo, el hilo de mxima velocidad abraza
los bancos exteriores o cncavos y corta diagonalmente a travs de los tramos rectos
intermedios (Fig. 4.2).
La turbulencia mxima ocurre cerca de la base del canal contra el banco exterior. La
erosin es mayor en las zonas turbulentas, y la subcotizacin con el descenso cncavo
del banco concomitante es un mecanismo comn de ensanchamiento de la corriente.
El giro del hilo de flujo a travs del canal y su ubicacin cerca de la superficie del agua
producen un flujo helicoidal de segundo orden que se desplaza a travs del suelo del
canal y hacia arriba del banco interior inclinado.
Por lo tanto, el sedimento en el transporte tiende a moverse a travs del canal, hacia
arriba de la orilla interior, y en un rea de velocidad relativamente baja y turbulencia
relativamente baja, donde puede ser depositada.
El sedimento erosionado de un banco cortado se desplaza hacia abajo para ser
redepositado en otro bucle de meandro. El meandro de corriente, que aumenta
progresivamente la sinuosidad del canal, es una consecuencia natural de la distribucin
asimtrica de la velocidad del flujo y la turbulencia dentro de una curva de canal.
El aumento de la sinuosidad se ve interrumpido por los flujos de inundacin, que
tienden a enderezar los hilos de flujo (Fig.4.2).

En segmentos de canal recto, el hilo de mxima velocidad se encuentra cerca del

centro superior del canal, y zonas de turbulencia mxima se producen a lo largo de
ambos mrgenes del canal (Fig. 4.2). La erosin se concentra a lo largo de los bancos
de canales, donde la turbulencia es alta. La deposicin se produce en el suelo del
canal. Los canales de baja sinuosidad tienden a erosionarse lateralmente y depositan
barras intracanales.
Fig. 4.2. Distribuciones de velocidad y turbulencia dentro de un segmento de canal sinuoso

Los canales ajustan su geometra de varias maneras para acomodar el flujo

prevaleciente de agua y sedimento (Schumm 1977, Knighton 1984, Petts y Foster,
1985). La sinuosidad, el gradiente, la configuracin de la cama (formas de la cama y
barras), la profundidad y la anchura (definiendo conjuntamente el rea de la seccin
transversal y la relacin entre la anchura y la profundidad) cambian en respuesta a las
alteraciones en el rgimen fluvial.

El volumen de agua que se mueve a travs de un segmento de canal determina el rea

de seccin transversal del canal y la velocidad de flujo media. La velocidad media, a su
vez, es una funcin de la cabeza hidrulica, que es la pendiente real de la superficie del
agua (medida en cambio de elevacin por unidad de distancia).
Por lo tanto, el aumento del flujo durante la inundacin tiene varias consecuencias
predecibles. Al enderezar las lneas de flujo aumenta la cabeza al acortar la distancia
entre puntos sucesivos de menor elevacin. La mxima eficiencia se consigue
mediante un canal recto, que tiene el mismo gradiente de cabeza que la pendiente de
la superficie aluvial. El lavado del lecho y de los bancos aumenta el rea transversal del
canal. El escurrimiento del banco y el consiguiente ensanchamiento del canal se
acentan en segmentos de canal de baja sinuosidad; Por el contrario, la profundizacin
del canal tiende a caracterizar canales sinuosos. Si el lavado y el enderezamiento son
inadecuados para manejar el flujo del ro, el agua remata las orillas del canal y se
derrama hacia el fondo del valle circundante o llanura aluvial.

Channel cross-sectional geometry is further determined by sediment load. Suspended

load
transportation is typically supply limited; bed-load channels, in contrast, are typically
limited by
transport capacity. Shallow channels provide greater bed shear stress and are more
efficient.
Thus, sand- and gravel-bed channels are shallow and wide. Clay-rich and vegetated
banks are
stable and increase bed scour, favoring relatively deep, narrow channels.

