Geology and Geomorphology of Alluvial and Fluvial Fans: Terrestrial and Planetary Perspectives
CONTAINS OPEN ACCESS
Alluvial and fluvial fans are the most widespread depositional landform bordering the margins of highland regions and actively subsiding continental basins, across a broad spectrum of tectonic and climatic settings. They are significant to the local morphodynamics of mountain regions and also to the evolution of sediment-routing systems, affecting the propagation and preservation of stratigraphic signals of environmental change over vast areas.
The volume presents case studies discussing the geology and geomorphology of alluvial and fluvial fans from both active systems and ancient ones preserved in the stratigraphic record. It brings together case studies from a range of continents, climatic and tectonic settings, some introducing innovative monitoring and analysis techniques, and it provides an overview of current debates in the field.
This volume will be of particular interest to geologists, geomorphologists, sedimentologists and the general reader with an interest in Earth science.
Alluvial and fluvial fans on Saturn’s moon Titan reveal processes, materials and regional geology
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Published:January 01, 2018
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CiteCitation
Jani Radebaugh, Dario Ventra, Ralph D. Lorenz, Tom Farr, Randy Kirk, Alex Hayes, Michael J. Malaska, Sam Birch, Zac Yung-Chun Liu, Jonathan Lunine, Jason Barnes, Alice Le Gall, Rosaly Lopes, Ellen Stofan, Steve Wall, Philippe Paillou, 2018. "Alluvial and fluvial fans on Saturn’s moon Titan reveal processes, materials and regional geology", Geology and Geomorphology of Alluvial and Fluvial Fans: Terrestrial and Planetary Perspectives, D. Ventra, L. E. Clarke
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Abstract
Fans, landforms that record the storage and transport of sediment from uplands to depositional basins, are found on Saturn’s moon Titan, a body of significantly different process rates and material compositions from Earth. Images obtained by the Cassini spacecraft’s synthetic aperture radar reveal morphologies, roughness, textural patterns and other properties consistent with fan analogues on Earth also viewed by synthetic aperture radar. The observed fan characteristics on Titan reveal some regions of high relative relief and others with gentle slopes over hundreds of kilometres, exposing topographic variations and influences on fan formation. There is evidence for a range of particle sizes across proximal to distal fan regions, from c. 2 cm or more to fine-grained, which can provide details on sedimentary processes. Some features are best described as alluvial fans, which implies their proximity to high-relief source areas, while others are more likely to be fluvial fans, drawing from larger catchment areas and frequently characterized by more prolonged runoff events. The presence of fans corroborates the vast liquid storage capacity of the atmosphere and the resultant episodic behaviour. Fans join the growing list of landforms on Titan derived from atmospheric and fluvial processes similar to those on Earth, strengthening comparisons between these two planetary bodies.
- alluvial fans
- atmospheric precipitation
- behavior
- Cassini-Huygens Mission
- digital terrain models
- Earth
- fluvial features
- geomorphology
- giant planets
- grain size
- hydrologic cycle
- icy satellites
- imagery
- indicators
- interplanetary comparison
- landform evolution
- landforms
- morphometry
- natural analogs
- outer planets
- planets
- playas
- properties
- provenance
- radar methods
- relief
- remote sensing
- runoff
- SAR
- satellites
- Saturn
- sedimentology
- Shuttle Imaging Radar
- size distribution
- SRTM
- surface features
- terrestrial comparison
- Titan Satellite
- topography
- Leilah Fluctus
- Elivagar Flumina
- Mezzoramia