fluvial/pond environments, features, and identification · other types of deposition, including...

Fluvial/Pond Environments, Features, and Identification

Copyright © Carmen Krapf 2002

USACE sediment records workshop Aug 2010

Time Scales of Fluvial Sedimentary Records

Years 0.1 1.0 10 100 1,000 10,000

Individual flood event

Annual floods and seasons

Decadal changes, human alterations, dams and such

Historical post-Euro American settlement, climate

Holocene climate

100,000

Pre-European settlement, Native American

Glacio-fluvial Ran

ge in

var

iabi

lity

[extending the instrumented time period…..]

Modern geomorphic and watershed settings gives clues to where we expect to find deposition and sedimentary records………

……… “Base level” very important

Erosion Transfer

Deposition

Upland Upland valley Floodplain valley Large River

Distance downstream/drainage area

Ma

gn

itu

de

Streamflow

Stream power

From Lane (1955), Schumm (1977), Bull (1991), Church (2002), Gregory (2006)

Longitudinal Profiles

Texture of channel bed deposits and longitudinal profile

From Perry and Taylor, 2007, Environmental Sedimentology, Chapter 2, Mountain environments by Jeff Warburton

Erosion, transport, and sedimentation

From Perry and Taylor, 2007 “Environmental Sedimentology”

Channel planform changes

From Perry and Taylor, 2007, Environmental Sedimentology, Chapter 3, Fluvial environments, by Karen-Hudson Edwards

Alluvial vs. “Parent Material”

• Alluvial – formed by flowing water and deposited during recent times

• Rivers are called “alluvial” if the modern channel is surrounded (sides and bottom) by sediment that was deposited by modern channel processes (usually assumed to be the Holocene and Anthropocene…)

• Not all rivers are alluvial

• Important to know the difference between alluvial deposits and other types of deposition, including glacio-fluvial, glacio-lacustrine, and outwash

Alluvial deposits along a river

Modern point bar deposit along the Bad River, WI

Historical overbank vertical accretion deposits along the Bad River, WI

Parent materials along a river

Glacio-fluvial sand and shoreline deposits along the Bad River, WI (G

Glacio-lacustrine clay along the Bad River, WI (Marquette re-advance)


Where do we expect sedimentation or erosion?

Geomorphic process and related deposits

From Perry and Taylor, 2007, Environmental Sedimentology

Dominance of sediment transfer processes

From Lane (1955), Schumm (1977), Bull (1991), Church (2002), Gregory (2006)

Gravity flows vs. fluvial flows


Copyright © Harriet Orr 2002

Colluvium, slide, rockfall —a loose jumbled collection of unsorted rock and soil that collects at the foot of a steep slope

Colluvial boulder berm – poorly sorted, angular, coarse fragments

Copyright © Evan Hart 2002

Old colluvial terrace exposed by stream erosion, Great Smoky Mountains, TN.

Debris (Sediment Gravity) Flows • Moving loose mass of mud,

sand, rock, soil, water, and air

• Moves under influence of gravity

• Poorly sorted mix of particle sizes that move independently within the flow

• 50% sand sized particles and larger

• Travel at <1 ft/yr to 100 mi/hr

http://geology.com/articles/debris-flow/

Debris (Sediment Gravity) Flows

Bridge, 2003

Mudflows

• Less coarse and more cohesive than a debris flow

• Large boulders are transported by matrix strength

• Lahar is a type of mudflow or debris flow that originates from volcano slopes

• Mudflows grade into hyperconcentrated streamflow where boulders are no longer able to be carried on top by matrix strength

Photo by AlexeyKZ http://www.panoramio.com/photo/8882900; Mud Volcano, Sychliar, Azerbaijan

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/8882900

Water flows and sediment

• Suspended vs. moved along the bed

• Vertical vs. lateral accretion • Channel vs. overbank For particles in suspension: Advection: passive transport of particles by the moving fluid Diffusion: molecular agitation and small scale turbulent motions that move the particle randomly with respect to the overall motion of the fluid Settling: vertical falling of particles through fluid under the action of gravity


Hudson-Edwards, 2007

(Brown, 1997)

Floodplain environments and sedimentary features

Typical “fining upwards” floodplain sequence with gravel/cobble at base

From Perry and Taylor, 2007, Environmental Sedimentology, Chapter 3, Fluvial environments by Karen-Hudson Edwards

Copyright © Richard Kesel 2002

“traditional hydraulics”