Channel-bed profile is relatively stable on short time scales. Over geological timespans,
the longitudinal profile establishes a dynamic equilibrium gradient. Although the classic
concave, graded stream profile is best known, actively depositing fluvial channels
commonly exhibit linear or even convex profiles (Petts and Foster 1985). Concave
profiles form along channels showing progressive downstream increase in discharge
due to tributary inflow. Trunk channels, which commonly flow long distances with little
additional inflow, show linear profiles. Streams that lose flow to infiltration or
evapotranspiration have convex profiles.

Overbank Flow

Floodbasin aggradation occurs when sedimentladen flood waters overflow the river
banks and
spill across interchannel areas. The flood water, which is tapped from the uppermost
portion of the
river's water column, contains mostly suspendedload sediment. Upon topping the bank,
flow is no
longer confined, and, perhaps aided by the baffling effect of vegetation, flow velocity
decreases
abruptly. Sediment settles out rapidly - sand and silt near the channel margin, and fine
silt and clay
farther away. The net result is the accumulation of sediment along the channel margin,
forming a
stable ridge, or natural levee, and a slow layer-bylayer aggradation of the interchannel
flood basin
surface.

Crevassing occurs when flood waters pour through localized breaches or swales in
channel
levees. Channeling of flow through the levee may cause scouring and deepening of the
crevasse
channel; consequently, crevasse channels may tap deeply into the water column and
funnel large
volumes of water and sediment out of the main channel and onto the floodplain (Fig.
4.3). However,
the sediment load of the crevasse is typically dominated by suspended-load and fine
bed-load
material in all but the sandiest streams. Crevasse flow rapidly dissipates into
distributaries or
sheetwash across the splay surface, and sediment soon drops out (Fig. 4.3). Grain size
decreases
systematically from the crevasse axis, but locally complex internal bedding results from
the multiple scour-and-fill episodes that occur within the crevasse splay channels.

Fig. 4.3. Processes and depositional framework of crevasse

splays produced by How through breaches in th e natural levee
of a main channel. Example based on splays of th e
Brahmaputra River described by Coleman (1969)

In smaller streams that are characterized by short bursts of extremely high discharge,
differentiation
of channel and overbank flow, and their consequent deposits, may be arbitrary.
Examples
of sand sheets and gravel sheets and bars deposited upon floodplain muds and soil
zones of small
ephemeral and flashy streams of subarid regions have been described by McKee et al.
(1967) ,
Gustavson (1978), and Stear (1985).

Levee and splay deposits accumulate close to the margins of active channels.
Floodplain deposition, in contrast, may spread up to several kilometers across the
alluvial plain. However, rates of floodplain accretion are typically slow, commonly
averaging a few centimeters per year in depositionally active systems. Thus, much of
the alluvial surface is deposition ally inactive at any point in its history.

Channel Abandonment

Aggrading alluvial plains are characterized by repeated shifts of active channels. On a

local scale,
meander loops may be cut off as flow diverts into an open chute channel or cuts across
the neck of a meander loop. On a larger scale, entire channel reaches can be gradually
or abruptly abandoned
during avulsion or channel diversion. With successive flood cycles the active channel
builds up
its levees and adjacent floodplain. Channels become perched above the surrounding
alluvial
plain. Ultimately, levees are breached, and the channel establishes (or reoccupies) a
more favorable course across a topographically lower portion of the floodbasin. Unlike
progressive
lateral migration associated with meandering, avulsion is a geologically abrupt process
that
repeatedly punctuates the history of an aggrading fluvial system. Leeder (1978), for
example,
estimated that large-scale avulsion of many large rivers occurs on the order of 10 3-year
intervals.

Newly formed channels typically reoccupy previous channel axes. Controls favoring
such
reoccupation, and consequent channel stacking and amalgamation, include a subtle
tectonic influence on local subsidence rates, the comparative ease of erosion of sandy
deposits of previous channel axes relative to floodplain muds and soils, and the
presence of imperfectly developed levees at the nodes where earlier avulsions
occurred. Vertical stacking of Holocene channel axes has been well described by
Bernard et al. (1970) in the Brazos alluvial plain, and it is apparent in the common
occurrence of ancient multistory fluvial sequences.

