Comparative analysis of modern fluvial systems and the rock record: outcrop-scale analogue modelling for the palaeoenvironmental interpretation of fluvial deposits

Abstract

This project aims to develop depositional models for different preserved fluvial fan systems on the rock record through highly-detailed studies of the preserved sedimentary facies and architectural elements on recent and modern-day fluvial fan systems from the Pantanal wetlands in western Brazil. The motivation of this project is to understand the relationship between the reserved depositional architecture and the associated climatic and tectonic settings. Preserved channel planform patterns distribution will be analyzed through remotely sensed imagery examined in a GIS platform, and the preserved depositional architecture and associated sedimentary facies associations will be investigated through multiple-scale, integrated analyses of outcrop-scale studies and ground-penetrating radar data. The recent and Pleistocene deposits of the Taquari and Cuiabá megafans will be studied, with particular interest on the interaction of these two systems and the axially-drained, trunk river system of the Paraguai River. Two- and three-dimensional models will be produced in various scales. Results will be compared with highly-detailed, outcrop-scale data from interpreted megafan fluvial deposits in the rock record, in order to provide palaeoenvironmental parameters for continental sedimentary deposits. At least two of such fluvial deposits will be analyzed and compared with the Pantanal fluvial systems: the Guarda Velha Formation (Cambrian, southern Brazil), and the Applecross Formation of the Torridon Group (Tonian, NW Scotland). The Guarda Velha Formation will be investigated through ground-penetrating radar techniques, generating profiles which will be further compared with previous studies on such deposits by the candidate. The Applecross Formation (Torridonian) will be investigated through the depositional architecture and sedimentary facies analyses and previous sedimentary studies by the candidate on the area. The integrated analyses these recent and ancient fluvial systems will provide novel parameters for the palaeoenvironmental interpretations of the continental rock record. These results can potentially contribute to the significant gaps between modern-day fluvial sedimentology and the study of the rock record of fluvial deposits, an ongoing debate among the sedimentological community. (AU)