Home Petroleum Science Article
PDF (6.6 MB)
Cite
EndNote(RIS) BibTeX
Collect
Submit Manuscript
Show Outline
Outline
Abstract
Keywords
References
Show full outline
Hide outline
Original Paper | Open Access

Sedimentary architecture of a sandy braided river: Insights from a flume experiment

Wen-Jie Fenga(), Gao Fei-Xianga, Chang-Min Zhanga, Qi-Hao Qianb, Tai-Ju Yina, Tao Leic, Hua-Zhan Guod, Jie Chend
School of Geosciences, Yangtze University, Wuhan, 434100, Hubei, China
Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, PetroChina, Beijing, 100083, China
Exploration and Development Research Institute, North China Petroleum Bureau, SINOPEC, Zhengzhou, 450006, Henan, China
Exploration and Development Research Institute of Qinghai Oilfield Company, PetroChina, Dunhuang, 736202, Gansu, China

Edited by Jie Hao

Show Author Information

Abstract

Sandy braided river deposits are widely preserved in ancient stratigraphic records and act as a significant type of hydrocarbon reservoir. Due to the frequent and rapid migration of channels within the riverbed, the sedimentary architecture is highly complex. In this paper, a flume experiment was conducted to reveal the detailed depositional process and establish a fine sedimentary architecture model for sandy braided rivers. The result showed that (1) Three types of braid channels, including the lateral migration channel, the confluence channel, and the deep incised channel, were recognized based on geometry, scale, distribution, and spatial patterns; they are interconnected, forming a complex channel network. (2) Braid channels were characterized by lateral migration, abandonment, filling, and chute cutoff. Lateral migration of channels shaped the braid bars and dominated the formation, growth, and reworking of braid bars. (3) Controlled by the fast and frequent variations of the braid channel network, braid bars were continuously formed, reworked, reshaped, and composited of multiple accretions with different types, orientations, scales, and preservation degrees. Symmetrical and asymmetrical braid bars presented significantly different composition patterns. (4) Dominated by the continuous reworking of braid channels, temporary deposits were limited preserved, braid channel deposits account for 54.3 percent of the eventually preserved braided river deposits, and four types of amalgamate patterns were recognized. Braid bars were cut and limited preserved, only accounting for 45.7 percent of the eventually preserved braided river deposits. (5) During the experiment, only 28 percent of near-surface temporary deposits were eventually preserved in fragmented forms with the final experimental braided river; the shape, spatial patterns, and most of the deposits observed during the depositional process were largely reworked and poorly preserved. (6) The scale of eventually preserved braid bars and braid channels is significantly smaller than the temporary deposits from geomorphic observations. The aspect ratio of the eventually preserved braid bars and the width-to-depth ratio of the eventually preserved braid channel are also significantly different from that of the temporary ones measured from topography data.

Keywords

Sandy braided riverFlume experimentDepositional processTemporary depositionEventually preserved depositsSedimentary architectureElement scale and relationship

References

 

Abdel-Fattah, Z.A., 2021. Fluvial architecture of the Upper Cretaceous Nubia Sandstones: an ancient example of sandy braided rivers in central Eastern Desert, Egypt. Sediment. Geol. 420, 105923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2021.105923.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

An, H.P., Chen, S.C., Chan, H.C., et al., 2013. Dimension and frequency of bar formation in a braided river. Int. J. Sediment Res. 28, 358-367. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1001-6279(13)60046-3.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Ashmore, P., Bertoldi, W., Tobias Gardner, J., 2011. Active width of gravel-bed braided rivers. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 36, 1510-1521. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.2182.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Ashmore, P.E., 1982. Laboratory modelling of gravel braided stream morphology. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 7, 201-225. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3290070301.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Ashworth, P.J., Sambrook Smith, G.H., Best, J.L., et al., 2011. Evolution and sedimentology of a channel fill in the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River and its comparison to the deposits of an adjacent compound bar. Sedimentology 58, 1860-1883. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2011.01242.x.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Baar, A.W., Weisscher, S.A.H., Kleinhans, M.G., 2020. Interaction between lateral sorting in river bends and vertical sorting in dunes. Sedimentology 67, 606-626. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12656.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Best, J.L., Ashworth, P.J., Bristow, C.S., et al., 2003. Three-dimensional sedimentary architecture of a large, mid-channel sand braid bar, Jamuna River, Bangladesh. J. Sediment. Res. 73, 516-530. https://doi.org/10.1306/010603730516.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Bridge, J.S., 1993. The interaction between channel geometry, water flow, sediment transport and deposition in braided rivers. Geological Society. London, Special Publications 75, 13-71. https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1993.075.01.02.

