The Pennsylvania State University the Graduate School College Of
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Earth and Mineral Sciences EVALUATING CONTROLS ON CREVASSE-SPLAY GROWTH IN MODERN AND ANCIENT FLUVIAL SYSTEMS A Thesis in Geosciences by Craig L. Millard 2013 Craig L. Millard Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science May 2013 The thesis of Craig L. Millard was reviewed and approved* by the following: Elizabeth A. Hajek Assistant Professor of Geosciences Thesis Adviser Eric Kirby Associate Professor of Geosciences Rudy L. Slingerland Professor of Geology Chris J. Marone Professor of Geosciences Associate Head of Graduate Program of the Department of Geosciences *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ii Abstract Crevasse-splays and related facies are common in some avulsive fluvial systems, while being nearly absent in others. As such, the study of splay and other overbank deposits may be fundamental to understanding the processes of fluvial avulsion and basin-filling in terrestrial systems. Despite this importance, the primary controls on crevasse-splay growth and development are poorly understood and constrained. Within this study, the role of floodplain drainage and channel grain-size distribution on crevasse-splay growth is examined, as these variables influence the amount of sediment and water discharged through levee crevasses. To evaluate the influence of floodplain drainage and channel grain-size distributions on crevasse-splay growth, three approaches were used. First, crevasse-splay extent, plan form, and frequency were documented using aerial photography from Google Earth in four modern, avulsive river systems including the Ovens (Victoria, Australia), Sandover (Northern Territory, Australia), Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan, Canada), and upper Columbia (British Columbia, Canada). Second, field observations and measurements from the Paleocene Fort Union Formation (Bighorn Basin, Wyoming), Paleocene-Eocene Willwood Formation (Bighorn Basin, Wyoming), and Late Cretaceous-Paleocene Ferris Formation (Hanna Basin, Wyoming) documented floodplain drainage and grain-size characteristics in these ancient systems. Finally, numerical modeling using Delft3D-FLOW was conducted to explore splay growth under different floodplain drainage and channel grain-size conditions. Collectively, modern observations, ancient deposits, and modeling results show that systems producing wide-spread, basin-filling crevasse-splay deposits are associated with well- drained floodplains with steep cross-floodplain water-surface gradients and abundant intermediate grain-sizes (i.e. coarse silt to fine sand, which is readily suspended in channel flows and also settles from suspension quickly as through-crevasse flows expand and decelerate on the floodplain). In contrast, splay production was limited in systems with poorly-drained floodplains and/or coarse grain sizes. Some of the systems featured little or no crevasse-splay deposition (e.g. Ovens River and Ferris Formation) or numerous splays with relatively little depositional volume (e.g. upper Columbia and Sandover Rivers). In these systems, splay deposition is limited because standing water on the floodplain reduced cross-floodplain water-surface slopes, iii suppressing sediment advection away from the channel margin, and/or these systems lacked intermediate sediment sizes that supply crevasse-splay sediment to the floodplain. Ultimately, these results suggest that well-drained floodplains with steep, lateral water- surface gradients promote extensive crevasse-splay growth. The influence of channel grain-size distribution is less pronounced than floodplain-drainage conditions, although abundant "intermediate" sediment supply (i.e. coarse suspended sediment) promotes large crevasse-splay deposits. iv Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................. vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................ x Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... xi 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 2.0 Background ........................................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Controls on Splay Development ....................................................................................................... 14 2.1.1 Primary Controls on Splay Area and Volume ............................................................................ 15 2.2 Relationship of Splays and Fluvial Avulsion .................................................................................... 17 2.2.1 Splays within Progradational Avulsion Systems ....................................................................... 18 2.2.2 Splays within Incisional Avulsion Systems ............................................................................... 19 2.3 Crevasse-splays in the Stratigraphic Record ..................................................................................... 20 3.0 Hypotheses and Study Phases ............................................................................................................... 29 3.1 Hypotheses ........................................................................................................................................ 29 3.1.1 Hypothesis I ............................................................................................................................... 29 3.1.2 Hypothesis II .............................................................................................................................. 29 3.2 Study Components ............................................................................................................................ 30 4.0 Observations in Modern Rivers ............................................................................................................ 33 4.1 Study Areas ....................................................................................................................................... 33 4.1.1 Upper Columbia River ............................................................................................................... 33 4.1.2 Saskatchewan River ................................................................................................................... 34 4.1.3 Sandover River ........................................................................................................................... 35 4.1.4 Ovens River ............................................................................................................................... 36 4.2 Google Earth Observations and Measurements ................................................................................ 37 4.3 Google Earth Study Results .............................................................................................................. 38 4.3.1 General Appearance of Splays ................................................................................................... 38 4.3.2 Analysis of Splay Shape ............................................................................................................ 40 4.3.2.1 Splay Frequency and Basin Filling .................................................................................... 40 4.3.2.2 Splay Sizes and Shapes ...................................................................................................... 41 4.3.3 Splay Volume Estimates ............................................................................................................ 43 4.4 Discussion ......................................................................................................................................... 45 5.0 Observations in Ancient Systems ......................................................................................................... 71 v 5.1 Formations ........................................................................................................................................ 71 5.1.1 Ferris Formation ......................................................................................................................... 71 5.1.2 Fort Union Formation ................................................................................................................ 72 5.1.3 Willwood Formation .................................................................................................................. 72 5.2 Field Observations ............................................................................................................................ 73 5.3 Results ............................................................................................................................................... 74 5.3.1 Ferris Formation ......................................................................................................................... 74 5.3.2 Fort Union Formation ................................................................................................................ 75 5.3.3 Willwood Formation .................................................................................................................