Alluvial Architecture and Fluvial Cycles in Quaternary Deposits in a Continental Interior Basin, E Hungary

The thickness of the studied Quaternary alluvial complex, located in the eastern part of the Pannonian Basin System, can exceed 500 m. Based on subsurface facies analysis the following large-scale depositional elements were identified: channel-fill deposits, point bar deposits, alluvial fan (sandy sheet-flood) deposits, floodplain and floodbasin deposits, and thinner sandy–silty beds. They are classified into four types of facies associations, showing a characteristic stacking pattern on the logs. Facies zonation and basin-scale facies mapping of the overall Quaternary sedimentary succession shows that in several areas dominated by stacked, multistorey sandy channel fill sediments, pre-existing superimposed channel belts can be presumed. In the central and deepest part of the basin muddy floodbasin (distal floodplain and wetland) sediments dominate. Between these the largest area represents the floodplain where single channel fill sands are interbedded in the alluvial plain muds. In the eastern part of the basin the well-logs highlight the distal part of an alluvial fan where sandy sheet-flood deposits alternate with floodplain sediments. The recognized facies associations show a vertical pattern, i.e. they form a 40–100 m thick fining-upward fluvial cycle. The most characteristic and even ideal cycle can be observed in the channel belts and in the proximal floodplain zone. Here the basal member of the cycle is made up of multistorey channel fill beds cut into the underlying floodplain deposits. This is overlain by an alternating sandy–muddy succession of channel fill and floodplain deposits forming the intermediate member. The upper member is composed of silty–clayey floodplain deposits with occasional very thin, discrete silty–sandy bodies