Rocks II Sedimentary Rocks *Sedimentary Sediment fr.

r. Latin Sedimentum from sedere meaning to sit or sink down *Implies derived from a fluid in some manner *Also the idea of transport Origin of Materials *Decomposition and Disintegration of Rock *That is, Weathering. *Erosion: *Transportation of sediment *Look closely at erosion processes in Chapters 14 through 19. *Purpose NOW is to get a general feel for the types of sedimentary rocks Types of Sediment *Sediment Source Material for Sedimentary Rocks *Detrital Sediments Detrital Sedimentary Rocks *Chemical Sediments Chemical Sedimentary rocks Detrital Sediments *Originate from solid materials that are products of Mechanical and Chemical Weathering *E.g., broken rock, mineral grains, new minerals such as clays. Chemical Sediments *(Mainly) Originate from soluble material produced by chemical weathering of rock. When this material is precipitated from solution it becomes chemical sediment, or it may go directly to chemical sedimentary rock. Detrital Sedimentary Rocks *Classification based on two principal criteria: *Particle size - Primary basis for distinguishing detrital sedimentary rocks. *Composition What is the detritus made up of? Classification of Detrital Sedimentary Rocks Detrital Sediment Particles *Size provides useful information about the environment of deposition and transportation process Glaciers any size material *Water Almost any size material *Wind Sand or less *Abrasion during transport tends to break off corners of grains. Become rounded. *Sorting by grain size takes place during transport Depositional environment

*Physical environment that characterizes where the sediment is deposited. *Three Major Settings: *Continental Deposition *Streams, Rivers, Lakes, Deserts *Marine Deposition *Continental Shelf, Reefs, Deep Sea *Transitional Deposition *Deltas, beaches, estuaries Lithification *Processes that transform sediment into sedimentary rock *Compaction elimination of pore space *What is pore space? *Cementation CaCO3 & SiO2; also Fe2O3, and FeO(OH) Detrital Sedimentary Rocks *Detritus Particles (solid not in solution) of preexisting rock: fragments, mineral grains or altered grains *Clastic texture fragments or particles clasts Look like pieces *Conglomerates & breccias high energy environment *Sandstones sand is a size designation Qtz. Ss, arkose (>25% feld), lithic ss *Mudrocks Low energy environment *Siltstone, mudstone, claystone (shales) Chemical Sedimentary Rocks *Organic and inorganic processes extract element, ions, compounds from solution. *Criteria: Texture, composition, Biology? *Chemical precipitates: *Very fine grain to fine grain crystalline Limestone, dolomite, halite, gypsum *Biochemical *Clastic, e.g., shells; Microcrystalline e.g, diatomaceous earth; Organic e.g. coal Carbonates *Limestones *Most are biogenetic bacteria to shells *Some non-biogenetic, e.g., oolites and travertine *Dolostones Mg alteration of limestone Evaporites *Rock salt -- Halite *Rock Gypsum Other *Chert flint, jasper *Replacement nodules in limestone *Bedded cherts direct precipitates *Biochemical silica tests of diatoms and radiolarians

*Coal Compressed altered remains of land plants *Low oxygen environment organic matter accumulation exceeds decay *Peat ~ 50% C, Lignite ~ 70% C, Bituminus ~ 80% C, Anthracite up to 98%C. Stratification -- Beds & Bedding *Stratification formation, accumulation and deposition of material in layers. *Bed - Layer of sediments or sedimentary rock bounded above and below by a more or less well defined surface (bedding surface) that physically separates the layers. *Bed smallest lithostratigraphic unit Sedimentary Facies *Facies from fr. & L., face, form, aspect or condition *Characteristics of rock units that display distinct chemical, biological, environmental aspects *For our purposes: the environmental conditions that can be read from the rock Seas come in Seas go out *Transgressions & regressions *Rise and fall of sea level causing marine facies to move toward (transgression) or away from land (regression). Reading Sedimentary Rocks *Analyzing depositional environment *Sorting & rounding *Geometry *Trans- or Re-gressive Sequence Sedimentary Structures *Fineness of bedding *Graded bedding * (e.g. turbidity currents) *Cross-bedding *Ripple Marks *Mudcracks *Fossils Uniformitarianism *Present key to the past *Actualism *Understanding processes in terms of natural laws or principles. *How does it work *Not why does it work