Upon avulsion, the abandoned channel typically becomes the site of a local underfit
floodplain
stream or forms a series of isolated lakes. Except at the upstream end adjacent to the
point of avulsion, most or all of the abandoned channel is removed from active sources
of sediment supply
other than flood basin muds washed in through minor tributaries or by major floods of
the trunk
stream. Consequently, the abandoned channel probably fills with suspended sediment,
in situ organic debris, or small lacustrine deltas, particularly if the newly occupied
channel lies many miles
distant.

Fluvial Environments and Facies

Fluvial depositional systems consist of a mosaic of genetic facies (Table 4.1), including
various
combinations of channel fill, bar, margin, and floodbasin deposits. Channel deposits
are, of
course, the most diagnostic component, and their recognition is the key to
interpretation and
mapping of fluvial systems. Channel fills consist of a variety of lithofacies bounded by
bedding
and erosional surfaces (Allen 1983; Miall 1985). Key deposits of the channel-fill facies
include
lags, accretionary bedform complexes, secondary channels, laterally accreting bars,
and foreset
accreting bars. Abandoned channel plugs locally cap the channel-fill facies. Delineating
the details
of channel-fill lithofacies and bedding architecture requires outcrop or closely spaced
well and core
data. With sparse subsurface data, the channel fill is more realistically identified and
mapped as a
single facies.
Channel-Fill Facies

Channel deposits contain most of the bed-load sediment retained within the fluvial
system and
thus form the skeletal framework of the system. They include both aggradational and
lateral accretion depositional units. Internal structure of the channel fill is determined
primarily by the geometry of the channel. Bed accretion by deposition of braid bars,
riffles, and bedform complexes
dominates within low-sinuosity sandy channels. Lateral accretion of point bars
characterizes highsinuosity
channels.

Sand-Rich Low-Sinuosity Channels

Low-sinuosity channels occur in both sand-rich and mud-rich fluvial systems (Fig. 4.1),
each characterized by a very different type of channel-fill facies.
Bed-load or sand-rich, low-sinuosity channels (Fig. 4.4) include a variety of depositional
features
including braid channels, transverse bars, and longitudinal bars. Transverse bars are
downstreammigrating sand bars oriented transverse to flow and are typical of sand-bed
braided channels. At flood's peak, sediment moves up the sloping, upstream bar flank
and cascades down the lee side, producing avalanche foresets or tabular crossbedding
within the bar (Fig. 4.4, sequence B). The bar crest displays planar or trough
stratification, though subsequent erosion during bar migration may remove bar crest
deposits. In contrast, longitudinal bars display long axes parallel to the flow and are
common features of gravelly braided streams (Fig. 4.4). During flood, shallow water
flowing across the bar surface creates horizontal stratification. Accretion along
downstream bar margins produces low- to moderate-angle crossstratification
(Fig. 4.4, sequence A). Braid bars may be dissected by chute channels during floods
and braid channels during low-flow conditions. Lateral bars or alternating sand bars
form along
the margins of low-sinuosity channel segments. Such bars are exposed during low flow
and submerged during floods, when coarse material can be washed across the bar
surface and deposited on the downstream margin. Primary structures include planar
and low-angle accretionary foreset bedding (Fig. 4.4, sequence A).

Braid channel-fill lenses interfinger with and cut through bar deposits. The sandy to
gravelly
lenses may be structure less or display trough cross-stratification, where water depths
were adequate for the formation of migrating subaqueous dunes (Fig. 4.4, sequences A,
B). Channel plugs are volumetrically minor in most coarse-grained low-sinuosity
channel sequences, but they do form local, thin, discontinuous lenses of sandy mud
and clay that fill abandoned braid channels. Organic debris is a minor component of
many such plugs.

