<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>On the floodplain of a sandy, braided river in the Central European Lowland, we studied the sedimentary texture of two crevasse splays, which were: (1) formed due to a levee breach in the 2010 flood, and widely documented by hydrological, bathymetric and LIDAR data, (2) developed under natural conditions when the channel was not embanked by artificial levees (dikes). We compare the sedimentological results with a geomorphological map, a model of the floodplain geomorphology showing different facies of fluvial deposition derived from a meandering river, and deposits in cut banks of the river channel. The statistical parameters of the grain size composition and geomorphic features of the splay, shaped by overbank flow through the broken embankment, are similar to the natural landform. Most of the cut banks (60% of alluvial deposits were mapped there) consist of lithofacies representing proximal floodplain; 30% were distal floodplain (muds), and 10% channel (coarse sand with gravel, pebbles and cobbles). We speculate about the palaeogeography of the Lower Vistula, and the origin of muds and coarse deposits in the banks of the channel. We link these unusual sediments with avulsion, deposition in side arms during ice-jam conditions, and dredging of the channel bottom by suction excavator, which reached the fluvioglacial, suballuvial layer on the bedrock protrusion.</p>
</abstract>

On the floodplain of a sandy, braided river in the Central European Lowland, we studied the sedimentary texture of two crevasse splays, which were: (1) formed due to a levee breach in the 2010 flood, and widely documented by hydrological, bathymetric and LIDAR data, (2) developed under natural conditions when the channel was not embanked by artificial levees (dikes). We compare the sedimentological results with a geomorphological map, a model of the floodplain geomorphology showing different facies of fluvial deposition derived from a meandering river, and deposits in cut banks of the river channel. The statistical parameters of the grain size composition and geomorphic features of the splay, shaped by overbank flow through the broken embankment, are similar to the natural landform. Most of the cut banks (60% of alluvial deposits were mapped there) consist of lithofacies representing proximal floodplain; 30% were distal floodplain (muds), and 10% channel (coarse sand with gravel, pebbles and cobbles). We speculate about the palaeogeography of the Lower Vistula, and the origin of muds and coarse deposits in the banks of the channel. We link these unusual sediments with avulsion, deposition in side arms during ice-jam conditions, and dredging of the channel bottom by suction excavator, which reached the fluvioglacial, suballuvial layer on the bedrock protrusion.

<bold>Sedimentary texture of crevasse splays</bold> formed by present-day and palaeofloods against the background of floodplain geomorphology and lithofacies exposed in channel cut banks (in the Vistula River valley between Warsaw and Płock, Poland)

Department of Water Engineering and Applied Geology, Institute of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department of Sedimentary Basins, Faculty of Geology

Department of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Faculty of Geology

Miscellanea Geographica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

 formed by present-day and palaeofloods against the background of floodplain geomorphology and lithofacies exposed in channel cut banks (in the Vistula River valley between Warsaw and Płock, Poland)

On the floodplain of a sandy, braided river in the Central European Lowland, we studied the sedimentary texture of two crevasse splays, which were: (1) formed...

Sedimentary texture of crevasse splays formed by present-day and palaeofloods against the background of floodplain geomorphology and lithofacies exposed in channel cut banks (in the Vistula River valley between Warsaw and Płock, Poland)

Published Online: Oct 31, 2023

Page range: 180 - 196

Received: Sep 29, 2023

Accepted: Oct 31, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/mgrsd-2023-0030

Keywords
Riverine terrace, LGM ice-marginal valley, sedimentary structures, sieve analysis, gradation test, sedimentology

© 2023 Grzegorz Wierzbicki et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Sedimentary texture of crevasse splays formed by present-day and palaeofloods against the background of floodplain geomorphology and lithofacies exposed in channel cut banks (in the Vistula River valley between Warsaw and Płock, Poland)

Published Online: Oct 31, 2023

Page range: 180 - 196

Received: Sep 29, 2023

Accepted: Oct 31, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/mgrsd-2023-0030

KeywordsRiverine terrace, LGM ice-marginal valley, sedimentary structures, sieve analysis, gradation test, sedimentology

© 2023 Grzegorz Wierzbicki et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Riverine terrace, LGM ice-marginal valley, sedimentary structures, sieve analysis, gradation test, sedimentology