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Geological Formations

Alluvial Fan

Sedimentary and Stratigraphic Formations

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An alluvial fan is a fan-shaped accumulation of sediments that spreads outward from a concentrated source, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. Alluvial fans are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, though they also form in more humid environments subject to intense rainfall and in areas of modern glaciation. They range in size from less than one square kilometer to almost 20,000 square kilometers.

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