The Geomorphology of Valley-Floor Troughs Illustrated From Depositional Sequences in the Durance Valley, Southeast France

Abstract

Three kinds of valley-floor troughs occur in the Durance catchment of southeast France. Details of widths and spatial variations of 10 different sedimentary forms are presented to show how these relate to the present types of troughs and their margins. Internal controls, such as geology, altitude, and available relief, provide a wide variety of conditions, which have been modified through time by external controls such as past and present climates and their hydrological regimes, as well as by anthropogenic activity over several millennia. The 10 sedimentary forms occupy more than 900 km² or 6.4% of the total catchment area, with the present enlarged floodplain having just over 50% of this area. The present channel occupies less than 10%, which is less than the Würm terrace (17.2%) but somewhat more than the marginal colluvia in the lower valley (8.6%). The other forms include older Pleistocene terraces, moraines from the last three glacial stages, and alluvial fans. It is the type of trough and its relative age that condition what, where, and how much of past and present sedimentary forms can survive.

Keywords:

• valley-floor trough
• river channel
• floodplain
• river terrace
• moraine
• colluvium
• alluvial fan
• Durance River
• France