Planform architecture, stratigraphic signature and morphodynamics of an exhumed Jurassic meander plain (Scalby Formation, Yorkshire, UK)

Modern fluvial meander plains exhibit complex planform transformations in response to meander-bend expansion, downstream migration and rotation. These transformations exert a fundamental control on lithology and reservoir properties, yet their stratigraphic record has been poorly evaluated in ancient examples due to the lack of extensive three-dimensional exposures. Here, a unique exhumed meander plain exposed to the north of Scarborough (Yorkshire, UK) is analysed in terms of architecture and morphodynamics, with the aim of developing a comprehensive model of facies distribution. The studied outcrop comprises tidal platforms and adjacent cliffs, where the depositional architecture of un-tilted deposits was assessed on planform and vertical sections, respectively. In its broader perspective, this study demonstrates the potential of architectural mapping of extensive planform exposures for the reconstruction of ancient fluvial morphodynamics. The studied exhumed meander plain is part of the Scalby Formation of the Ravenscar Group, and originally drained small coastal incised valleys within the Jurassic Cleveland Basin. The meander plain is subdivided into two storeys that contain in-channel and overbank architectural elements. In-channel elements comprise expansional and downstream-migrating point bars, point-bar tails and channel fills. Overbank elements comprise crevasse complexes, levees, floodplain fines and lake fills. The evolution of the point bars played a significant role in dictating preserved facies distributions, with high flood-stage nucleation and accretion of meander scrolls later reworked during waning flood-stages. At a larger scale, meander belt morphodynamics were also a function of valley confinement and contrasts in substrate erodibility. Progressive valley infilling decreased the valley confinement, promoting the upward transition from prevalently downstream migrating to expansional meander belts, a transition associated with enhanced preservation of overbank elements. Strikingly similar relations between valley confinement, meander-bend transformations and overbank preservation are observed in small modern meandering streams such as the Beaver River of the Canadian prairies and the Powder River of Montana (USA).

[1]  M. Gibling,et al.  Ribbon sandstones in the Pennsylvanian Waddens Cove Formation, Sydney Basin, Atlantic Canada: the influence of siliceous duricrusts on channel‐body geometry , 1990 .

[2]  J. Bridge,et al.  Holocene meander-belt evolution in an active extensional basin, southwestern Montana , 1994 .

[3]  Hans-Henrik Stølum,et al.  Planform geometry and dynamics of meandering rivers , 1998 .

[4]  C. Fielding,et al.  Facies architecture of alluvial floodbasin deposits: three‐dimensional data from the Upper Triassic Callide Coal Measures of east‐central Queensland, Australia , 1996 .

[5]  P. Billi,et al.  Inferring Fluvial Morphodynamics and Overbank Flow Control From 3D Outcrop Sections of a Pleistocene Point Bar, Dandiero Basin, Eritrea , 2014 .

[6]  Hans Middelkoop,et al.  Flood management along the Lower Mississippi and Rhine Rivers (The Netherlands) and the continuum of geomorphic adjustment , 2008 .

[7]  J. Brice,et al.  Evolution of Meander Loops , 1974 .

[8]  Jan Alexander,et al.  Nature and origin of a laterally extensive alluvial sandstone body in the Middle Jurassic Scalby Formation , 1992, Journal of the Geological Society.

[9]  C. Paola,et al.  Downstream Changes In Alluvial Architecture: An Exploration of Controls on Channel-stacking Patterns , 1996 .

[10]  R. Walker,et al.  Development of a braided-fluvial facies model for the Devonian Battery Point Sandstone, Québec , 1976 .

[11]  Nigel P. Mountney,et al.  A quantitative approach to fluvial facies models: Methods and example results , 2013 .

[12]  D. Chen,et al.  Simulating sine-generated meandering channel evolution with an analytical model , 2006 .