Crossref Google Scholar
 
Bridge, J.S., Lunt, I.A., 2006. Depositional Models of Braided Rivers, in: Sambrook Smith, G.H., Best, J.L., Bristow, C.S., Petts, G.E. (Eds.), Braided Rivers. Wiley, Hoboken, pp. 11-50. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444304374.ch2 .
Crossref
 

Bristow, C.S., Best, J.L., 1993. Braided rivers: perspectives and problems. Geological Society. London, Special Publications 75, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1993.075.01.01.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Cant, D.J., Walker, R.G., 1978. Fluvial processes and facies sequences in the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River, Canada. Sedimentology 25, 625-648. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.1978.tb00323.x.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Castelltort, S., 2018. Empirical relationship between river slope and the elongation of bars in braided rivers: a potential tool for paleoslope analysis from subsurface data. Mar. Petrol. Geol. 96, 544-550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.05.008.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Chen, X., Xu, S.Y., Li, S.M., et al., 2021. Identification of architectural elements based on SVM with PCA: a case study of sandy braided river reservoir in the Lamadian Oilfield, Songliao Basin, NE China. J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. 198, 108247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2020.108247.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Colombera, L., Mountney, N.P., McCaffrey, W.D., 2013. A quantitative approach to fluvial facies models: methods and example results. Sedimentology 60, 1526-1558. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12050.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Egozi, R., Ashmore, P., 2009. Experimental analysis of braided channel pattern response to increased discharge. J. Geophys. Res. 114, 2008JF001099. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JF001099.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Hossain, S., Shekhar, H., Rahman, N., 2023. Facies and architectural element analysis of the upper bokabil sandstone in the bengal basin. Sediment. Geol. 453, 106433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2023.106433.

Crossref Google Scholar
 
Huggenberger, P., Regli, C., 2006. A sedimentological model to characterize braided river deposits for hydrogeological applications. In: Sambrook Smith, G.H., Best, J.L., Bristow, C.S., Petts, G.E. (Eds.), Braided Rivers. Wiley, Hoboken, pp. 51-74. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444304374.ch3 .
Crossref
 

Hundey, E.J., Ashmore, P.E., 2009. Length scale of braided river morphology. Water Resour. Res. 45, 2008WR007521. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008WR007521.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Jones, S.J., Frostick, L.E., Astin, T.R., 2001. Braided stream and flood plain architecture: the rio vero formation, Spanish pyrenees. Sediment. Geol. 139, 229-260. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0037-0738(00)00165-2.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Kasprak, A., Wheaton, J.M., Ashmore, P.E., et al., 2015. The relationship between particle travel distance and channel morphology: results from physical models of braided rivers. J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surface 120, 55-74. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JF003310.