“New age energy vortex” in Oak Creek canyon, Sedona, AZ

Channel bed deposits – imbricated boulders

Flow direction

Repeating channel geomorphic units

Fryirs and Brierley, 2013 Geomorphic analysis of fluvial systems

Lower stage plane beds – bedload sheets

Bridge, 2003

Water flows, bedforms, and sedimentary structures


Channel Bedforms and Structures

• Features of transverse bedforms – dunes and ripples

Hudson-Edwards, 2007

Channel Bedforms and Structures • Features of dunes and ripples

Simons et al., 1965

Dunes – height and length a function of water depth

Bridge, 2003

Chutes and pools, anti-dunes, and plane beds

Bridge, 2003

Turbulent flow over ripples and dunes

Bridge, 2003

Cross stratification example

Harms and Fahnestock, 1965

Point bar formation – lateral accretion

• Secondary flow around bends in meandering channels

• Lateral accretion as channel migrates

• Stacked sequences of gravel, sand, and silt

• Sequences angled toward direction of lateral progression

Sand stratification in a bar

Harms and Fahnestock, 1965

Point bar deposits in sandy channels

Point bar deposits in cores

photo by J. Pyatskowit

Lateral accretion point bar deposit, Wolf River, WI

Typical flood sequences

Bridge, 2003

Interpretation of paleo bankfull channels

Bridge, 2003

Copyright © Pauline Couper 2002

Buried channel deposit in cohesive overbank vertical accretion

Flood plains – zooming in

Bridge, 2003

Floodplain building

Powder River, MT (Moody et al. 1999)

• Mainly vertical accretion

• Not always constant deposition, especially in active channel area, erosion, ice

• Spatial extent variable, especially in forested floodplains

Kickapoo Floodplain Scour and Deposition Produced by July 1-2, 1978 Flood (near Steuben, WI) 16,500 cfs, 100-yr

2 July 1978, 1 mi south of Readstown

Flood deposits

Jim Knox photos

Section 25 T3N R2W, Little Platte River – Impact of 1 June 2000 Flood Date of photos: 12 June 2000

Jim Knox photos

post-1820 agricultural sedimentation

pre-agricultural surface soil

boulders transported by August 2, 1972 flood

Late Holocene channel sediment

Historical Change in Flood Power, L. Platte River Tributary, SW Wisconsin

Jim Knox photos

Copyright © Philip Owens 2002

Fine sediment (clay and silt deposited on the floodplain of the River Teme (tributary to the River Severn). These deposits were about 1 cm thick and located about 100 m from the channel. Tube is used to measure sedimentation.

Copyright © Philip Owens 2002

Thick sandy overbank deposits near channel bank, River Ousenear, York. Deposits were about 20 cm thick.

Copyright © Johannes Steiger 2002

Woody debris and vegetation become part of the sediment record in overbank areas. Preservation is dependent on the oxidation state of the deposit. If above the water table and in sandy deposits, the woody material may decompose in decades.

Levees and crevasse splays

http://www.scielo.br/img/revistas/rbcs/v37n5/01f01.jpg

Pre-settlement (1860) surface 5.6 ft

Levee breaks

Holmen dam and millpond

Erosion/scour from dam failure

Halfway Creek crevasse splay 1938


• Thick sandy deposits over fine-grained vertical accretion deposits

• Planar beds but may also have cross strata from ripples/dunes across the surface

• Adjacent to active channel

Deltas and Alluvial Fans

Morphological classification of deltas based on the influence of river, tidal, and wave activity

From Perry and Taylor, 2007, Environmental Sedimentology, Chapter 7, Delta environments by Peter French

Three types of deltas near Ashland, WI, Lake Superior

Bad River

Fish Creek

Wave-dominated

Fluvial-dominated

Seiche-dominated

Delta anatomy

(Hakanson and Jansson, 2002)

Delta anatomy

From Perry and Taylor, 2007, Environmental Sedimentology, Chapter 7, Delta environments by Peter French

Copyright © Matthias Jakob 2002

Sediment-rich delta

Deltaic environments of the Mississippi River

Lacustrine sediment (Cohen, 2003, p. 187)

Hi water content

Mix of mineral and organic

particles

Varves represent

seasonality of particle

sources – repeated

sequencing

Laminae = < 1 cm

Bed = < 1 cm

Lacustrine gyttja – eutrophic/mesotrophic lake

Lac Courte Oreilles, Hayward, WI Paul Garrison (WDNR) photos

High organic content

High water content

When exposed to exposed

to air can shrink

considerably

Term gyttja confusing –

typically used for organic-

rich silts and clays

Hakanson and Jansson,

2002 good reference

Copyright © Martin Doyle 2002

Impoundment Deposits

Erosion, transport, and sedimentation

(Hakanson and Jansson, 2002)

Impounded sediment, Neopit Millpond, Menominee Reservation, WI

Organic-rich silt/clay with very high water content over pre-dam peat (photo by Barb Lensch, NRCS) ~25% organic carbon

Impounded sediment Predam surface

Impounded sediment Peat/histosol

Balsam Row Impoundment, Wolf River, WI

Fitzpatrick, 2005

Riparian wetland

Core 16

Core 14

Core 13

Fort McCoy Stillwell Cr at 16th Ct cores 2008

Riparian wetland and wetland channel

Beaver dams – low sediment supply North Shore Lake Superior, MN

Channel inlet Muddy delta

Beaver pond deposits – fine-grained, low sedimentation rate, varying densities from wetting and drying

Grand Portage Creek, MN North Shore Lake Superior

Soil probe

Beaver dams– high sediment supply Cranberry River, Wisconsin

Beaver dams – high sediment supply Large dumps of sand – vertical accretion – over wetland organic soils Clumps of brushy material

