Phy. Geol.

Sedimentary Environments and

Rocks
 Chapter Layouts
• Introduction
• Sediment sources, transport, and deposition.
• Deposition and lithification.
• Different types of Sedimentary rocks.
• Sedimentary environments.
• Sedimentary structures, and fossils.
• Important resources in sedimentary rocks.
• Soil formation and conservation practices.
 Introduction
• We define sediments as the produce of the weathering of
preexisting rocks.
• Sediments are loose aggregates of solids such as sand on
beach, gravels in a water stream, or mud at the ocean floor.
When these sediments are somehow bound together, they
transform into sedimentary rocks.
• Sedimentary rocks belong to a class of rocks that form at the
earth surface by surface processes geared by the climate
system.
• They usually contain fossils and other structures that can
infer to the environment of deposition of these rocks. They
also can host many natural resources such as oil, gas, coal,
and uranium.
 Different Steps of the Sedimentary Process
- Weathering: All sediments are coming from the alteration of a preexisting
rock by process of weathering. Whether it is a mechanical or chemical
weathering, it acts on the rock reducing it into smaller pieces at the scene.
* Physical weathering: Takes place when solid rock is fragmented by
mechanical processes that do not change its chemical composition. Example:
action of plant roots on rocks, frost wedging…
* Chemical weathering: Occurs when the minerals in the rock are altered or
dissolved. Example: Rusting of iron, dissolution of rocks by acidic solutions.
- Erosion: It is about removal of these sediments from they are weathered
to another place. Usually, the agents of erosion transport sediment according
to the gravity law. The different agents of erosion are water streams, wind,
glaciers and gravity.
Physical Weathering by Freezing and Thawing
Mechanical Weathering
 Different Steps of the Sedimentary Process (con..)

- Transportation:
The size of the sediments transported depends on the Velocity (speed) of
the current:
 Strong currents (> 50Cm/s) : Carry gravels along with coarse and fine
detritus.
Moderately strong currents (20-50 Cm/s) : Lay down sand beds.
Weak currents (< 20 Cm/s) : Carry mud composed of the finest particles.
The tendency for variation in current velocity results in the segregation of
the sediments by size called sorting.
•During transportation, grains collide against each others. This contributes
to the abrasion of their freshly cut sharp edges, and their rounding.
 SOURCE OF SEDIMENTARY MATERIALS

MECHANICAL CHEMICAL
WEATHERING WEATHERING
(gravel, sand, silt, TRANSPORT (clay minerals and ions,
clay–sized particles) compounds in solution)

TO SITES OF DEPOSITION Stepped Art

Figure 7-1 p159
 Different Steps of the Sedimentary Process
(con..)
- Deposition: Once the energy of erosion agent dies out, sediments
are deposited in some geographic areas known as depositional
environments like the ocean, stream, floodplain, lake, desert…
- Lithification: To convert the aggregate of sediments into a
sedimentary rock, burial begin and the lithification process takes over.
Lithification or consolidation of sediments occurs two ways:
- Compaction: That is the squeezing of sediments under their
weight and the weight of materials on the top of them.
- Cementation: That is gluing the loose sediments by a matrix or
cement made of precipitated minerals in the pores between the grains.
• Both compaction and cementation reduce the porosity in the rock
(empty space between the grains).
Lithification by Compaction and Cementation

Compaction Cementation

50-60%
Compaction by burial 50–60% water
of water
squeezes out water.

10-20% of
water

Lithification
 Different steps of the sedimentary process

Erosion moves Transportation moves

Weathering breaks Particles downhill
down rocks into pieces. Away sediments

Lake
Delta
Deposition occurs when
particles settle down or precipitation

Magma intrusion

Sedimentary layers

Lithification occurs
By compaction or
cementation
 Classification of Sedimentary Rocks

• Based on their origin and composition, geologist recognize

three broad classes of sedimentary rocks:
- Detrital or siliciclastic sedimentary rocks: Made up of solid
particles, gravel, sand, silt, and clay derived from the breaking
of parent material. These detrital rocks are classified on the
Wentworth scale by the size of their particles (tab.6.15 lab.
book).
- Chemical sedimentary rocks: During chemical weathering,
several compounds and ions dissolve in water. Under certain
climatic conditions, evaporation occurs, and these chemicals
precipitate to yield evaporites that are chemical sedimentary
rocks.
- Bioclastic or biochemical sedimentary rocks: They form
near the environment of deposition from precipitated minerals
mixed with remains of organisms.
 Classification of siliciclastic sediments and
sedimentary rocks
• The siliciclastic sediments and rocks are
primarily classified by the size of their grains.
These grains are coarse, medium or fine
depending on the materials they are made of.
• The Wentworth scale is used to classify
siliciclastic rocks be the size of their grains.
 The Wentworth Scale of size For sediments
Particles size Sediment rock