Crossref Google Scholar
 
Kelly, S., 2006. Scaling and hierarchy in braided rivers and their deposits: examples and implications for reservoir modelling. In: Sambrook Smith, G.H., Best, J.L., Bristow, C.S., Petts, G.E. (Eds.), Braided Rivers. Wiley, Hoboken, pp. 75-106. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444304374.ch4 .
Crossref
 

Kociuba, W., Janicki, G., Dyer, J.L., 2019. Contemporary changes of the channel pattern and braided gravel-bed floodplain under rapid small valley glacier recession (Scott River catchment, Spitsbergen). Geomorphology 328, 79-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.12.008.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Kostic, B., Aigner, T., 2007. Sedimentary architecture and 3D ground-penetrating radar analysis of gravelly meandering river deposits (Neckar Valley, SW Germany). Sedimentology 54, 789-808. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2007.00860.x.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Labourdette, R., Jones, R.R., 2007. Characterization of fluvial architectural elements using a three-dimensional outcrop data set: escanilla braided system, South-Central Pyrenees, Spain. Geosphere 3, 422. https://doi.org/10.1130/GES00087.1.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Lane, S.N., Widdison, P.E., Thomas, R.E., et al., 2010. Quantification of braided river channel change using archival digital image analysis. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 35, 971-985. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.2015.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Larue, D.K., Allen, J., Beeson, D., et al., 2023. Fluvial reservoir architecture, directional heterogeneity and continuity, recognizing incised valley fills, and the case for nodal avulsion on a distributive fluvial system: kern River field, California. Bulletin 107, 477-513. https://doi.org/10.1306/09232220163.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Leduc, P., Ashmore, P., Gardner, J.T., 2015. Grain sorting in the morphological active layer of a braided river physical model. Earth Surface Dynamis 3, 577-585. https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-3-577-2015.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Leduc, P., Peirce, S., Ashmore, P., 2019. Short communication: challenges and applications of structure-from-motion photogrammetry in a physical model of a braided river. Earth Surface Dynamis 7, 97-106. https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-97-2019.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Li, H.Y., Gao, Y., Wang, Y.J., et al., 2015a. Intercalation pattern and its impact on development of braided river reservoirs: a case of Fengcheng Oilfield, Junggar Basin, NW China. Petrol. Explor. Dev. 42, 397-407. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1876-3804(15)30031-8.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Li, H.C., Li, J.H., Li, Z.D., 2023a. Quantitative scale analysis of the channel bar in a braided river and its internal architecture. Appl. Sci. 14, 257. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14010257.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Li, S.L., Yu, X.H., Chen, B.T., Li, et al., 2015b. Quantitative characterization of architecture elements and their response to base-level change in a sandy braided fluvial system at a mountain front. J. Sediment. Res. 85, 1258-1274. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2015.82.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Li, W., Colombera, L., Yue, D.L., et al., 2023b. Controls on the morphology of braided rivers and braid bars: an empirical characterization of numerical models. Sedimentology 70, 259-279. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.13040.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Li, W., Yue, D.L., Du, Y.S., et al., 2023c. Controls of accommodation to sediment-supply ratio on sedimentary architecture of continental fluvial successions. Petrol. Sci. 20 (4), 1961-1977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petsci.2023.02.015.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Li, Z.D., Pang, H., Xu, J.Z., et al., 2019. Case study of sandbody architecture and quantitative parameters of the far-source sandy braided river: saertu Oilfield, Daqing, China. J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. 181, 106249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2019.106249.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Long, D.G.F., 2006. Architecture of pre-vegetation sandy-braided perennial and ephemeral river deposits in the Paleoproterozoic Athabasca Group, northern Saskatchewan, Canada as indicators of Precambrian fluvial style. Sediment. Geol. 190, 71-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2006.05.006.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Lunt, I.A., Bridge, J.S., Tye, R.S., 2004. A quantitative, three-dimensional depositional model of gravelly braided rivers. Sedimentology 51, 377-414. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2004.00627.x.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Lunt, I.A., Sambrook Smith, G.H., Best, J.L., et al., 2013. Deposits of the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River: implications for the use of modern analogs in reconstructing channel dimensions in reservoir characterization. Bulletin 97, 553-576. https://doi.org/10.1306/09251211152.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Lynds, R., Hajek, E., 2006. Conceptual model for predicting mudstone dimensions in sandy braided-river reservoirs. Bulletin 90, 1273-1288. https://doi.org/10.1306/03080605051.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Martin, C.A.L., Turner, B.R., 1998. Origins of massive-type sandstones in braided river systems. Earth Sci. Rev. 44, 15-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-8252(98)00019-1.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

McKee, E.D., Crosby, E.J., Berryhill, H.L., 1967. Flood deposits, bijou creek, Colorado, june 1965. J. Sediment. Res. 37, 829-851. https://doi.org/10.1306/74D717B2-2B21-11D7-8648000102C1865D.

