Advanced Applied Geology

Advanced Applied Geology

Sedimentology, sedimentary facies, and sedimentation model of the Sarney River, Minab County, southeast of Iran

Authors
Mojtaba Ansarifar 1
Hamidreza Masoumi 1
Mohammadsadegh Dehghanian 1
Mohammadreza Gharibreza 2
Jafar Rahnamarad 3
1 Department of Geology, BA.C. Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran
2 River and Coastal Engineering Research Group, Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of Geology, Zah.C. Islamic Azad University, Zahedan, Iran
10.22055/aag.2026.51228.2549
Abstract
The Sarney River wih, approximately 65 km long, is located east of Minab in southern Iran. In order to conduct sedimentological investigations, twenty sediment samples were collected from the active channel. After air-drying, the samples were analyzed using dry sieving to determine grain-size distribution and sedimentological parameters, including median, mean, sorting, skewness, and kurtosis. Based on these parameters, the sediments show moderately good to very poor sorting, strongly fine-skewed to strongly coarse-skewed distributions, and broad to very leptokurtic ranges. Within the river system, four sedimentary discontinuities and five continuities were identified. Ten sedimentary facies were recognized: clast-supported massive gravel (Gcm), horizontally stratified gravel (Gh), cross-bedded gravel (Gp), matrix-supported massive gravel (Gms), clast-supported massive gravel without stratification (Gm), horizontally laminated sand (Sh), trough cross-bedded sand (St), massive sand with inverse to normal grading (Sm), massive mud and silt with plant roots (Fr), and massive silt and mud (Fm). Five architectural elements CH, SG, GB, SB, and FF were also documented. The discontinuous downstream fining trend is attributed to the influx of tributary channels and erosion of older terraces. Based on facies assemblages and architectural elements, the depositional model of the Sarney River comprises a shallow, gravelly, braided system in the upstream reaches, a gravelly, braided system with gravity-flow deposits in the middle reaches, and a meandering river pattern in the downstream reaches.
Keywords
Sedimentary facies'
'Structural elements'
'Sedimentology'
'Sarney River'
'Minab
Subjects
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Advanced Applied Geology
Volume 15, Issue 4
Autumn 2026
Pages 106-125