The impact of Quaternary sea-level and climatic change on coastal alluvial fans in the Cabo de Gata ranges, southeast Spain

Alluvial fans: geomorphology, sedimentology, dynamics — introduction. A review of alluvial-fan research

“…More attention has been paid to the morphological style of alluvial fans insofar as this reflects fan setting, including the conventional tectonically active mountain-front setting and backfilled fans on tectonically stable mountain fronts (Bull 1978), or tributary-junction settings (Harvey 1997). Fan setting, in turn, affects the degree of confinement (Sorriso-Valvo et al 1998;Harvey et al 1999a) and accommodation space (Viseras et al 2003). In addition, fan style reflects the geomorphic regime of the fan, from ag~xaum~, u.uu~;n tu p~ug~au~n~; tc~cat, uplC fans and to fans undergoing dissection (Harvey 2002a).…”

“…Studies of fan morphometry have developed to focus on these interactions (Silva et al 1992;Calvache et al 1997;Harvey et al 1999a;Harvey 2002c;Viseras et al 2003).…”

“…However, baselevel fall may not always trigger incision; this very much depends on the gradients involved. Indeed a base-level rise may trigger distal incision on coastal fans, if rising sea levels cause coastal erosion and fan profile foreshortening and steepening (Harvey et al 1999a). Base-level change, such as a eustatic sealevel change or a change in the level of a pluvial lake, may be ultimately climatically controlled.…”

Using Self-Organizing Maps for Alluvial Fan Classification

“…The relationship between the drainage basin area A b and fan gradient S f was investigated by Hooke (1968) and Harvey et al (1999). This relation is quantified with a simple power function of the form:…”

Geomorphological research in Spain

“…It includes excellent examples of fault-controlled mountain fronts and alluvial fan systems (e.g. Silva et al, 2003), whose development may be affected by multiple factors like tectonic activity, climate variability and base level changes (Harvey et al, 1999). A number of studies conducted in this region illustrate the crucial role played by geomorphological studies in the identification of faults and the assessment of their seismogenic potential (e.g.…”