Sedimentary facies and geomorphic evolution of a blocked‐valley lake: Lake Futululu, northern Kwazulu‐Natal, South Africa

Grenfell, Suzanne E; Ellery, William F N; Grenfell, Michael C; Ramsay, Lisa F; Flügel, Tyrel J

Title: Sedimentary facies and geomorphic evolution of a blocked‐valley lake: Lake Futululu, northern Kwazulu‐Natal, South Africa
Creator: Grenfell, Suzanne E
Creator: Ellery, William F N
Creator: Grenfell, Michael C
Creator: Ramsay, Lisa F
Creator: Flügel, Tyrel J
Date Issued: 2010
Date: 2010
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/126826
Identifier: vital:35928
Identifier: https://doi.10.1111/j.1365-3091.2009.01141.x
Description: Blocked-valley lakes are formed when tributaries are impounded by the relatively rapid aggradation of a large river and its floodplain. These features are common in the landscape, and have been identified in the floodplains of the Solimo˜es-Amazon (Brazil) and Fly-Strickland Rivers (Papua New Guinea), for example, but their inaccessibility has resulted in studies being limited to remotely sensed image analysis. This paper documents the sedimentology and geomorphic evolution of a blocked-valley lake, Lake Futululu on the Mfolozi River floodplain margin, in South Africa, while also offering a context for the formation of lakes and wetlands at tributary junctions. The study combines aerial photography, elevation data from orthophotographs and field survey, and longitudinal sedimentology determined from a series of cores, which were sub-sampled for organic content and particle size analysis. Radiocarbon dating was used to gauge the rate and timing of peat accumulation. Results indicate that following the last glacial maximum, rising sea-levels caused aggradation of the Mfolozi River floodplain. By 3980 years bp, aggradation on the floodplain had impounded the Futululu drainage line, creating conditions suitable for peat formation, which has since occurred at a constant average rate of 0Æ13 cm year)1. Continued aggradation on the Mfolozi River floodplain has raised the base level of the Futululu drainage line, resulting in a series of backstepping sedimentary facies with fluvially derived sand and silt episodically prograding over lacustrine peat deposits. Blocked-valley lakes form where the trunk river has a much larger sediment load and catchment than the tributary stream. Similarly, when the relative difference in sediment loads is less, palustrine wetlands, rather than lakes, may be the result. In contrast, where tributaries drain a steep, well-connected catchment, they may impound much larger trunk rivers, creating lakes or wetlands upstream.
Format: 16 pages
Format: pdf
Language: English
Relation: Sedimentology
Relation: Grenfell, S.E., Ellery, W.N., Grenfell, M.C., Ramsay, L.F. and Fluegel, T.J., 2010. Sedimentary facies and geomorphic evolution of a blocked‐valley lake: Lake Futululu, northern Kwazulu‐Natal, South Africa. Sedimentology, 57(5), pp.1159-1174
Relation: Sedimentology volume 57 number 5 1159 1174 2010 0037-0746
Rights: Sedimentology
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Wiley Online Library Terms of Use statement (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions)

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