[13]  M. Fustic.  Stratigraphic Dip Analysis – A Novel Application for Detailed Geological Modeling of Point Bars, and Predicting Bitumen Grade, McMurray Formation, Muskeg River Mine, Northeast Alberta , 2007 .

[14]  Andrew D. Miall,et al.  Reconstructing Fluvial Macroform Architecture from Two-Dimensional Outcrops: Examples from the Castlegate Sandstone, Book Cliffs, Utah , 1994 .

[15]  N. Guy,et al.  Analysis of Heavy Oil Recovery by Thermal EOR in a Meander Belt: From Geological to Reservoir Modeling , 2012 .

[16]  B. Jones,et al.  Fluvial Architecture of the Hawkesbury Sandstone (Triassic), Near Sydney, Australia , 2003 .

[17]  P. Fralick,et al.  Lithostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of the Mesoproterozoic Sibley Group, northwestern Ontario, Canada , 2007 .

[18]  M. Gibling,et al.  Alluvial Ridge‐and‐Swale Topography: A Case Study from the Morien Group of Atlantic Canada , 2009 .

[19]  Orval R Morningstar.  Floodplain construction and overbank deposition in a wandering reach of the Fraser River, Chilliwack, B.C. , 1987 .

[20]  M. Gibling,et al.  Role of vegetation in shaping Early Pennsylvanian braided rivers: Architecture of the Boss Point Formation, Atlantic Canada , 2014 .

[21]  Francesco Fidolini,et al.  Plan‐form evolution of ancient meandering rivers reconstructed from longitudinal outcrop sections , 2014 .

[22]  John B. Anderson,et al.  Terrace Inundation as an Autocyclic Mechanism for Parasequence Formation: Galveston Estuary, Texas, U.S.A. , 2005 .

[23]  O. Walderhaug,et al.  Crevasse Splay Sandstone Geometries in the Middle Jurassic Ravenscar Group of Yorkshire, UK , 2009 .

[24]  H. Ikeda.  Sedimentary Controls on Channel Migration and Origin of Point Bars in Sand–Bedded Meandering Rivers , 2013 .

[25]  C. Legleiter,et al.  Effect of point bar development on the local force balance governing flow in a simple, meandering gravel bed river , 2011 .

[26]  R. H. Meade,et al.  Evolution of cutoffs across meander necks in Powder River, Montana, USA , 1998 .

[27]  J. Smith,et al.  Flow in Meandering Channels with Natural Topography , 2013 .

[28]  J. Hooke,et al.  Meander changes in relation to bend morphology and secondary flows , 2009 .

[29]  M. Fustic,et al.  Counter point bar deposits: lithofacies and reservoir significance in the meandering modern Peace River and ancient McMurray Formation, Alberta, Canada , 2009 .

[30]  J. Powell.  Jurassic sedimentation in the Cleveland Basin: a review , 2010 .

[31]  P. Mccabe,et al.  Predicting facies architecture through sequence stratigraphy—An example from the Kaiparowits Plateau, Utah , 1991 .

[32]  R. G. Jackson.  Hierarchical attributes and a unifying model of bed forms composed of cohesionless material and produced by shearing flow , 1975 .

[33]  Mauro Aldinucci,et al.  Detection of detached forced-regressive nearshore wedges: a case study from the central-southern Siena Basin (Northern Apennines, Italy) , 2013, International Journal of Earth Sciences.

[34]  E. Foufoula‐Georgiou,et al.  Fluvial processes and streamflow variability: Interplay in the scale‐frequency continuum and implications for scaling , 2005 .

[35]  J. R. Allen,et al.  THE CLASSIFICATION OF CROSS‐STRATIFIED UNITS. WITH NOTES ON THEIR ORIGIN , 1963 .

[36]  M. Charnock,et al.  The Ravenscar Group: A coeval analogue for the Middle Jurassic reservoirs of the North Sea and offshore Mid-Norway , 2005 .

