Staff Publications

Sedimentological outcrop analysis and sub-surface ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys are combined to characterize the three-dimensional sedimentary architecture of Quaternary coarse-grained fluvial deposits in the Neckar Valley (SW Germany). Two units characterized by different architectural styles are distinguished within the upper part of the gravel body, separated by an erosional unconformity: (i) a lower unit dominated by trough-shaped depositional elements with erosional, concave-up bounding surfaces that are filled by cross-bedded sets of mainly openwork and filled framework gravel; and (ii) an upper unit characterized by gently inclined sheets of massive and openwork gravels with thin, sandy interlayers that show lateral accretion on a lower erosional unconformity. The former is interpreted as confluence scour pool elements formed in a multi-channel, possibly braided river system, the latter as extensive point bar deposits formed by the lateral migration of a meandering river channel. The lateral accretion elements are locally cut by chute channels mainly filled by gravels rich in fines, and by fine-grained abandoned channel fills. The lateral accretion elements are associated with gravel dune deposits characterized by steeply inclined cross-beds of alternating open and filled framework gravel. Floodplain fines with a cutbank and point bar morphology cover the gravel deposits. The GPR images, revealing the three-dimensional geometries of the depositional elements and their stacking patterns, confirm a change in sedimentary style between the two stratigraphic units. The change occurred at the onset of the Holocene, as indicated by 14C-dating of wood fragments, and is related to a re-organization of the fluvial system that probably was driven by climatic changes. The integration of sedimentological and GPR results highlights the heterogeneity of the fluvial deposits, a factor that is important for modelling groundwater flow in valley-fill aquifers.

Kostic, B and Aigner, T. (2007) Sedimentary architecture and 3D ground-penetrating radar analysis of gravelly meandering river deposits (Neckar Valley, SW Germany). Sedimentology 54: p789-808