Detailed project information

The aim of this project is: 1) to construct a 4D (time-space) process-based alluvial architecture model, simulating delta evolution as a result of avulsion, and 2) to test this model against real-world alluvial architecture data. Identification of the model process equations and calibration of the model will be based on an extensive digital database from the Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta (The Netherlands), containing over 200,000 borehole descriptions. The model will be validated with alluvial architecture data from other deltas in the world, aiming at a generic model that can be used universally for the simulation of alluvial architecture, both modern and ancient, and for the sensitivity analysis of input parameters on model outcomes in different geological settings.

Avulsion (the abandonment of a art or the whole of a channel belt by a stream in favor of a new course) is a principal process in delta building. Alluvial architecture models are not only important to enhance our understanding of delta formation, but are also of practical significance, for example in the exploration of natural resources, which are often found in deltaic fluvial deposits. The new 4D-alluvial architecture model will be based on process-related equations. The detailed avulsion history of the Rhine-Meuse delta, that was revealed by the study of Stouthamer (2001) will be used to incorporate the factors that are known to have influenced the avulsion process in time and space.

Proefschriften

• Dr. E. Stouthamer (2001). Holocene avulsions in the Rhine-Meuse delta, The Netherlands.. . promotiedatum