OUTLINE.

Introduction.
Origin of fluvial channel and stages.
River/channel forms.
River/fluvial deposits.
• Braided river deposit.
• Meandering river deposit.
Economic aspect of fluvial deposits.
Conclusion .
References.
Appreciation.
 AIM AND OBJECTIVES.
 Our aim is to give a concise and detailed talk on
fluvial channels.
 Our objectives are within the following;
• Origin of fluvial channel.
• Fluvial processes.
• The forms of fluvial channel.
• Fluvial deposit
• Their economic aspect.
 INTRODUCTION.
WHAT IS FLUVIAL CHANNEL?

Fluvial Channel is a term used in Earth science

to refer to the pathway through which river
flows, the processes associated with river, the
deposits and landforms created by them.

Fig. 1, showing a river channel.

 WHERE RIVERS ORIGINATE FROM
AND STAGES.
Rivers take their source from mountainous
regions, after which they flow downstream into
lower areas/regions.

Fig. 2, showing the

source of the river,
the stages and the
processes.
From the source of the river, three stages are
notable in the river’s course which are:
1. Early or young stage.
2. Middle or mature stage.
3. Late or old stage.

 Early Stage: it is characterised by the following;

1. This occurs in the mountain regions.
2. The velocity or energy of the flow is very high.
3. The flow of the river is straight to almost
straight.
4. Erosional features dominate.
5. There is little or no deposition.
 Middle stage: it is characterised by the
following;
1. The river begins to braid.
2. The velocity ranges from moderate to high.
3. There is moderate erosion.
4. Deposition is also moderate, depositing
coarse-grained sediments.

 Late stage: it is characterised by;

1. Rivers coalesce
2. The velocity of the flow is very low.
3. The river begins to meander.
4. Depositional features dominate.
 RIVER/CHANNEL FORMS.
According to Leeder (1999, pg. 311), the channel
form of rivers can be described in terms of;
• The deviation of the channel from a straight path
(sinuosity),
• The number of channels(single or multiple),
• The degree of channel subdivision by large bedforms
(bars), and accreting islands around which channel
reaches diverge and converge (braiding), and
• More permanent distributive channel subdivision into
stationary smaller channels (separated by floodplains)
that each contain their own channels and point bars
(anastomosing).
In this regard, the main forms of river are; straight,
anastomosing, braided and meandering channels.
1. Straight channel:
• Channel has low to no sinuosity over its length.
• They are rare.
• They exist only over short distances.

2. Anastomosing channel:
• They consists of multiple, interconnected
channels that are separated by areas of
floodplain (Makaske 2001).

Fig. 3,
Anastomosing river
channel.
3. Braided channel:
Fig. 4, Main
morphological features of
a braided river.
Deposition of sand
and/or gravel occur on
the mid channel bar.

• Main channel consists of several channels.

• Bars are major depositional feature, which are
often submerged at high flow.
• There is successive division and rejoining of
flow around islands.
• Braided bar is the depositional feature; which
can be longitudinal, transverse or linguoid bar.
4. Meandering channel:
Fig. 5, Main morphological
features of a meandering
river. Deposition occur on
the point bar, while erosion
occur on the opposite cut
bank. Levees form when
flood rapidly deposits
sediment close to the bank.

• There is high sinuosity in this channel.

• The flow at the outer bank (cut bank) is stronger, which
causes the erosion of this portion; while the cross-flow
towards the inner bank is weaker, leading to deposition.
• Point bar is the depositional feature.
 RIVER DEPOSITS.
• Accumulation and possible preservation of river
channel deposits can occur only if the river changes its
position in some way, either by shifting sideways, or if
the channel changes position on the floodplain, a
process known as avulsion.
• Straight and anastomosing channel deposits are
usually not found in stratigraphic record, but deposits
of braided and meandering channels are usually
preserved.
• Generally, fluvial deposits are fining upward sequence
units.
 BRAIDED RIVER DEPOSITS.
The alluvium of
braided river
systems consists,
largely of
channel lag
gravels, cross-
bedded channel
bar and
braid bar sands.
Fig. 6, Depositional architecture A notable example of alluvium
of a braided river: lateral deposited by braided channel system
migration of the channel and is found in the Cambro-Ordovician
the abandonment of bars leads sand blanket, which stretches from the
to the build-up of channel-fill Atlantic ocean across Sahara and
Arabia as far as the Arabian Gulf.
successions.
Fig. 7, Physiography and deposits of a braided alluvial channel system.
Sedimentation occurs almost entirely in the rapidly shifting complex of channels.
Silts are rarely deposited in abandoned channels. A floodplain is absent.
 MEANDERING RIVER DEPOSIT
Fig. 8, Depositional
architecture of a
meandering river:
sandstone bodies
formed by the lateral
migration of the river
channel remain isolated
when the channel
avulses or is cut-off to
form an oxbow lake.
Alluvium deposited by meandering fluvial system consist of; scoured
intraformational erosion surface bevelled across older alluvium or
bedrock, channel lag conglomerate, cross-bedded sand bar deposit,
rippled sandstone and overbank mud.
A classic example of a meandering river deposit is seen in the Devonian
Old Red Sandstone of the North Atlantic Margins of the Appalachians.
Fig. 9, Physiography and deposits of an alluvial flood plain cut by meandering
channels. This illustration shows how the lateral migration of a channel
generates an upward-fining-grain size profile on its inner convex bank.
 Other deposits associated with fluvial system are;
• Levees: this is a bank of sediment deposited at
the edge of the channel which is higher than
the level of the floodplain. They separate the
channel from low-lying flood basin on either
side of the alluvial plain.
• Floodplain deposits are generally fine-grained
sands, clays, and silts. They are interlaminated,
cross laminated, and characteristically
desiccation-cracked. Flood basin deposits are
often burrowed, frequently pierced by plant
roots, and, under suitably waterlogged
conditions, may become peatforming swamps
and marshes.
• The assemblage of levee, floodplain, and
swamp sediments is collectively referred to as
an overbank deposit, to distinguish it from the
assemblage of channel deposits.
• Crevasse-splay: this occurs when rivers at
bankfull scour channels through the levees
termed "crevasses“. Lobes of fine sand are
deposited where these debouch into the flood
basins. These crevasse-splays are similar to,
though smaller than, the lobes of deltas.

Fig. 10, showing a crevasse-splay.

 ECONOMIC ASPECT OF FLUVIAL
DEPOSIT.
 Fluvial deposits are of great economic
importance for many reasons. They serve;
• as aquifers or petroleum reservoirs, because
of their porosity and permeability.
• as the hosts for deposits of coal, uranium,
and placer minerals.
• as important hosts for placer ores of detrital
heavy minerals notably gold (Bache, 1987).
 CONCLUSION.
 In conclusion:
• Fluvial channels has to do with the pathways
through which river flows. They flow
downstream from mountainous region to
lowlands.
• The major forms of fluvial channels are:
straight, anastomosing, braided, and
meandering.
• Braided bar is the deposit of braided channel.
• Point bar is the deposit of meandering channel.
• Fluvial deposits are of great economic
importance, as stated in the presentation.
 REFERENCES.
1. Applied sedimentology by R.C Selley.
2. Principles of sedimentology and
stratigraphy (4th edition) by Sam Boggs.
3. Sedimentology and Stratigraphy by Gary
Nichols.
4. Lecture note by Mr O. A Opatola.
 THANK
YOU
FOR
LISTENING.