River path selection in response to uplift and interaction with alluvial fans

Abstract:

River systems construct stratigraphic successions and build land by depositing and redistributing sediments as they migrate across the entire basin. This mobility arises from the intrinsic variability of a river system but can also be forced by external changes. It is particularly observable in tectonically active basins where the basement can be partly uplifted and where sediments can come from multiple sources. Theoretically, the ability of these perturbations to steer channels depends on their capacity to create lateral topographic gradients at a faster rate than the aggradation. Following these lines, we present an experimental study on the impacts of lateral tilting by tectonics and lateral alluvial fans on rivers path. The experiment was conducted in the eXperimental Earth Scape facility, also known as the Jurassic tank, where the basement tilting rate can be monitored by controlling individually gravel subsidence through 108 hexagonal cells. The basin was relatively uplifted on one side of the tank according to an anticline-shape and sediments were input through two sources: a main, axial one and a lateral, secondary one. We analyzed the differences in the topographic signature and flow occupation of rivers in response to the uplift or the lateral sediment source as well as the competition of these forcing in the late stages of the experiments. We found that both tectonic tilting and fan activity tend to decrease the basin-wide channel mobility. Indeed, the area at the convergence of the two interacting fans is a long-lasting topographic low that tends to channelize the flow while areas away from it are less visited. The position of this boundary is correlated with the relative flow contribution from both fans. This highlights the self-healing capacity of fans that are able to rapidly restore a graded shape. As opposed to fans, an uplifted area will not heal but force rivers to carve long-lasting valleys and increase the relief. When eroded, these uplifted terranes collapse material in the river and slow down the lateral migration of channels. As a result, the extension of the lateral fan as sedimentation rate increases is not able to completely erase pre-existing reliefs.