Quantifying Morphologic Changes in a Low Gradient River Crossing Southeast Louisiana Fault Zones
Abstract
This study investigates the signature of faulting in low gradient, alluvial rivers crossing the Baton Rouge fault zone (BRFZ) and Denham Springs-Scotlandville fault zone (DSSFZ), which encompass a set of East-West striking normal faults in southeast Louisiana. These faults exhibit surface expressions associated with up to a few meters of vertical displacement of Late Pleistocene sediments, but little is known about their activity during the Holocene. Our study aims to quantify geomorphic changes in a number of rivers that cross these fault zones and to use these changes to gain insight into the history of faulting in the region. We hypothesize that fault movement will be evident in patterns of river sinuosity, slope, and width to depth ratio. We focus on four subparallel channels of various discharges that cross either or both the BRFZ and the DSSFZ. Information on local fault scarp heights and channel reaches are extracted by GIS analysis of the LA LiDAR 5 m DEM, as well as flow modeling using the HEC-RAS software program. On the Tickfaw River, we conducted field surveys using differential GPS to record contemporary water surface slopes and channel location. Historic channel features on the Tickfaw are characterized using a series of aerial photographs dating back to 1952. Over the past 50 years, the Tickfaw River has shortened its course through the study area significantly (~4.9%) by means of meander cutoffs. Since 1952, sinuosity (P) has decreased in all of the Tickfaw channel reaches that cross fault segments. Currently, the sinuosity is extremely low (average P = 1.14) where the river crosses the DSSFZ and slightly higher where the river crosses the BRFZ (average P = 1.9). We use the LiDAR data to quantify offset on the faults that the river crosses. These values will be compared with the average lateral migration rate of the river in order to better understand the time scales over which both processes operate. If the faults appear to have little morphologic impact on the river, it is likely that that fluvial migration rates are rapid enough to erase any signature of the accumulated throw from the faults. With continued analysis, our goal is to develop a reliable method for using alluvial rivers to help unravel the history of fault systems in low gradient landscapes, with possible applications for detecting regions vulnerable to fault-related subsidence.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFMEP21B0673F
- Keywords:
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- 1825 HYDROLOGY / Geomorphology: fluvial;
- 1856 HYDROLOGY / River channels;
- 8010 STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY / Fractures and faults