Formation of Sedimentary Rocks • H2O + specific minerals

d. Hydration
• adding H2O to a system of minerals
• forms hydrates
e. Oxidation and Reduction
• combination of oxygen with a compound
• oxidation -> rust
f. Ion-exchange
• transfer of charged atoms (ions)
• most effective in clays
Special Types of Weathering
a. Differential Weathering
• differences in strength
• more resistant material is on top of less resistant; top-
heavy structures
b. Spheroidal Weathering
• strength of material is not relevant
• focuses on the cracks in rocks
• water seeps into cracks and rounds out edges
Susceptibility of Minerals to Chemical Weathering

Mechanical Weathering
- physical breaking up of rocks into smaller pieces; increase in
surface area
- prevails in cold climates, high altitudes, and dry regions
a. Frost Wedging
• repeated cycles of freezing and thawing
• results to talus (pile of rocks that accumulates at the base of a
cliff)
b. Abrasion and Grinding
Factors Controlling Weathering
• sand blasting
a. Source Composition
c. Heating and Cooling
o mineralogy, texture, and rock structure
• differences in temperatures in a rock give rise to differential
b. Climate
expansion (heating) and contraction (cooling)
o temperature fluctuations
d. Wetting and Drying
o precipitation
• disruption of soil results in the swelling and contracting of
c. Topographic Relief
some soil particles
o influence of the amount of rock expose to the forces
e. Organisms
of weathering
• burrowing
Products of Weathering
f. Unloading [sheeting]
a. Soil
• removal of thick layers of sediments overlying deeply buried
o combination of rock, air, water, and organic material
rocks by erosion or uplift
b. Soil Type
• common in batholiths
o varies in color, texture, and mineral content
Chemical Weathering
c. Types/Order of Soil
- breakdown of minerals by chemical reactions with water, with
o Laterite -> tropical, soft reddish-gray resolves
chemicals dissolved in water or with gases in the air
Soil Profile
- produces more stable or strong minerals
O Horizon
a. Dissolution
- organic layers of soil, made up mostly of leaf litter and humus
• dissolving of a solid in a liquid
(decomposed organic matter)
b. Hydrolysis
A Horizon [Topsoil]
• process of minerals reacting with water to form
- made up of humus and mixed mineral particles
hydroxides
E Horizon [Eluviation Layer]
• changes silicates to hydroxides - leeching layer
• SO4 + H2O -> OH - light in color
c. Acidification - mostly sand and silt
• producing acids - lost most of minerals and clay as water drips through
B Horizon [Subsoil; Layer of Accumulation] - Competence
- clay and mineral deposits received from E Horizon o biggest size an agent can transport
C Horizon [Regolith] o capability of current [maximum]
- slightly broken-up bedrock; no plant roots due to little organic o ex. >2cm
material - Capacity
R [Bedrock; Parent] o maximum amount of sediment agent can transport
- unweathered rock layer Sediment/Rock Maturity
Erosion - textural
- old word meaning “eat away” o grain size [smaller, rounded, etc.]
- involves movement of rock/soil - compositional
Agents of Erosion o mature types have lower temperature
- gravity Deposition
- ice - transporting sediments requires energy
- orgnisms - grain size has relationship with energy
- water o smaller grains -> less energy
- wind o bigger grains -> more energy
Transportation o river slows down -> sediment will drop out
Agents of Sediment Transportation o river speeds up -> water can pick up sediment
- ice - gravel -> fast-moving water or rock slides
- wind - sand -> wind and wave action (commonly in beaches)
- water - silt and clay -> lakes, swamps, and deep oceans
Distance of Sediment Transport Diagenesis
- affects clast: - physical, chemical, and biological processes which collectively
o roundness and sphericity result in
o sorting o transformation of sediments into sedimentary rock
o grain size o modification of the texture and mineralogy of rock
Ways of Physically Transporting Particles a. Compaction
a. Suspension a. volume of a sediment is reduced as the grains are
• fine, light material is carried along river squeezed together
• no contact with riverbed b. Cementation
b. Saltation a. separate sedimentary grains are “cemented” together
• jumping sediments over riverbed by substances like calcite, silica, and iron oxide to
c. Traction form a sedimentary rock
• large boulders and rocks are rolled along riverbed c. Others
d. Solution a. recrystallization of unstable sediments
• minerals are dissolved in water b. dissolution and replacement
Sorting c. bioturbation
- measure of variation of grain sizes Classification of Sedimentary Rocks
- short distance: poorly sorted
- long distance: well-sorted
Roundness and Sphericity
- indication of transportation
- roundess
o how rounded corners are
o always a function of transportation
- sphericity
o sphere-like shape
o not necessarily a function of transportation
o influenced by environment

Clastic vs. Non-Clastic

Clastic (detrital)
- mechanically fragmented components
- commonly terrestrial
Non-Clastic
- biochemical or chemical processes
Competence and Capacity - commonly aquatic environments
Siliciclastic or Clastic o peat (not rock) is buried (shallow burial) becomes
- broken or fragmental texture lignite (low grade) and becomes bituminous coal
o clast (larger pieces) (lignite and bituminous are sedimentary)
o matrix (mud or fine-grained sediment) o anthracite: high grade coal
o cement (glue that holds it all together) Proportions of Rock Types on Earth
- classified based on texture (grain size) and composition
- divided into size category based on Wentworth Scale

Importance of Sedimentary Rocks

- geological history
o fossils are only found in sed. rocks
o correlate ages (relative and absolute dating)
Conglomerates or Breccia o paleogeography and paleoclimatology
- 2mm in grain size o paleoenvironment
Sandstone o source materials and history of transportation and
- 1/16 mm to 2mm deposition
- amount of minerals Resources from Sedimentary Rocks
o arkose (feldspar) – 50% or more - used as sand and gravel
o lithic (lithic fragments) – 50% or more o road base, concrete
o quartz – 90% or more - pure sand: glass-making
Mudstone - placer deposits
- siltstone (1/265 mm to 1/16 mm) o gold, diamond, garnet
- claystone (less than 1/265 mm) - building stone and ornamental materials; filtering
- gritty - cement
- lick me (tongue should stick) - fossil fuels
Under both Chemical and Biochemical o coal, petroleum, natural gas
- carbonates - food additives
o mineral calcite (CaCo3) Sedimentary Structures
o formed by both chem. and biochem. processes - interbedded sandstone and conglomerate
o mixed together in various combinations
o extremely abundant and important
§ i.e. limestones
- chert
o siliceous rocks (SiO2)
o recrystallized skeletons of ‘animals’
§ single-celled radiolarians and flass sponges
§ single-celled plants (diatoms and
silicoflagellates)
Chemical Products
- Evaporites
o rock salt (halite; NaCl) and gypsum (CaSO4 + H2O)
o dissolved in sea water (which makes water salty)
o sea water evaporates in closed areas (i.e. lagoons);
salt concentration becomes very high,
supersaturates, and precipitates out
Biochemical Products - graded bedding
- coal o variation in particle size in a single bed
o plant remains
 - cross bedding
o layers in between layers
- tilted beds - tool marks
o grazing of foreign materials brought by current

- mudcracks
- biorturbation
o action of organisms

- ripple marks
o unidirectional or bidirectional