Lyell Collection
Journal of the Geological Society
Lyell Centre  |   Lyell Collection  |   Subscriptions   |   Geological Society  |   Email alerts  |   Online bookshop  |   Help

Keywords:
Author:
Advanced search>>
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by VINCENT, S. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation
Journal of the Geological Society; 1999; v. 156; issue.4; p. 749-759;
DOI: 10.1144/gsjgs.156.4.0749
© 1999 Geological Society of London

Article

The role of sediment supply in controlling alluvial architecture: an example from the Spanish Pyrenees

STEPHEN J. VINCENT

CASP, Department of Earth Sciences, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK (e-mail: Stephen.vincent{at}casp.co.uk)

This study isolates the controls on the alluvial architecture of two interfingering late Lutetian fluvial systems preserved at the northern margin of the Tremp-Graus Basin, in the south central Pyrenees. One of these, a northerly, mountain-belt-derived, high-gradient, bedload-dominated gravelly system, displays marked variations in its alluvial architecture, with systematic changes in the width, depth, internal facies arrangement and stacking pattern of its channel bodies. The other, an easterly, basin-axis-derived, lower gradient, poorly drained alluvial system, displays no discernible systematic variations in alluvial architecture.

A common control that would similarly affect both of the interfingering fluvial systems cannot be responsible for their contrasting architectural patterns. Variations in base level, despite the contemporaneous shoreline being only 18 km downstream, climate, or the tectonic rotation of the study area are therefore discounted. Fluctuations in sediment supply to the northerly derived system resulting from the episodic uplift of its drainage basin are instead proposed, although intrinsic controls cannot be totally discounted. Similar sediment flux variations in the headwaters of the easterly derived system are envisaged, but its longer, lower-gradient transport path was effective in dampening out these fluctuations upstream of the study area.

Key Words: Tertiary • Spain • Pyrenees • alluvial architecture • sediment supply




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Journal of Sedimentary ResearchHome page
M. R. Gibling
Width and Thickness of Fluvial Channel Bodies and Valley Fills in the Geological Record: A Literature Compilation and Classification
Journal of Sedimentary Research, 2006; 76: 731 - 770.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Geological Society, London, Special PublicationsHome page
E. Thamo-Bozso, Z. Kercsmar, and A. Nador
Tectonic control on changes in sediment supply: Quaternary alluvial systems, Koros sub-basin, SE Hungary
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2002; 191: 37 - 53.
[Abstract] [PDF]