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Alluvial fans have also been found on Mars and Titan, showing that fluvial processes have occurred on other worlds. Some of the largest alluvial fans are found along the Himalaya mountain front on the Indo-Gangetic plain. A shift of the feeder channel (a nodal avulsion) can lead to catastrophic flooding, as occurred on the Kosi River fan in 2008.
In (semi)arid regions, therefore, alluvial fans are often used for irrigation of agricultural crops. The fans reveal much greenery in the harsh desert-like environment. Irrigation methods in alluvial fans differ according to the hydrological regime of the river, the shape of the fan, and the natural resources available to maintain human life.
An alluvial fan could have been deposited and formed outside of a mountain range, however, thrusting of the mountain belt could cause the alluvial fan to become broken up by the new mountain forming. Thus, the alluvial fan would be split with the fan on either side of the new mountain range development and could change the steepness of the fan. [1]
The present consensus is that "alluvium" refers to loose sediments of all types deposited by running water in floodplains or in alluvial fans or related landforms. [1] [7] [8] However, the meaning of the term has varied considerably since it was first defined in the French dictionary of Antoine Furetière, posthumously published in 1690.
The porosity, or void space, refers to the open spaces between the sand and gravel, and it is in this area that the water is stored. By separating and isolating a portion of an alluvial deposits through the use of walls made of natural materials, large reservoirs of water (up to a 100,000 acre feet) can be built up to 150 feet below ground.
A debris cone is commonly made when rock from a high-up narrow slit or gorge falls into a flat-floored valley. Here the soil and loose materials are deposited, leaving a mound of conical shape. While an alluvial fan is formed when flowing water rushes rock and soil down a slope, debris cones come from one of several dry processes known as mass ...
Distributaries are a result of river bifurcation and are often found where a river approaches a lake or an ocean and divides into distributary networks; as such they are a common feature of river deltas. [1] They can also occur inland, on alluvial fans, or where a tributary stream bifurcates as it nears its confluence with a larger stream. In ...
Areas where more particles are dropped are called alluvial or flood plains, and the dropped particles are called alluvium. Even small streams make alluvial deposits, but it is in floodplains and deltas of large rivers that large, geologically-significant alluvial deposits are found. The amount of matter carried by a large river is enormous.