[37]  Norman D. Smith,et al.  RIVER AVULSIONS AND THEIR DEPOSITS , 2004 .

[38]  Stephen M. Hubbard,et al.  Sedimentology and stratigraphic architecture of a point bar deposit, Lower Cretaceous McMurray Formation, Alberta, Canada , 2011 .

[39]  W. Dietrich,et al.  Influence of the point bar on flow through curved channels , 1983 .

[40]  J. Hooke.  Temporal variations in fluvial processes on an active meandering river over a 20-year period , 2008 .

[41]  G. Nanson.  New evidence of scroll-bar formation on the Beatton River , 1981 .

[42]  C. Fielding,et al.  Log Jams and Flood Sediment Buildup Caused Channel Abandonment and Avulsion in the Pennsylvanian of Atlantic Canada , 2010 .

[43]  R. Eilertsen,et al.  Morphology of river bed scours on a delta plain revealed by interferometric sonar , 2008 .

[44]  P. Rawson,et al.  The Peak Trough – a major control on the geology of the North Yorkshire coast , 1989, Geological Magazine.

[45]  G. Brierley.  River planform facies models: the sedimentology of braided, wandering and meandering reaches of the Squamish River, British Columbia , 1989 .

[46]  S. Pemberton,et al.  Trace fossil assemblages in a Middle Triassic mixed siliciclastic-carbonate marginal marine depositional system, British Columbia , 2001 .

[47]  J. H. McGowen,et al.  PHYSIOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND STRATIFICATION TYPES OF COARSE‐GRAINED POINTBARS: MODERN AND ANCIENT EXAMPLES1 , 1970 .

[48]  C. Ravenne,et al.  Three-Dimensional Reservoir Architecture of a Valley-Fill Sequence and a Deltaic Aggradational Sequence: Influences of Minor Relative Sea-Level Variations (Scalby Formation, England) , 1992 .

[49]  Antonio Cattaneo,et al.  Transgressive deposits: a review of their variability , 2003 .

[50]  C. Paola,et al.  Modelling the effect of vegetation on channel pattern in bedload rivers , 2003 .

[51]  J. Holbrook.  Origin, genetic interrelationships, and stratigraphy over the continuum of fluvial channel-form bounding surfaces: an illustration from middle Cretaceous strata, southeastern Colorado , 2001 .

[52]  J. Stevaux,et al.  Floodplain construction in an anastomosed river , 2004 .

[53]  L. Burge,et al.  Confined Meandering River Eddy Accretions: Sedimentology, Channel Geometry and Depositional Processes , 2009 .

[54]  J. E. Hemingway,et al.  LITHOSTRATIGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE OF THE MIDDLE JURASSIC STRATA OF THE YORKSHIRE BASIN OF NORTH-EAST ENGLAND , 1973 .

[55]  I. Brookes.  Palaeofluvial estimates from exhumed meander scrolls, Taref Formation (Turonian), Dakhla Region, Western Desert, Egypt , 2003 .

[56]  Marek Doktor,et al.  Vegetation-controlled modern anastomosing system of the upper Narew River (NE Poland) and its sediments , 2003 .

[57]  L. Wright.  Sediment transport and deposition at river mouths: A synthesis , 1977 .

[58]  M. Whyte,et al.  Reconstruction of Middle Jurassic Dinosaur-Dominated Communities from the Vertebrate Ichnofauna of the Cleveland Basin of Yorkshire, UK , 2007 .

[59]  J. Mount.  California rivers and streams : the conflict between fluvial process and land use , 1995 .

[60]  N. Smith,et al.  Organic matter deposition in the Saskatchewan River floodplain (Cumberland Marshes, Canada): effects of progradational avulsions , 2003 .

[61]  K. Crook,et al.  Upstream-dipping foreset cross-stratification; origin and implications for paleoslope analyses , 1971 .

