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Formation and preservation of open‐framework gravel strata in unidirectional flows

Open‐framework gravel (OFG) in river deposits is important because of its exceptionally high permeability, resulting from the lack of sediment in the pore spaces between the gravel grains. Fluvial OFG occurs as planar strata and cross strata of varying scale, and is interbedded with sand and sandy gravel. The origin of OFG has been related to: (1) proportion of sand available relative to gravel; (2) separation of sand from gravel during a specific flow stage and sediment transport rate (either high, falling or low); (3) separation of sand from gravel in bedforms superimposed on the backs of larger bedforms; (4) flow separation in the lee of dunes or unit bars. Laboratory flume experiments were undertaken to test and develop these theories for the origin of OFG. Bed sediment size distribution (sandy gravel with a mean diameter of 1·5 mm) was kept constant, but flow depth, flow velocity and aggradation rate were varied. Bedforms produced under these flow conditions were bedload sheets, dunes and unit bars. The fundamental cause of OFG is the sorting of sand from gravel associated with flow separation at the crest of bedforms, and further segregation of grain sizes during avalanching on the steep lee side. Sand in transport near the bed is deposited in the trough of the bedform, whereas bed‐load gravel avalanches down the leeside and overruns the sand in the trough. The effectiveness of this sorting mechanism increases as the height of the bedform increases. Infiltration of sand into the gravel framework is of minor importance in these experiments, and occurs mainly in bedform troughs. The geometry and proportion of OFG in fluvial deposits are influenced by variation in height of bedforms as they migrate, superposition of small bedforms on the backs of larger bedforms, aggradation rate, and changes in sediment supply. If the height of a bedform increases as it migrates downstream, so does the amount of OFG. Changes in the character of OFG on the lee‐side of unit bars depend on grain‐size sorting in the superimposed bedforms (dunes and bedload sheets). Thick deposits of cross‐stratified OFG require high bedforms (dunes, unit bars) and large amounts of aggradation. These conditions might be expected to occur during high falling stages in the deeper parts of river channels adjacent to compound‐bar tails and downstream of confluence scours. Increase in the amount of sand supplied relative to gravel reduces the development of OFG. Such increases in sand supply may be related to falling flow stage and/or upstream erosion of sandy deposits.