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Analysis of the Sedimentary Characteristics of a Modern Distributive Fluvial System: A Case Study of the Great Halten River in the Sugan Lake Basin, Qinghai, China

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Abstract

Understanding controls on river planform changes can help to build predictive models for distributive fluvial systems, and then guide the oil and gas exploration. To do this we have undertaken a detailed investigation of the modern Great Halten River distributive fluvial system from the Sugan Lake Basin, Qinghai, China. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photography, satellite remote sensing data and elemental analysis were used to determine differences in the sedimentary characteristics of the distributive fluvial system. From the apex to the toe, the changes in the slope, river morphology, sedimentary characteristics and element content in different regions were determined and three facies belts: “proximal”, “medial” and “distal” were identified. We found that the sedimentary structure and elemental content characteristics of each facies differ greatly. We compare the large-scale evolution of rivers from braided to meandering rivers, and the fine description of sedimentary characteristics in combination with each observation, we strengthen our overall understanding of the modern DFS from macro to micro scale. At the same time, we summarize the sedimentation model of the Great Halten River DFS, and our study provides a reference for establishing the sedimentary model in continental petroliferous basins.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.41772094 and 42130813). Xianghui Zhang would like to thank the fieldwork sponsors including the National Natural Science Foundation and School of Geosciences, Yangtze University. Xianghui Zhang thanks Changmin Zhang for the fruitful discussion in the beginning of the work, also thanks Prof. Adrian Hartley of Aberdeen University for his help. The comments and suggestions of the anonymous reviewers are also very much appreciated. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-022-1715-0.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geosciences, Yangtze University, Wuhan, 430100, China

    Xianghui Zhang, Changmin Zhang, Qinghai Xu, Wenjie Feng, Taiju Yin & Rui Zhu

  2. Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK

    Adrian Hartley

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  1. Xianghui Zhang
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  2. Changmin Zhang
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  3. Adrian Hartley
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  4. Qinghai Xu
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Correspondence to Changmin Zhang.

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Zhang, X., Zhang, C., Hartley, A. et al. Analysis of the Sedimentary Characteristics of a Modern Distributive Fluvial System: A Case Study of the Great Halten River in the Sugan Lake Basin, Qinghai, China. J. Earth Sci. 34, 1249–1262 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-022-1715-0

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