Stratigraphy

Symposium No. 2

Theme assigned: Floodplain

setting
By:
Fonseca Erika, Lopez Carlos & Reinoso Maria
Yachay Tech University

Urcuquí, May 07 2019.

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Background
In the past, the literature on floodplains was dominated by a
few studies of very specific types the floodplains:

The Mississippi (Fisk, 1944, 1947 )

The Klaralven (Sundborg, 1956)

Watts Branch (Wolman and Leopold, 1957 )

The Brahmaputra (Coleman, 1969 )

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Objectives
● Define the concept of a Floodplain.
● Know the classification of Floodplain.
● Recognize the features of the Floodplain.
● Know the types of sediments.
● Know the areas susceptible to occur.
● Know the importance of the Floodplain.

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What is a Floodplain?
The surface or strip of relatively smooth land
adjacent to a river channel, constructed by the
present river in its existing regimen and covered
with water when the river overflows its banks. It is
built of sediments carried by the river during floods
and deposited in the sluggish water. (Nanson&
Croke, 1992)
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 5
(Mossa, 2018)
 Methodology
Nanson, G. C., & Croke, J. C. (1992). A genetic classification of floodplains. Geomorphology,
4(6), 459-486.

- The study between a stream's ability to entrain and transport sediment and the
erosional resistance of floodplain

Wolman, M. G., & Leopold, L. B. (1957). River flood plains: some observations on their
formation.

- Observations of the formation of floodplain like floodplain level, recurrence and lateral
migration

Bridge, J. S. (2009). Rivers and floodplains: forms, processes, and sedimentary record. John
Wiley & Sons.

- Study of geometry, effects, evolution of fluvial system and measure of flow. 6

 Models
The models presented here are based on the classification
done by Nanson & Crocke in the paper “A genetic
classification of floodplains” (1992)

A classification of floodplains

- High energy non-cohesive

- Medium-energy non-cohesive
- Low-energy cohesive floodplains
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Class A - High energy non-cohesive floodplains

(Nanson & Crocke, 1992)

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 Class B. Medium-energy non-cohesive
floodplains.

(Nanson & Crocke, 1992) 9

 Class C - Low-energy cohesive floodplains

(Nanson & Crocke, 1992) 10

Example: floodplains cover > 2 10*6 km*2

(Tockner, 2002)
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Example:

(Tockner, 2002)

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Example:

(Tockner, 2002) 13
Flood Plain / Barotseland / Africa.
Retrieved from: Rights Managed
Stock Footage

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The Zambezi
River flood plain
in eastern
Namibia is
defined by the
Mambova fault
Credit: NASA

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Advanced Land
Imager
Credit: NASA

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(Lindholm, M. et.al, 2007)

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Historic Nebraska
flooding visible from
outer space in photos
released by NASA

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Importance
Floodplains must be viewed as conservatories of
regional biodiversity and as fundamental units of
river ecosystems that facilitate clean water and
provide renewable timber, fisheries and wildlife
resources, among many other natural goods and
services. (Tockner, 2002)

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Conclusions
● A floodplain is a surface or strip of relatively smooth land adjacent to a river
channel, constructed by the present river in its existing regimen and covered
with water when the river overflows its banks.
● The susceptible areas where this occur are next to rivers that in rainy season
can exceed its flow and overflow.
● Although floods can cause a great loss in urban areas e.g. 300 billions in
2017(Jongman, 2018) , there have a huge importance in the conservation of
wildlife, biodiversity and access to water and food in sparsely populated
zones.

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References
● Bridge, J. S. (2009). Rivers and floodplains: forms, processes, and sedimentary record. John Wiley
& Sons.

● Jongman, B. (2018). Effective adaptation to rising flood risk. Nature communications, 9(1), 1986.

● Lindholm, M., Hessen, D. O., Mosepele, K., & Wolski, P. (2007). Food webs and energy fluxes on a
seasonal floodplain: the influence of flood size. Wetlands, 27(4), 775-784.
● Mossa, J. (2018, February 16). Quora. Retrieved from Quora: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-
formation-of-floodplains-and-levees.
● Nanson, G. C., & Croke, J. C. (1992). A genetic classification of floodplains. Geomorphology, 4(6),
459-486.
● Tockner, K., & Stanford, J. A. (2002). Riverine flood plains: present state and future trends.
Environmental conservation, 29(3), 308-330.
● Wolman, M. G., & Leopold, L. B. (1957). River flood plains: some observations on their formation

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