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Alluvial Fan Processes and Forms

  • Chapter
Geomorphology of Desert Environments

Abstract

Alluvial fans are a prominent landform type commonly present where a channel emerges from mountainous uplands to an adjoining valley. Although occurring in perhaps all global climatic regimes, fans in deserts traditionally have been the most studied due to their excellent exposure and ease of access. This chapter attempts to (a) provide an up-to-date synthesis of the literature on alluvial fans in desert settings, and (b) introduce a framework for their understanding based on concepts that have emerged during the last 120 years of scientific research. This synthesis emphasizes recent developments in fan studies as well as published and unpublished results from our own work in the south-western United States. The conceptual framework developed in this chapter, despite being exemplified by fans from deserts, is also applicable to fans forming under other climatic conditions.

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Authors
  1. Terence C. Blair
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  2. John G. McPherson
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  1. Department of Geography, State University of New York at Buffalo, 14261, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Athol D. Abrahams

  2. Department of Geography, University of Keele, ST5 5BG, Keele, Staffordshire, UK

    Anthony J. Parsons

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© 1994 Athol D. Abrahams and Anthony J. Parsons

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Blair, T.C., McPherson, J.G. (1994). Alluvial Fan Processes and Forms. In: Abrahams, A.D., Parsons, A.J. (eds) Geomorphology of Desert Environments. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8254-4_14

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