Erosion Landform ( 06. Exhumed River Channel )

                                                                                                                                                      Back to Erosion Landform





  • An exhumed river channel is a ridge of sandstone.
  • That remains softer flood plain mudstone is eroded away.
  • The process begins;

                1.The deposition of sand withine river channel.

                2.Then mud on the adjacent floodplain.

               3.Eventually channel is abandoned.

               4.After buried flood deposits from other channels.

               5.Groundwater flows easily.





  • Minerals (calcium carbonate) can cement the grains together.
  • It converting the loose sand into sandstone.
  • Pressure from overlying sediments compresses the floodplain mud.
  • It converting it to mudstone.
  • Millions of years later, erosion can remove softer, less cemented mudstone.
  •  It leave the more resistant sandstone as a sinuous ridge. 





  • An exhumed river channel is a form of inverted relief.
  • Exhumed channels are important indicators for ancient stream flow direction.
  • Examples of exhumed river channels;

         -Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation ,Green River, Utah.

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