STRATIGRAPHY
GEO132
DELTAIC ENVIRONMENTS
INTRODUCTION
Progradational deposits made where the channel-confined flow of a river expands and
decelerates into standing water and drops its load
Named after its “triangular” shape
The architecture of a delta is determined by sub-delta bathymetry, by the rate of influx of
riverine sediments, nature of permanent ocean currents, and its texture
PHYSIOGRAPHY
A delta has three physiographically contrasting parts
o Prodelta
Deep-water region
Sediments are deposited slowly
bottomset
o Delta Front
Site of most abundant sedimentation
Progrades overt the prodelta
foreset
o Delta platform
Emergent or nearly emergent portion of the delta
Heterogeneous sedimentation occurs in distributary channels, on levees, and
splays, in lakes and marhses, beaches, and barrier islands, lagoons, and tidal flats
Topset
The areal plan of the delta is governed by the relative importance of fluvial, wave, and
tidal processes.
o River-dominated
Deposites made by distributaries
Including deposits within the channel, in overbank sites, and at the channel mouth
Elongateor birdfoot plans
o Wave-dominated
Cuspate plan
Form from continuous reworking of riverine sediments by ocean waves
Associated with longshore currents
o Tide-dominated
Irregular, estuarine plans
Distributaries flare onto tide-swept platforms
Tidal currents flow up and down the river channels on a regular basis and modify
riverine sediments into shore-perpendicular tidal ridges
DELTAIC SEDIMENTS AND SEDIMENTATION
Subaqueous levees
o Lateral deposits that are underwater extensions of channel levees
Channel-mouth bars
o Site of the most rapid sedimentation
o Fan-shaped or lobate caps of sand on subaqueous muddy “bulges” that form beyond
the mouth of a channel.
Plane Jet
o A flat plume formed due to the emergence of river water from the channel mouth
with sufficient momentum
o As the jet decelerates and expands laterally it gradually drops suspended sediments
Bar finger
o Forms due to channel-mouth sedimentation and channel elongation
o An elongate body that is tens of meters thick, doubly convex in transverse section
o Coarsens upward as the lower parts are deposited farthest from the channel mouth
Levees
o Small near channel mouths
Crevasse Splays
o Lobate wedges of sand and mud that ae channeled proximally and thicken distally
o Interbedded with other interdistributary deposits
o Splay Development
Splays are particularly common in deltaic settings, forming as smaller deltas
within flooded areas adjacent to major channels. Splay growth is the primary
process for filling the space between distributary channels in fluvially-
dominated deltas.
Prodelta mud
o Forms the foundation of the delta
o A thin layer and the most continuous of all delta deposits
Distal Bar Sediments
o Laminated, contain thin graded beds or slumped sediments
Ancient Deltas
o Records a typically coarsening-upward succession of mudstones and sandstones
o Fully marine at the bottom, non-marine or marginal-marine at the top
o The thickness reflects the depth of the body of water into which the delta prograded
o Thickness is also affected by tectonic subsidence or sea-level rise
Channel Bifurcation
o As fluvial flow enters a standing body of water, it rapidly loses velocity, decreasing
its capacity to transport sediment. The coarsest material is deposited in mid-channel,
forming a channel-mouth bar. Flow diverts around the bar, depositing additional
sediment in the form of channel margin bars or levees. The process repeats for
increasingly numerous, but smaller, channels as the delta advances basinward.
DELTA-MARGIN PROCESSES
The edges of delta platforms are coasts and are sites of coastal depositional and erosional
processes
These processes exert influence on the delta architecture
DELTA SUBSIDENCE AND OTHER DEFORMATIONS
Some subsidence is due to loading of the crust, some is due to earl compaction and
dewatering of rapidly deposited sediments
Localized rapid deposition such as on mouth bars causes instabilities that give rise to
slumps and debris flows, and turbidity currents the flow basinward onto the prodelta of
deeper waters
Deformations
o Growth faults
result from downdip increasing sedimentation rates; they develop
contemporaneously with sedimentation.
o Mud diapirs
may form when thick prodelta deposits are covered by mouth-bar sands.
o Slumping
can lead to the anomalous occurrence of shallow-water facies in prodelta deposits.
FLOW TYPES
Homocypnal Flow
o If stream flow density is equal to that of the basin, the two mix thoroughly, leading to
rapid deposition of both coarse-and fine-grained sediment, producing Gilbert-type
deltas. This is typical of delta-building into freshwater lakes.a
o Gilbert-Type Deltas
formed under conditions of homopycnal flow and consist of three major
components: bottomset beds of mud deposited by suspension in advance of the
delta; foreset beds composed of sand and gravel forming the delta front; and fluvial
topset deposits of gravel, sand, and mud.
Hypercypnal Flow
o If stream flow density is greater than that of the basin, the flow remains in contact with
the basin floor, eroding the previous surface and forming turbidite-like deposits. This
can occur where cold, sediment-laden water flows into a warm, clear lake or ocean.
Hypocypnal Flow
o If stream flow density is less than that of the basin, after dropping the coarse load
fraction, fine sediment spreads like a blanket across the sea surface, slowly settling to
the sea floor. This is the typical condition for the generation of most marine deltas.
ESTUARINE SYSTEMS
Estuarine systems are deltaic systems that form within drowned river valleys during the
latter stages of marine transgression into early stages of regression. They are smaller in
scale than deltas and tend to be dominated by a mixture of fluvial and tidal processes.
