The Language of The Earth - Part Ii: Sedimentary Rocks

THE LANGUAGE OF THE
EARTH – PART II
SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
Principles
applied to
Sedimentary
Rocks
Uniformitarianism:
The Present is the Key
to the Past
Faunal Succession Principles applied
to Sedimentary
Rocks
Original Horizontality
Superposition Time
UNCONFORMITIES
“Looking into the Abyss
of Geological Time”
Siccar Point, Scotland

Definition
SEDIMENTARY ROCK - Compacted and cemented
accumulations of sediment, which can be of two
general types - clastic and chemical.
Clastic - composed of fragments of pre-existing rock
that have been weathered, eroded and transported
by wind, water, ice, or mass movement to a site of
deposition.
Chemical -composed of minerals precipitated from
water (usually ocean water) due to evaporation or
to the metabolic action of organisms (biogenic).
Sedimentary Rocks: Definition and General Types
SEDIMENTARY ROCK - Compacted and cemented accumulations of
sediment, which can be of two general types - clastic and chemical.
Clastic - composed of fragments of pre-existing rock that have been weathered,
eroded and transported by wind, water, ice, or mass movement to a site of
deposition.
Chemical -composed of minerals precipitated from water (usually ocean water)
due to evaporation or to the metabolic action of organisms (biogenic).
Sediment
Sedimentary Rock
Clastic Sedimentary Rocks
Composed of fragments of pre-existing rock that
have been weathered,...
Mechanical Weathering
have been weathered,...
Chemical Weathering
have been weathered, transported...
by Ice (Glaciers)
Continental Glaciation
Till
Tillite
have been weathered, transported,...
by Water
The Work of Rivers –
Transport Sediment to the Sea
Mature Rivers –
4
Floodplains and Meanders
Effects of
Changing
Base Levels
due to tectonic uplift
or changing sea level
Composed of fragments of pre-existing rock that have
been weathered, transported,... by Wind
Cross-bedding
have been weathered, eroded, and transported
to a site of deposition
Deltaic Environments
deposition of sediment due to loss of transport energy
Near-shore Environments
of Deposition
Deep-water Deposition
Distinguishing Characteristics of Clastic Sediments:
Grain Size - mud/clay, silt (<0.06mm), fine sand (0.06-0.25mm),
coarse sand (0.25-2.0mm), pebbles (2-64mm), cobbles (64-
256mm), boulders (>256mm); particle size reflects energy
(velocity) of the transport and depositional system.
Distinguishing Characteristics of Clastic Sediments (cont.):
Sorting - Well-sorted sediment indicates prolonged reworking by wind or water; poorly
sorted sediment may indicate rapid deposition, or deposition by ice or mass movement.
Angularity/Roundness and Shape – Well rounded sediment also indicate prolonged

reworking by transporting agent; the shape of grains often indicates the transport
system, but also may be related to the type of mineral or rock fragment
Compositional Maturity - mature sediment contains only Quartz and Clay and reflects
prolonged weathering of the source rocks. Immature sediment contains other minerals
or rock fragments that may imply mostly mechanical weathering in the source region
and short transport distance.
Bedding/Stratification - Sediments transported by water and wind are typically bedded
(or stratified) due to fluccuations in the velocity of transport and sediment load. Graded
bedding is a gradual change from coarse particles at the base to fine particles at the top
of a bed that reflects a gradual decrease in the energy of the depositional environment.
Cross-bedding forms by dune migration in fluvial (stream), marine, or eolian
environments. Sediment transported by ice or mass movement are typically unbedded
(massive).
Lithification
Transformation of Sediment into Sedimentary Rock
Gravel
Compaction and Cementation of Clastic Sediments
Common Cementing Agents: Quartz, Calcite, Hematite Conglomerate

Lithification
Compaction and Cementation of Clastic Sediments
Basic Types of Clastic Sedimentary Rocks
• MUDSTONE/SHALE - Well-sorted, mature,
clay-sized particles ; generally implies deposition
into quiet water
• SANDSTONE - Well-sorted, mature, commonly
bedded, sand-sized particles typically transported
by wind or moderate water movement (e.g. rivers,
beaches)
• GREYWACKE - Moderately sorted, immature,
clay- to sand-sized particles commonly showing
graded bedding. Commonly deposited in deep
waters off mountainous coasts.
• CONGLOMERATE - Poorly sorted, immature,
clay to boulder-sized particles transported only a
short distance from their source and typically
deposited by fast moving water.
• TILL - Very poorly sorted, clay to boulder-sized
particles; non-bedded; deposited from glaciers.
Environments of Deposition of
Chemical Sedimentary Rocks
composed of minerals precipitated from water (usually
ocean water) due to evaporation or to the metabolic action
of organisms (biogenic)
From Plummer and Carlson

IRON-FORMATION - Iron oxide minerals, usually magnetite (taconite ore) or
hematite (natural ore), interlayered with chert (microcrystalline quartz) and clay
minerals. Common chemical sedimentary rock biogenically formed in shallow marine
environments older than about 1.8 billion years.
LIMESTONE - Calcium carbonate (calcite) commonly containing abundant
marine fossils. Most common type of chemical sediment forming today by
evaporation and biogenic processing of seawater. Dolomite (or dolostone) is
created by replacement of calcium by magnesium after shallow burial of limestone.
Forms in tropical shallow marine environments.
Non-fossiliferous Limestone Fossiliferous Limestone

Biogenic Inorganic, ~clastic
Fossiliferous
Limestone Oolitic LS Dunes,
Bahamas
Non-fossiliferous
Limestone
Oolitic Limestone
CHERT – Microcrystalline quartz (SiO2) ; commonly found interbedded with
iron oxide in iron formation or as replacement nodules in limestone
White and red chert interlayered with Chert nodules in Limestone

hematite, Soudan Iron Formation
EVAPORITE DEPOSITS (Gypsum, Halite, Anhydrite) – minerals
precipitated from saline water in arid environments with high
evaporation rates (e.g., playa lakes)
Organic Sedimentary Rocks
PEAT/COAL – Carbonaceous material created by the accumulation, compaction
and heating of organic matter. Forms in temperate to tropical, low energy,
terrestrial environments (lagoons, floodplains).
Environments of
Chemical
Sedimentation
Evaporites
Coal
Limestone

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THE LANGUAGE OF THE

Siccar Point, Scotland

Angularity/Roundness and Shape – Well rounded sediment also indicate prolonged

Common Cementing Agents: Quartz, Calcite, Hematite Conglomerate

From Plummer and Carlson

Non-fossiliferous Limestone Fossiliferous Limestone

White and red chert interlayered with Chert nodules in Limestone

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