Braided-stream models based on modern braided or low-sinuosity channels have been

described by several authors, including Coleman (1969), Cant and Walker (1978),
Crowley (1983), Doeglas (1962), McKee et al. (1967), Rust (1972a), Smith (1970), and
Williams and Rust (1969) and were critiqued by Miall (1977, 1978, 1985) and Bridge
(1993). A generalized braided stream model, (Fig. 4.4), exhibits typical aspects of a
low-sinuosity, mixed sand-and-gravel bed, channel-fill sequence.

The channel facies forms broad, tabular, diporiented, multilateral sand belts with high
width to
thickness ratios. Basal scour surfaces are typically flat and display proportionally low
erosional relief. Channel-fill sequences consist dominantly of sand and are commonly
conglomeratic. Sorting
ranges from poor to good. Silt and clay are volumetrically minor. Depositional units
include interbedded transverse and/or longitudinal bar lenses laced with abundant
braid channel lenses. The internal structure is complex in detail, but thorough
amalgamation of individual depositional units produces thick, widespread sand bodies
of broadly uniform composition.

Vertical sequences are commonly poorly organized within braided-stream channel fills.
Minor
textural fining upward occurs within some braid and chute channel lenses and at the
top of the
composite sand body. Coarse sediment is typical throughout the sequence, which may
consist of
numerous incomplete cycles of braid channel and bar deposition. Multiple, thin upward-
fining and
some upward-coarsening packages occur within the sand body. A relatively simple suite
of internal
structures is dominated by horizontal and avalanche stratification and planar cross-
stratification.
Reactivation surfaces are common. Trough cross-stratification ranges from rare to
abundant.
Ripple lamination may occur if sufficient fine sediment is deposited and preserved, but
ripple is generally a minor component. A multiplicity of local scour surfaces,
discontinuous lags, and diffuse
pebble sheets occurs within the sand body.

Mud-Rich Low-Sinuosity Channels

Mud-rich low-sinuosity channel deposits (Fig. 4.5) differ greatly from their coarse-
grained counterparts. Channel cross-sections are commonly highly convex and
symmetrical. Alternating bars may form, but during waning flow or channel
abandonment simultaneous bed and bank accretion produces a symmetrically bedded
channel-fill unit. Figure 4.5 illustrates a generalized depositional model of an
anastomosing mud-rich lowsinuosity channel that combines the descriptions given by
Schumm (1968a), Fisher et al. (1969), Smith (1983), and Nadon (1994).
Fig.4.4. Generalized depositional model, vertical sequences of grain size and sedimentary structures, and
electric log (LOG;spontaneous potential, SP) profiles produced by a lowsinuosity, braided channel. Profile A is
dominated by migration
Sand of a gravelly longitudinal bar. Profile B records deposition of successive transverse bar cross-bed sets
upon a braid channel fill
Fig.4.5. Generalized depositional model, representative vertical sequences, and idealized electric log (E-LOG;
spontaneous
potential, SP) profiles through laterally accreting (profile A) and symmetrically filling channel segments
(profile B) of an
anastomosed channel system

Channel-fill sequences form dip-elongate, narrow, lenticular units exhibiting a high-

relief basal
scour surface (Fig. 4.5). A low width to thickness ratio (commonly less than 25: 1;
Nadon 1994)
and vertical stacking of channel fills are characteristic. The average sand-body trend
generally parallels the depositional slope, but distributing or anastomosing channel
patterns are common and
exhibit considerable directional dispersion. The channel fill consists of sand with
abundant silt and
clay; in finest systems, silt and mud fill dominates. Coarse material is typically sparse
but may include gravel, intraclasts, and plant debris and is concentrated in lags.
Pronounced bank accretion is indicated by well-developed asymmetrical bedding
produced in slightly sinuous segments (Fig. 4.5, sequence A) or symmetrical bedding
produced in straight segments (Fig. 4.5, sequence B). Finegrained, low-sinuosity
channel fills commonly fine upward, but the vertical trend may be obscured,
particularly in the subsurface, by the limited range of grain sizes available (Fig. 4.5,
sequence B). Massive lower channel-fill sands may grade up into or be abruptly
overlain by prominent mud plugs. Well-developed natural levees flank the channel fill.

