Sediment facies and Holocene deposition rate of near-coastal fluvial systems: An example from the Nobi Plain, Japan

Floodplains are a major component of present near-coastal fluvial systems that have evolved in response to postglacial changes in climate and sea level. Knowledge of sedimentary fades and deposition rates on a centennial to millennial time scale is required for considering floodplain evolution. Two cores, AP1 and AP2, were acquired from an abandoned channel of the Ibi River and its natural levee on the Nobi Plain, central Japan. Sediment facies analysis, electrical conductivity, and radiocarbon dating of borehole samples showed that in both cores organic-rich dark gray floodbasin mud overlies deltaic deposits dating to after approximately 3200 years calibrated radiocarbon age (cal BP) in relation to delta progradation. The accumulation of floodbasin mud continued at the both sites until about 400 cal BP. Around 400 cal BP, the mud was eroded by the overlying channel sand and gravel at AP1 and was covered by fine-grained natural levee deposits at AP2 with an abrupt contact. This timing is concordant with the historical record of avulsion of the Ibi River during the Keicho Era (AD 1596-1615). Averaged aggradation rates at the AP1 and AP2 sites were approximately 2.2 and 3.2 mm/yr. respectively. Faulting-related subsidence along the western edge of the plain has influenced these rates by creating accommodation. Averaged deposition rates differed greatly between the floodbasin and the levee, suggesting that rapid aggradation of the natural levee also occurred on a centennial to millennial scale. These empirical data may be useful for testing models of the architecture and evolution of near-coastal fluvial systems. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.