Persistent alluvial fanhead trenching resulting from large, infrequent sediment inputs

Abstract We present laboratory and field evidence that in mountainous catchment‐fan systems persistent alluvial fanhead aggradation and trenching may result from infrequent, large sediment inputs. We suggest that the river‐fan systems along the fault‐bounded range front of the western Southern Alps, New Zealand, are likely to be in a dynamic equilibrium on ≥103‐yr timescales, superimposed on which their fanheads undergo long‐term cumulative episodic aggradation. These fanheads are active only in rare events, do not take part in the usual behaviour of the catchment‐fan system and require much longer to exhibit dynamic equilibrium than the rest of the fan. These findings (1) increase our knowledge of the effects of extreme events on alluvial fan morphodynamics in humid climates, (2) question the general applicability of inferring past climatic or tectonic regimes from alluvial‐fan morphology and stratigraphy and (3) provide a conceptual basis for hazard zonation on alluvial fans. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.