Satellite Spots Perfect Alluvial Fan in Kazakhstan

by | Apr 9, 2014

NASA's Landsat 8 satellite captured this view of an alluvial fan in Kazakhstan's Almaty province on Sept. 9, 2013. In the lower left of the image, the Tente River flows through a narrow channel in the foothills of the Dzungarian Alatau range. Where the Tente emerges from the hills near Lake Alakol, it spreads out and becomes a braided stream. The movement of the channel over time has left a large fan that's about 20 kilometers (12 miles) across at its widest point.

As a mountain stream moves into a flat area, it slows down and loses its capacity to carry as much alluvium as it did upstream, depositing the excess in sandbars throughout the channels. Over time, the channel migrates back and forth, creating fan-shaped deposits known as alluvial fans.

The narrowest point of an alluvial fan”closest to the mountain front”is known as the apex; the broader part is called the apron. Alluvium deposited closer to the apex tends to be coarser than the material that makes up the apron. Alluvial fans are more likely to form in deserts because there is plenty of loose alluvium and not much vegetation to prevent stream channels from shifting.

Alluvial fans in arid areas are often used for agriculture because they are relatively flat and provide groundwater for irrigation. This fan is no exception. The blocky green pattern across the apron indicates fields or pasture land. A number of towns and villages, including Usharal and Beskol, are visible along the fan's outer edge. The straight feature cutting through Beskol and along the northeastern portion of the fan is railroad tracks.

Image courtesy of NASA.

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