Crossref Google Scholar
 
Mumpy, A.J., Jol, H.M., Kean, W.F., et al., 2007. Architecture and sedimentology of an active braid bar in the Wisconsin River based on 3-D ground penetrating radar. In: Special Paper 432: Stratigraphic Analyses Using GPR. Geological Society of America, pp. 111-131. https://doi.org/10.1130/2007.2432(09 .
Crossref
 

Murray, A.B., Paola, C., 2003. Modelling the effect of vegetation on channel pattern in bedload rivers. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 28, 131-143. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.428.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Okazaki, H., Kwak, Y., Tamura, T., 2015. Depositional and erosional architectures of gravelly braid bar formed by a flood in the Abe River, central Japan, inferred from a three-dimensional ground-penetrating radar analysis. Sediment. Geol. 324, 32-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2015.04.008.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Paola, C., Borgman, L., 1991. Reconstructing random topography from preserved stratification. Sedimentology 38, 553-565. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.1991.tb01008.x.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Puig, J.M., Cabello, P., Howell, J., et al., 2019. Three-dimensional characterisation of sedimentary heterogeneity and its impact on subsurface flow behaviour through the braided-to-meandering fluvial deposits of the Castissent Formation (late Ypresian, Tremp-Graus Basin, Spain). Mar. Petrol. Geol. 103, 661-680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2019.02.014.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Reinfelds, I., Nanson, G., 1993. Formation of braided river floodplains, Waimakariri River, New Zealand. Sedimentology 40, 1113-1127. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.1993.tb01382.x.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Rice, S.P., Church, M., Wooldridge, C.L., et al., 2009. Morphology and evolution of bars in a wandering gravel-bed river; lower Fraser river, British Columbia, Canada. Sedimentology 56, 709-736. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2008.00994.x.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Rust, B.R., 1972. Structure and process in a braided river. Sedimentology 18, 221-245. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.1972.tb00013.x.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Sambrook Smith, G.H., Ashworth, P.J., Best, J.L., et al., 2009. The sedimentology and alluvial architecture of a large braid bar, rio parana, Argentina. J. Sediment. Res. 79, 629-642. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2009.066.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Sambrook Smith, G.H., Ashworth, P.J., Best, J.L., et al., 2006. The sedimentology and alluvial architecture of the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River, Canada. Sedimentology 53, 413-434. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2005.00769.x.

Crossref Google Scholar
 
Sambrook Smith, G.H., Ashworth, P.J., Best, J.L., et al., 2005. The morphology and facies of sandy braided rivers: some considerations of scale invariance. In: Blum, M.D., Marriott, S.B., Leclair, S.F. (Eds.), Fluvial Sedimentology VII. Wiley, Hoboken, pp. 145-158. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444304350.ch9 .
Crossref
 

