The fluvial megafan of Abarkoh Basin (Central Iran): an example of flash-flood sedimentation in arid lands

Abstract

AbstractThe Abarkoh Basin is situated in central part of the NW-SE-trending Gavkhoni-Sirjan depression of Central Iran. The studied fluvial megafan represents a Quaternary fan, which is located in the western part of this intermontane, extensional basin. This fan covers an area of 940 km2 and with a gentle slope (about 0.5°) over a 45 km-length terminates in a playa lake in the centre of the Abarkoh Basin. Its catchment is the Abadeh Basin (> 2000 km2), which is a NW-SE-trending intermontane basin and mainly floored with the Quaternary alluvial-fan sediments. The studied megafan was built by stream-dominated processes, as revealed by the presence of thick-bedded, clast-supported gravels-sandy gravels (gravelly-sandy conglomerates) in the proximal-fan areas that grade into thick marls with sinuous, lenticular channel-filled, grain-supported, imbricated, pebbly conglomerates in the proximal-medial fan regions. Thick calcareous marls and lenticular, single channel-fill sandstone-conglomerate deposits characterize the distal part of the fan and pass laterally into sediments of the playa lake fringe. The aim of this paper is to present an example of a fluvial megafan in an arid-semi-arid setting, to highlight the flash-flood, sheetflood-channelized sedimentation in megafans, and to stress their importance in water resources in arid lands. Fluvial fans are frequently identified in the rock record. The fluvial megafan of the Abarkoh Basin represents one of only a few described, large-scale, stream-dominated, Quaternary megafans in arid-semi-arid settings.