[62]  E. J. Hickin.  CONCAVE‐BANK BENCHES IN THE FLOODPLAINS OF MUSKWA AND FORT NELSON RIVERS, BRITISH COLUMBIA , 1986 .

[63]  Nicolás Foix,et al.  Fluvial styles, palaeohydrology and modern analogues of an exhumed, Cretaceous fluvial system: Cerro Barcino Formation, Cañadón Asfalto Basin, Argentina , 2012 .

[64]  M. Nami,et al.  An exhumed Jurassic meander belt from Yorkshire, England , 1976, Geological Magazine.

[65]  W. Stear.  Morphological Characteristics of Ephemeral Stream Channel and Overbank Splay Sandstone Bodies in the Permian Lower Beaufort Group, Karoo Basin, South Africa , 2009 .

[66]  J. R. Allen,et al.  A REVIEW OF THE ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF RECENT ALLUVIAL SEDIMENTS , 1965 .

[67]  C. W. Carlston,et al.  The relation of free meander geometry to stream discharge and its geomorphic implications , 1965 .

[68]  J. Bridge,et al.  Sedimentology and morphology of a low-sinuosity river: Calamus River, Nebraska Sand Hills , 1986 .

[69]  J. Bridge,et al.  Fluvial Facies Models: Recent Developments , 2006 .

[70]  B. Gomez.  Temporal variations in bedload transport rates: The effect of progressive bed armouring , 1983 .

[71]  S. Dashtgard,et al.  Inclined heterolithic stratification in a mixed tidal–fluvial channel: Differentiating tidal versus fluvial controls on sedimentation , 2014 .

[72]  J. Bridge,et al.  Geometry, Lithofacies, and Spatial Distribution of Cretaceous Fluvial Sandstone Bodies, San Jorge Basin, Argentina: Outcrop Analog for the Hydrocarbon-Bearing Chubut Group , 2000 .

[73]  Angela M. Gurnell,et al.  Channel planform change on the river dee meanders, 1876–1992 , 1994 .

[74]  Stefano Lanzoni,et al.  Morphodynamic regime and long‐term evolution of meandering rivers , 2009 .

[75]  H. Piégay,et al.  Large woody debris and river geomorphological pattern: examples from S.E. France and S. England , 1997 .

[76]  Gary Parker,et al.  Pavage en rivière , 1990 .

[77]  A. Ielpi.  Anatomy of major coal successions: Facies analysis and sequence architecture of a brown coal-bearing valley fill to lacustrine tract (Upper Valdarno Basin, Northern Apennines, Italy) , 2012 .

[78]  E. J. Hickin,et al.  Planform geometry and channel migration of confined meandering rivers on the Canadian prairies , 2010 .

[79]  S. Schumm.  River Response to Baselevel Change: Implications for Sequence Stratigraphy , 1993, The Journal of Geology.

[80]  B. Willis.  Palaeochannel reconstructions from point bar deposits: a three-dimensional perspective , 1989 .

[81]  M. Deb,et al.  Evaluation of Meandering Characteristics Using RS & GIS of Manu River , 2012 .

[82]  T. Knutson,et al.  Sufficient conditions for river meandering: A simulation approach , 1984 .

[83]  T. Cross,et al.  Anatomy of an avulsion , 1989 .

[84]  F. A. Melton.  An Empirical Classification of Flood-Plain Streams , 1936 .

[85]  M. Leeder,et al.  SEDIMENTARY MODELS FOR THE NON-MARINE SCALBY FORMATION (MIDDLE JURASSIC) AND EVIDENCE FOR LATE BAJOCIAN/BATHONIAN UPLIFT OF THE YORKSHIRE BASIN , 1979 .

[86]  P. R. Wormleaton,et al.  Flow structures in a two-stage channel with a mobile bed , 2004 .

[87]  G. Nanson,et al.  A genetic classification of floodplains , 1992 .

[88]  Brian J. Willis,et al.  Three-Dimensional Connectivity of Point-Bar Deposits , 2010 .

