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Large alluvial fan at the base of the rim of Gale crater, Mars . Alluvial fans are also found on Mars. Unlike alluvial fans on Earth, those on Mars are rarely associated with tectonic processes, but are much more common on crater rims. [43] [44] The crater rim alluvial fans appear to have been deposited by sheetflow rather than debris flows. [45]
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]
An alluvial megafan is a large cone or fan-shaped deposit built up by complex deposition patterns of stream flows originating from a single source point known as an apex. Megafans differ from alluvial fans in their sheer size. Due to their larger size, they may be formed by different geomorphic processes.
In this arid environment, alluvial fans form at the mouth of these streams. Very large alluvial fans merged to form continuous alluvial slopes called bajadas along the Panamint Range. [33] The faster uplift along the Black Mountains formed much smaller alluvial fans because older fans are buried under playa sediments before they can grow too large.
Matrix-supported conglomerates, as a result of debris-flow deposition, are quite commonly associated with many alluvial fans. When such conglomerates accumulate within an alluvial fan, in rapidly eroding (e.g., desert ) environments, the resulting rock unit is often called a fanglomerate .
Alluvial fans usually form at the base of mountains, where high-velocity rivers or streams meet a relatively flat area and lose the energy needed to carry large quantities of sediment, which ultimately spreads out in all available directions. They tend to be larger and more obvious in arid regions.
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 ...
Abyssal (or submarine) fans are formed from turbidity currents. These currents begin when a geologic activity pushes sediments over the edge of a continental shelf and down the continental slope, creating an underwater landslide. A dense slurry of muds and sands speeds towards the foot of the slope, until the current slows. The decreasing ...