The most commonly adapted definition of fan delta is a coastal prism of sediments derived from an alluvial-fan feeder system and deposited mainly or entirely subaqueously at the interface between the active fan and a standing body of water (Nemec and Steel, 1988). The importance of the feeder system as a criterion for fan delta recognition roused significant discussion among students of fan deltas on what is an alluvial fan and how to recognize it in the fossil record, an issue that is still not resolved. Most fan delta researchers, however, refer to alluvial fan systems as steep gradient, often gravelly, cone-shaped fluvial systems, which can be dominated by either sediment gravity-flow processes or by shallow streams feeding the delta front essentially as a line source.
Fan deltas are taken to be sensitive recorders of climate change and tectonics. The response time of fan deltas is short compared to river deltas, because their drainage basins are generally small and the gradient of...
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Alluvial FanGravity-Driven Mass FlowsMilankovitch Cycles Sedimentologists
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Postma, G. (1978). Fan delta. In: Middleton, G.V., Church, M.J., Coniglio, M., Hardie, L.A., Longstaffe, F.J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3609-5_82
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