[89]  P. J. Whiting,et al.  Boundary Shear Stress and Sediment Transport in River Meanders of Sand and Gravel , 2013 .

[90]  A. Ielpi.  Frequency-Reliant Correlative Patterns of Asymmetric Lacustrine–Paralic Sequences: A Genetic Approach To the Late Miocene Bithynia Marlstones of the Southeastern Volterra Basin, Italy , 2013 .

[91]  B. Willis.  Interpretation of Bedding Geometry within Ancient Point‐Bar Deposits , 2009 .

[92]  B. Horton,et al.  Sheetflow fluvial processes in a rapidly subsiding basin, Altiplano plateau, Bolivia , 2007 .

[93]  M. Gibling.  Width and Thickness of Fluvial Channel Bodies and Valley Fills in the Geological Record: A Literature Compilation and Classification , 2006 .

[94]  S. Winterbottom,et al.  Character of channel planform change and meander development: Luangwa River, Zambia , 2000 .

[95]  K. Shiono,et al.  Complex flow mechanisms in compound meandering channels with overbank flow , 1998, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[96]  M. Gibling,et al.  Natural Geomorphic Variability Recorded in a High-Accommodation Setting: Fluvial Architecture of the Pennsylvanian Joggins Formation of Atlantic Canada , 2006 .

[97]  Jerry E. Mueller.  AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HYDRAULIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC SINUOSITY INDEXES1 , 1968 .

[98]  T. Elliott.  Interdistributary bay sequences and their genesis , 1974 .

[99]  Stephen M. Hubbard,et al.  Recognition of down-valley translation in tidally influenced meandering fluvial deposits, Athabasca Oil Sands (Cretaceous), Alberta, Canada , 2012 .

[100]  B. Makaske,et al.  Muddy lateral accretion and low stream power in a sub‐recent confined channel belt, Rhine‐Meuse delta, central Netherlands , 2005 .

[101]  Á. Marcuello,et al.  Exhumed channel sandstone networks within fluvial fan deposits from the Oligo‐Miocene Caspe Formation, South‐east Ebro Basin (North‐east Spain) , 2010 .

[102]  J. Best,et al.  Meander-Bend Evolution, Alluvial Architecture, and the Role of Cohesion in Sinuous River Channels: A Flume Study , 2007 .

[103]  G. Parker,et al.  Bend theory of river meanders. Part 2. Nonlinear deformation of finite-amplitude bends , 1982, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[104]  R. G. Jackson.  Largescale ripples of the lower Wabash River , 1976 .

[105]  G. Williams.  River meanders and channel size , 1986 .

[106]  K. Farrell.  Sedimentology and Facies Architecture of Overbank Deposits of the Mississippi River, False River Region, Louisiana , 1987 .

[107]  M. Ghinassi.  Chute channels in the Holocene high‐sinuosity river deposits of the Firenze plain, Tuscany, Italy , 2011 .

[108]  G. Nanson.  Point bar and floodplain formation of the meandering Beatton River, northeastern British Columbia, Canada , 1980 .

[109]  M. Pérez-Arlucea,et al.  Depositional Architecture of the Cuerda Del Pozo Formation, Lower Cretaceous of the Extensional Cameros Basin, North-Central Spain , 1993 .

[110]  C. Fielding.  Upper flow regime sheets, lenses and scour fills: Extending the range of architectural elements for fluvial sediment bodies , 2006 .

[111]  B. Bluck.  Sedimentation in the meandering River Endrick , 1971, Scottish Journal of Geology.

[112]  T. Törnqvist.  Holocene Alternation of Meandering and Anastomosing Fluvial Systems in the Rhine-Meuse Delta (Central Netherlands) Controlled by Sea-Level Rise and Subsoil Erodibility , 1993 .

[113]  J. Bridge.  Description and interpretation of fluvial deposits: a critical perspective , 1993 .