Large- to small-scale trough cross-stratification dominates internal structures; soft-

sediment deformation is common to pervasive. Structures commonly show a poorly
developed upward decrease in size, especially near the top of the channel-fill unit (Fig.
4.5, sequence B). Mud plugs
contain wavy, ripple, and parallel lamination; local bioturbation may be evident. Root
disturbance
of primary structures is common and may be pervasive.

Anomalously coarse-grained anastomosing streams have been documented where

rivers flow
across gravelly Pleistocene glacial debris (Smith 1983) and in the Okavango terminal
fan (Stanistreet et al. 1993). In both, stream bank stability is maintained by dense
marsh vegetation, causing a bed-load channel to act as if suspended-load rich.

High-Sinuosity Channels

Meandering channels exhibit the features most popularly associated with fluvial
sedimentation.
Local environments, which produce diagnostic genetic subfacies, include the channel
floor, point
bar (Fig. 4.6), chute and chute bar (Fig. 4.7), and abandoned channel.

The channel floor, or thalweg, is the deepest part of the channel and the site of
deposition of
the coarsest material transported by the river. This channel lag, which lies on or just
above the basal erosion surface, consists of locally derived material such as mudclasts
and blocks eroded from the banks and bottom, waterlogged plant debris, and coarse
bed-load gravel and sand (Figs. 4.6, 4.7, all sequences). Thickest and coarsest lag
collects in scour pockets produced in areas of maximum velocity and turbulence.
Significant thicknesses of bed load accumulate and may be preserved in an aggrading
channel. Migrating subaqueous dunes cover the active channel floor; thus, large- to
medium-scale trough cross bedding is the predominant internal structure (Fig. 4.6,
sequences A and B). Sediment transported up gently sloping inner stream banks into
areas of comparatively low velocity and turbulence (Fig. 4.2) is deposited as laterally
accreting point bars (Fig. 4.6).

The cross-sectional area of the channel is maintained by concomitant erosion of the

convex or cut
bank. Thus, the curvature of the meander tends to become increasingly exaggerated.
Because sediment is moving up and out of the channel onto the bar, a vertical
decrease in grain size characterizes the point-bar succession. The accretionary
architecture of the point bar is commonly reflected by the development of ridge-and-
swalc topography (also known as meander scrolls) on the point-bar surface (Fig. 4.6)
and by poor- to well-defined sigmoidal lateral accretion bedding (epsilon crossbedding;
Allen 1970). Fine sediment washed across the bar surface during floods may pond in
the swales, forming local muddy lenses and plugs. Older portions of the point bar are
commonly vegetated and capped by fine-grained levee and floodplain sediment (Fig.
4.6), completing the upward-fining cycle that begins with the coarse channel lag. Sand
transport across lower- and midbar surfaces is dominantly by dune migration; hence
medium- to large-scale trough cross-stratification characterizes this part of the sand
body (Fig. 4.6, sequence A). The size of bed sets decreases upward. Tabular cross-
stratification may be rare to common in the middle to upper pointbar succession.
Ripple, climbing-ripple, and tabular and planar stratification characterize the
finer-grained upper point bar where water depths are shallow and flow velocities are
lower. The bar
surface may be modified by sheetwash and gullying as well as by rooting and
burrowing during
periods of subaerial exposure. The upstream end
Fig. 4.6. Generalized depositional model, vertical sequences, and electric log (E LOG; spontaneous potential,
SP) profiles of a meanderbelt sand body produced by a high-sinuosity channel. Profile A illustrates a complete
upward-fining sequence
typical of the mid- or downstream point bar. Profile B illustrates the truncated vertical sequence commonly
found in the upstream end of the bar