Sambrook Smith, G.H., Best, J.L., Ashworth, P.J., et al., 2010. Can we distinguish flood frequency and magnitude in the sedimentological record of rivers? Geology 38, 579-582. https://doi.org/10.1130/G30861.1.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Schumm, S.A., Khan, H.R., 1972. Experimental study of channel patterns. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 83, 1755. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1972)83[1755:ESOCP]2.0.CO;2.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Schuurman, F., Kleinhans, M.G., 2015. Bar dynamics and bifurcation evolution in a modelled braided sand-bed river. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 40, 1318-1333. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3722.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Schuurman, F., Marra, W.A., Kleinhans, M.G., 2013. Physics-based modeling of large braided sand-bed rivers: bar pattern formation, dynamics, and sensitivity: braided river modeling. J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf. 118, 2509-2527. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JF002896.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Schuurman, F., Ta, W., Post, S., et al., 2018. Response of braiding channel morphodynamics to peak discharge changes in the Upper Yellow River. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 43, 1648-1662. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4344.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Skelly, R.L., Bristow, C.S., Ethridge, F.G., 2003. Architecture of channel-belt deposits in an aggrading shallow sandbed braided river: the lower Niobrara River, northeast Nebraska. Sediment. Geol. 158, 249-270. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0037-0738(02)00313-5.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Straub, K.M., Ganti, V., Paola, C., et al., 2012. Prevalence of exponential bed thickness distributions in the stratigraphic record: experiments and theory. J. Geophys. Res. 117, 2011JF002034. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002034.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Strick, R.J.P., Ashworth, P.J., Sambrook Smith, G.H., et al., 2019. Quantification of bedform dynamics and bedload sediment flux in sandy braided rivers from airborne and satellite imagery. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 44, 953-972. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4558.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Van De Lageweg, W.I., Van Dijk, W.M., Kleinhans, M.G., 2013. Morphological and stratigraphical signature of floods in a braided gravel-bed river revealed from flume experiments. J. Sediment. Res. 83, 1032-1045. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2013.70.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Vesipa, R., Camporeale, C., Ridolfi, L., 2017. Effect of sampling time in the laboratory investigation of braided rivers. Water Resour. Res. 53, 5184-5197. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017WR020474.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Warburton, J., Davies, T., 1994. Variability of bedload transport and channel morphology in a braided river hydraulic model. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 19, 403-421. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3290190503.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Williams, P.F., Rust, B.R., 1969. The sedimentology of a braided river. J. Sediment. Petrol. 39, 649-679.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Wooldridge, C.L., Hickin, E.J., 2005. Radar architecture and evolution of channel bars in wandering gravel-bed rivers: fraser and squamish rivers, British Columbia, Canada. J. Sediment. Res. 75, 844-860. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2005.066.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Yao, Z.Q., Yu, X.H., Shan, X., et al., 2018. Braided-meandering system evolution in the rock record: implications for climate control on the Middle–Upper Jurassic in the southern Junggar Basin, north-west China. Geol. J. 53, 2710-2731. https://doi.org/10.1002/gj.3105.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Zang, D.S., Bao, Z.D., Li, M.Y., et al., 2020. Sandbody architecture analysis of braided river reservoirs and their significance for remaining oil distribution: a case study based on a new outcrop in the Songliao Basin, Northeast China. Energy Explor. Exploit. 38, 2231-2251. https://doi.org/10.1177/0144598720951280.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Zhang, C.M., Yin, T.J., Wu, S.H., et al., 2022. Architectural Element analysis of nonmarine oil and gas reservoir in China, the research history, progress and future trend: a review. Interpretation , 1-103. https://doi.org/10.1190/int-2022-0030.1.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Zhang, K., Wu, S.H., Feng, W.J., et al., 2020. Bar dynamics in a sandy braided river: insights from sediment numerical simulations. Sediment. Geol. 396, 105557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2019.105557.

Crossref Google Scholar
 

Zhang, X.G., Lin, C.Y., Zhang, T., 2010. Seismic sedimentology and its application in shallow sea area, gentle slope belt of Chengning uplift. J. Earth Sci. 21, 471-479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-010-0108-y.

Crossref Google Scholar
Petroleum Science
Volume 22 Issue 1,
January 2025
Pages 16-28
DOI: 10.1016/j.petsci.2024.07.016
Cite this article:
Feng W-J, Fei-Xiang G, Zhang C-M, et al. Sedimentary architecture of a sandy braided river: Insights from a flume experiment. Petroleum Science, 2025, 22(1): 16-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petsci.2024.07.016
Metrics & Citations  
Article History
Copyright
Rights and Permissions
Return