SEDIMENTS & SEDIMENTARY

ROCKS
Relative Percentages of Sedimentary
Rocks
 SEDIMENT
• From
– Weathering & Erosion
– Precipitation from saturated solution
• calcite, quartz
– Product of evaporation
• halite, gypsum

• Unconsolidated- NOT cemented

 SEDIMENT
• Particle size
– Pebbles, cobbles, boulders
– Gravel- > 2mm
– Sand- 2mm - 0.063mm
– Silt - 0.063mm - 0.004mm
– Clay- < 0.004
• Deposition Clay-sized particle vs. clay mineral
 SEDIMENT
• Transportation
– Abrasion
– Rounding
– Sorting
– Deposition
• Environment of deposition- specific

• Preservation
 SEDIMENT
• Transportation
– Abrasion
– Rounding
– Sorting
– Deposition
• Environment of deposition- specific

• Preservation
 SEDIMENT
• Lithification
– Compaction
• Decrease in pore space
– for very fine grain size (clay)
– Cementation
• Clastic texture
• Cements- silica, calcite, iron oxide
– Crystallization
• Crystalline texture
 SEDIMENT
• Lithification
– Compaction
• Decrease in pore space
– for very fine grain size (clay)
– Cementation
• Clastic texture
• Cements- silica, calcite, iron oxide
– Crystallization
• Crystalline texture
 SEDIMENT
• Lithification
– Compaction
• Decrease in pore space
– for very fine grain size (clay)
– Cementation
• Clastic texture
• Cements- silica, calcite, iron oxide
– Crystallization
• Crystalline texture
 TYPES OF SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
• Clastic or Detrital
• Chemical- inorganic precipitation or
evaporation
• Biochemical- Organic remains
– shells, charcoal, plant fragments
 CLASTIC (Detrital) ROCKS
• Breccia and Conglomerate (> 2mm)
– Sedimentary Breccia- angular fragments
– Conglomerate- rounded fragments
• Sandstone (2mm - 0.063mm)
– Quartz sandstone
– Arkose (feldspar)
– Graywacke (appreciable amounts of silt/clay)
• Fine-grained Matrix
• Usually from turbidity currents
 CLASTIC (Detrital) ROCKS
• Breccia and Conglomerate (> 2mm)
– Sedimentary Breccia- angular fragments
– Conglomerate- rounded fragments
• Sandstone (2mm - 0.063mm)
– Quartz sandstone
– Arkose (feldspar)
– Graywacke (appreciable amounts of silt/clay)
• Fine-grained Matrix
• Usually from turbidity currents
Quartz Sandstone
 CLASTIC ROCKS
• Fine-grained Rocks
– Shale- fissile (in ‘sheets’)
– Siltstone
– Claystone
– Mudstone (silt and clay)
 CHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
• Carbonate Rocks
– Limestone- made of calcite
• Inorganic varieties
– micrite, oolites, travertine
– Dolomite
– Recrystallization
• Chert- silica
• Evaporites
– Rock gypsum
– Rock salt
 BIOCHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

• Coal
– Develops from peat
• plant fragments
– Lignite
– Bituminous Coal
• Carbonate Rocks
– Limestone- made of calcite
• organic varieties
– Coquina
– Fossiliferous Limestone
– Chalk
 BIOCHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

• Coal
– Develops from peat
• plant fragments
– Lignite
– Bituminous Coal
• Carbonate Rocks
– Limestone- made of calcite
• organic varieties
– Coquina
– Fossiliferous Limestone
– Chalk
 SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES
• BEDDING-
– Principle of Original Horizontality
– Bedding plane
– Cross-bedding
– Graded bed
– Mud cracks
– Ripple marks
– Fossils
 SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES
• BEDDING-
– Principle of Original Horizontality
– Bedding plane
– Cross-bedding
– Graded bed
– Mud cracks
– Ripple marks
– Fossils
DUNES
 SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES
• BEDDING-
– Principle of Original Horizontality
– Bedding plane
– Cross-bedding
– Graded bed
– Mud cracks
– Ripple marks
– Fossils
 SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES
• BEDDING-
– Principle of Original Horizontality
– Bedding plane
– Cross-bedding
– Graded bed
– Mud cracks
– Ripple marks
– Fossils
Mudcracks
 SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES
• BEDDING-
– Principle of Original Horizontality
– Bedding plane
– Cross-bedding
– Graded bed
– Mud cracks
– Ripple marks
– Fossils
• Body Fossils
• Trace Fossils
 FORMATIONS
• Large enough to show on a map
• Distinctive from neighboring rock units
• Named after geographic locations
• CONTACT
– separation between 2 distinct rock units
– Sedimentary contact
– Other contacts
 INTERPRETATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
• Source Area
• Environment of Deposition
– Glacial environments
• Tillites
– Alluvial fan
• Arkose
– River channel and flood plain
• Interbedded shales and sandstones; cross-bedded
– Lake
• Shales; interbedded siltstones and mudstones
– Delta
 INTERPRETATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
• Source Area
• Environment of Deposition
– Glacial environments
• Tillites
– Alluvial fan
• Arkose
– River channel and flood plain
• Interbedded shales and sandstones; cross-bedded
– Lake
• Shales; interbedded siltstones and mudstones
– Delta
Glacial Environment & Till
 INTERPRETATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCK
• Environment of Deposition
– Beach, Barrier Island, Dune
• Very well sorted quartz sandstones
– Lagoon
• Shales
– Shallow marine shelf
• Interbedded sandstones and shales; burrowed
– Reef
• Skeletal Limestones
– Deep marine environment
• Turbidites- sequence of GRADED sandstones to shales
 INTERPRETATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCK
• Environment of Deposition
– Beach, Barrier Island, Dune
• Very well sorted quartz sandstones
– Lagoon
• fine grained sediment
– Shallow marine shelf
• Interbedded sandstones and shales; burrowed
– Reef
• Skeletal Limestones
– Deep marine environment
• Turbidites- sequence of GRADED sandstones to shales
CALCAREOUS
 INTERPRETATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCK
• Environment of Deposition
– Beach, Barrier Island, Dune
• Very well sorted quartz sandstones
– Lagoon
• Shales
– Shallow marine shelf
• Interbedded sandstones and shales; burrowed
– Reef
• Skeletal Limestones
– Deep marine environment
• Turbidites- sequence of GRADED sandstones to shales
 INTERPRETATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCK
• Plate Tectonics and Sedimentary Rocks
– At convergent boundaries
• Uplift results in
– Very rapid rates of erosion
– Thick accumulations of clastic sediment
– At transform boundaries
• Rapid rates of erosion, deposition and burial
• Good basins for petroleum exploration
– At divergent boundaries
• Initial stages of rifting- thick wedges of gravel and coarse
sediment
 Resources
• Non-Metallic
– Sand and gravel
– Limestone
– Clay
– Gypsum
• Energy Resources
– Oil and gas
– Coal
Formation of Oil and Gas
U.S. Coal Production