A sedimentary model for early Palaeozoic fluvial fans, Alderney Sandstone Formation (Channel Islands, UK)

• Criteria for the recognition of pre-vegetation fluvial fans are discussed.
• The type-section of the Cambrian Alderney Sandstone Formation is reappraised.
• Sedimentologic observations point to the interplay of fluvial and aeolian processes.
• Remote sensing aids in the recognition of ancient fluvial and aeolian forms.
• Modern arid fluvial fans can be used as partial analogues of the study deposits.

Fluvial fans in the rock record are inferred based on critical criteria such as: downstream grain-size fining; evidence for drainage fractionation along bifurcating channels; increasing fluvial-aeolian interaction in the basinward direction; and radial palaeoflow dispersion. Since pre-vegetation fluvial rocks often lack heterolithic alluvium and channelisation at the outcrop scale, the recognition of pre-Silurian fluvial fans has, so far, not been straightforward. This research proposes a sedimentary model for the Alderney Sandstone Formation of Channel Islands (UK), so far considered as a fine record of early Palaeozoic axial-fluvial sedimentation. Here, outcrop-based and remote-sensing analysis of the formation's type-section reveal the interaction of fluvial and aeolian processes, expressed by the alternation of: compound fluvial bars enclosing macroform surfaces, related to phases of perennial discharge; fluvial sandsheets containing antidunal forms and soft-sediment deformations, related to seasonal (i.e. flashy) discharge; and aeolian bedforms overlying thin stream-flow deposits.An up-section increase in aeolian deposits is accompanied by the shrinking of fluvial bars and minor-channel cuts, suggesting that drainage was fractioned along smaller channels terminating into marginal aeolian environments. Together with a propensity towards more dispersed values of fluvial cross-set thickness up-section (again due to discharge fractionation along intermittently active channels), these features depict an aeolian-influenced fluvial fan. This work discusses a set of criteria for the identification of fluvial fans in pre-vegetation environments. In doing so, it also explores possible parallels to modern environments, and underscores the potential of integrated outcrop and remotely sensed observations on ancient fluvial rocks and modern sedimentary realms.