AAPG Bulletin (2000, May) Cover Photo by G. Shanmugam: Braided contributory to the Ganges River, northern India

AAPG Bulletin (2000, May, v.84, No. 5)

Caption: Mid-channel bars in a braided contributory of the Ganges River. The emergent gravel bars, composed mainly of pebbles and cobbles, are the products of bedload transport (away from the reader) during periods of floods. The winnowing away of clay during deposition of the coarse-grained sediments by high-energy braided rivers commonly results in the development of reservoir facies with high porosity and permeability. This contributory rising from the high-gradient foothills of the southern Himalayas, merges with the main Ganges (seen in the background). The Ganges enters the Bay of Bengal with the Brahmaputra River system is well known for tidal dominance. See article on tidal facies in Ecuador by G. Shanmugam, M. Poffenberger, and J. Toro Alava beginning on p. 652 of this issue of the Bulletin. Photo by G. Shanmugam, Dallas, Texas.