The action of wind and water in a mid-Cretaceous subtropical erg-margin system close to the Variscan Iberian Massif, Spain

Abstract

Associate Editor -Nick LancasterABSTRACT Aeolian processes and ephemeral water influx from the Variscan Iberian Massif to the mid-Cretaceous outer back-erg margin system in eastern Iberia led to deposition and erosion of aeolian dunes and the formation of desert pavements. Remains of aeolian dunes encased in ephemeral fluvial deposits (aeolian pods) demonstrate intense erosion of windblown deposits by sudden water fluxes. The alternating activity of wind and water led to a variety of facies associations such as deflation lags, desert pavements, aeolian dunes, pebbles scattered throughout dune strata, aeolian sandsheets, aeolian deposits with bimodal grain-size distributions, mud playa, ephemeral floodplain, pebble-sand and cobble-sand bedload stream, pebble-cobble-sand sheet flood, sand bedload stream, debris flow and hyperconcentrated flow deposits. Sediment in this desert system underwent transport by wind and water and reworking in a variety of sub-environments. The nearby Variscan Iberian Massif supplied quartzite pebbles as part of mass flows. Pebbles and cobbles were concentrated in deflation lags, eroded and polished by winddriven sands (facets and ventifacts) and incorporated by rolling into the toesets of aeolian dunes. The back-erg depositional system comprises an outer backerg close to the Variscan highlands, and an inner back-erg close to the centralerg area. The inner back-erg developed on a structural high and is characterized by mud playa deposits interbedded with aeolian and ephemeral channel deposits. In the inner back-erg area ephemeral wadis, desiccated after occasional floods, were mud cracked and overrun episodically by aeolian dunes. Subsequent floods eroded the aeolian dunes and mudcracked surfaces, resulting in largely structureless sandstones with bouldersize mudstone intraclasts. Floods spread over the margins of ephemeral channels and eroded surrounding aeolian dunes. The remaining dunes were colonized occasionally by plants and their roots penetrated into the flooded aeolian sands. Upon desiccation, deflation resulted in lags of coarser-grained sediments. A renewed windblown supply led to aeolian sandsheet accumulation in topographic wadi depressions. Synsedimentary tectonics caused the outer back-erg system to experience enhanced generation of accommodation space allowing the accumulation of aeolian dune sands. Ephemeral water flow to the outer back-erg area supplied pebbles, eroded aeolian dunes, and produced hyperconcentrated flow deposits. Fluidization

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