Backswamp facies

Channel Facies Thalweg Facies Slackwater Facies Diamicton Facies Backswamp Facies... 

Clean backswamp facies are difficult to identify because weathering residue from the limestone is difficult to separate from other fine grained elastics. Hineman Cave, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania (White, 1976) may provide an example. Hineman Cave, like other complex maze caves developed in the Pennsylvanian Vanport Limestone, has a low gradient and little evidence for stream flow. The sediment consists of fractions of a meter to more than a meter of wet clay. This material appears to have been derived from the insoluble residue from the limestone with some contribution from overlying fireclays and shales. 

Clastic sediments deposited in conduit systems can be conveniently be divided into five facies depending on the mechanism of deposition. The channel facies comprises most observed sediment piles and can be subdivided further depending on the objectives of a particular investigation. Diamicton facies and slackwater facies are deposited from suspended loads. Channel facies and thalweg facies are transported as bedload. The backswamp facies is defined to describe those residual in infiltrated clastic sediments that are deposited in place with little horizontal transport. 

---