Photo from Dennis Pratt Bark River, WI South Shore Lake Superior

Typical Valley Types in the Upper Great Lakes Region

Tunnel valleys

Finger Lakes area, NY, source NASA

Boardman River valley influenced by glacial-fluvial and glacio-lacustrine activity

Tunnel Valley: Large, Long, U-shaped valley originally cut under the glacial ice near the margin of continental ice sheets. Form by subglacial erosion from large volumes of meltwater

Stop 1

Stop 2

Terrace development

Charlton, 2008

Terrace development

Powder River examples (Leopold and Miller, 1954)

Leopold and Miller 1954 – Terraces and valley fills of eastern Wyoming

Clear Creek cross section

Leopold’s basis for three terraces in western rivers (Leopold and Miller, 1954)

Criteria for correlating terraces

Leopold’s basis for three terraces in western rivers (Leopold and Miller, 1954)

• Three terraces – Kaycee, Moorcroft, Lightning

• Terrace morphology

• Continuity

• Height

• Physiographic relation to other terraces

• Stratigraphy of underlying fills

• Relation to buried soils, unconformities, fossil zones, and other markers (maybe volcanic ash in other areas)

• May be underlain by different units, but similar surface age, soil development

Other interpretive features

• Continuity of stream process (all cutting or filling) – longitudinal extent, cause?

• Paired heights on either side of valley – less lateral migration, quick downcutting

• Progressive downcutting – no pairing, irregular heights more common

• Slope wash profiles give indication of minimum stream elevation

Leopold and Miller, 1954

Sand Gravel Soil development

EXPLANATION

Water level

Upland

Terrace

North Fish Creek Upper main stem Valley cross section

Terrace

Well-developed soil

Poorly-developed soil

Terrace Terrace

Terrace Modern

channel

Pre-1946

channel

DISTANCE ACROSS VALLEY (METERS)

Location

Fluvial terrace look a-likes

Grand Portage Creek, MN

Slumps

Glacial lake shorelines

Terrace deposits

Glacio-lacustrine diamicton Grand Portage Creek, MN

Glacial Lake Algoma beach deposits over Glacial Lake Nippissing lacustrine deposits Pigeon River, MN

Accelerated floodplain deposition • Reconstruct long-term sediment loadings based on overbank

sedimentation rates

• Combines channel position changes, radiometric dating, identification of buried soils

photo by Bob Hansis

Mill Creek, 10 mi^2, Platte River Watershed

Sand Creek, Kickapoo River Watershed (Happ, 1940)

Kickapoo River (Happ, 1940)

Halfway Creek, 2005

Little Platte River, 150 mi^2

x c. 3100 yr BP

c. A.D. 1830

Jim Knox photos

Knox, 2001

Tracking paleochannels – Driftless Area, SW WI

Copyright © Allan James 2002

Hydraulic mining sediment

• High quartz content • Spheroidal shaped pebbles • Sand lenses • No cementation • Some imbrication • Some cross bedding • Thick deposition

Copyright © Allan James 2002

t o p b a n k d i r e c t i o n o f f l o w

aggraded material

h

h

Stage I. Sinuous, Premodified h<h c

h h

direction of bank or bed movement

critical bank height h c = =

h

slumped material

slumped material

aggraded material

oversteepened reach

precursor knickpoint

plunge pool

secondary knickpoint

primary knickpoint

aggraded material

terrace h bankfull

bank

floodplain terrace

terrace

Stage V. Aggradation and Widening h>h c

Stage III. Degradation h<h c

Stage VI Stage V

Stage IV Stage III

Stages I, II

Stage II. Constructed h<h c

Stage IV. Degradation and Widening h>h c

Stage VI. Quasi Equilibrium h<h c

aggradation zone

Channelization, Channel Evolution, and Floodplain Deposition


aggraded material

h

h


h h



h

slumped material

slumped material

aggraded material

oversteepened reach


plunge pool


primary knickpoint

aggraded material

terrace h bankfull

bank

floodplain terrace

terrace



Stage VI Stage V

Stage IV Stage III

Stages I, II




aggradation zone


aggraded material

h

h


h h



h

slumped material

slumped material

aggraded material

oversteepened reach


plunge pool


primary knickpoint

aggraded material

terrace h bankfull

bank

floodplain terrace

terrace



Stage VI Stage V

Stage IV Stage III

Stages I, II




aggradation zone

Slide: Andrew Simon

Log Drives

http://books.google.com/books?id=rBnFc03CX6MC&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89&dq=boardman+river+historical+log+drives&source=bl&ots=Xih7bRmbPi&sig=6bNj5xIJzHmn0QTKpAkQv0D2ASM&hl=en&ei=yM1cTMVqgoHyBtObnNQC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~arrast/Gradprojects_09/MIller%20splash%20dam%20ponding%20area%20Luckiamute%20River.pdf

Splash dams – a common occurrence on streams used

for log drives

Boardman River, Keystone Impoundment, Stop 1

Questions?

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