Spatio-temporal reconstruction of avulsion history at the terminus of a modern dryland river system

Fluvial depositional architecture in an unconfined environment is governed by sediment dispersal across the alluvial plain through river-path switching by avulsion. Documented inter-avulsion periodicity from modern rivers ranges from tens to over a thousand years. In this study, a quantitative spatio-temporal reconstruction of avulsion history is presented of the non-vegetated and pristine modern Rio Colorado dryland river system in the semi-arid Altiplano Basin (Bolivia), based on the integrated analysis of satellite imagery and absolute age dating using optically stimulated luminescence, complemented with sedimentological and geomorphological ground-truth data. This approach enables us to reconstruct the chronological order of channel belts of the Rio Colorado, to determine avulsion recurrence time and inter-avulsion periodicity, to identify mechanisms for flow path changes, and to present a morphodynamic model for the spatio-temporal evolution of fluvial deposits in a semi-arid environment. In a maximum timespan of 12.71 +/- 1.5 ka, successive avulsions of the Rio Colorado created a sheet of interconnected fluvial deposits, consisting of diverging and juxtaposed alluvial ridges that formed by sediment aggradation in point bars, crevasse splays, levees, and on the channel floor. The ridges show lateral onlap and amalgamation as the result of repeated avulsion and compensational stacking, whereby the river avoided the positive alluvial-ridge relief of its precursors. The resultant morphology is fan-shaped, convex-up with a surface area of approximately 500 km(2) and a maximum observed thickness of 3 m. The results show inter-avulsion periods of the river of up to 1.28 +/- 0.34 ka. A paucity in fluvial activity around 2 ka BP, and at present, is interpreted as the result of low river discharge related to long-term dry periodicity in the El Nino Southern Oscillation circulation system. Each river path started as a low sinuous, single-thread channel in a narrow belt, and in time increased its width and sinuosity by point-bar expansion and rotation.