Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Controls On Channel Deposits Of Highly Variable Rivers: Comparing Hydrology And Event Deposits In The Burdekin River, Australia, Jan Alexander, Christopher M. Herbert, Christopher R. Fielding, Kathryn J. Amos

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Discharge event frequency, magnitude and duration all control river chan- nel morphology and sedimentary architecture. Uncertainty persists as to whether alluvial deposits in the rock record are a time-averaged amalgam from all discharge events, or a biased record of larger events. This paper investigates the controls on channel deposit character and subsurface strati- graphic architecture in a river with seasonal discharge and very high inter- annual variability, the Burdekin River of north-east Australia. In such rivers, most sediment movement is restricted to a few days each year and at other times little sediment moves. However, the maximum discharge magnitude does …