COARSE GRAVEL
Larger than 256 mm Boulder
256-64 mm Cobble Conglomerate
64-2 mm Pebble

MEDIUM
2-0.062 mm SAND Sandstone

FINE MUD Siltstone

0.062-0.0039mm Silt

Finer than 0.0039mm Clay Mudstone, shale, claystone

Figure 7-5 p162
Figure 7-6b p163
 Types of Sedimentary Environments
- Continental environments:
• - Lake environments: including inland bodies of
both fresh and saline water. Chemical
deposition after evaporation occur in these
environments.
- Alluvial environments: Related to rivers and
other kinds of water streams.
- Desert Environments: Desert sand dunes
deposited by wind are examples of such an
environment.
 Types of Sedimentary Environments (con..)
- Shoreline environments:
• - Deltaic environments: Where rivers enter lakes or
seas.
- Tidal flat environments: Where large areas are
exposed to tidal currents.
- Beach environment: Where strong sea waves
breaking on the shore distribute sediments on the
beach distributing strips of sand and gravels.
 Types of Sedimentary Environments (con..)
- Marine Environments:
• - Continental shelf environments: Are located in
shallow waters off the continents, and are made of
biological carbonates and siliciclastic materials.
- Organic reefs: Are composed of carbonate
structures formed by carbonate sectreeting
organisms.
Different Environments of Deposition
 Sedimentary Structures
• - Strata or beds: They are distinct layers separated from one
another by surfaces above and below.
- Cross-bedding: In which layers are arranged at an angle to the
surface on which they are deposited. Cross-beds are found in many
environments such as sand dunes due to a unidirectional current.
- Graded bedding: In which some sedimentary rocks show an
upward decrease in grain size. Graded beds are mostly formed by
turbidity currents that is an underwater downslope flow of
sediments.
- Ripple marks: They are small ridges appearing in some sand
deposits, due to a current that flows in one direction.
- Mud cracks: They form when clay-rich sediment dries and
shows intersecting fractures. They indicate that the sediment was
deposited in an environment with periodical dry and humid
climate.
Sedimentary Structures
 Soil as a Result of Weathering
• Much of Earth’s land surface is covered by a layer of regolith
consisting of sediment, pyroclastic materials, and the
residue formed in place by weathering. Obviously plants
grow in soil from which they receive most of their nutrients
and water. All land-dwelling animals depend directly or
indirectly on soils for their nutrients.
• A good soil for farming and gardening is made up of about
45% solid particles derived by weathering of parent material,
and most of the rest of its volume is voids filled with air
and/or water. Another important constituent of soil is
humus which is carbon that forms by bacterial decay of
organic matter and is very resistant to further decay. Even
fertile soils may have as little as 5% humus, but it is essential
as a source of plant nutrients and it enhances a soil’s
capacity to retain moisture.
 Soil as a Residue of Weathering
• Soil is a thin covering over the land
consisting of a mixture of minerals, dead
organisms, living organisms, air, water, that
together support the plant life.
• Soils are either residual when they form in
are formed in place or derive from
transported particles of dirt.
 The Soil Profile
• - Horizon O: Is only a few centimeters thick and is composed of organic
matter. The upper part of this horizon shows plant remains at various
stages of composition, whereas the lower part contains the humus.
- Horizon A: Also called topsoil, it has more organic matter than the
horizon below, and is characterized by more intense biological activity.
- Horizon B: Also called subsoil, has fewer organisms and less organic
matter than Horizon A. This the zone of accumulation because soluble
materials leached from above accumulate as irregular masses, and will be
used by plant roots. This horizon also provides support for plants.
- Horizon C: It shows a partially altered bedrock with little or no
organic matter. This horizon is important because it will define whether the
soil will be acidic or base (alkaline) soil.
- Horizon R: It is made of the compact parent material also called the
Bedrock that is yielding all the above horizons.
The Soil Profile
 Important Resources in Sedimentary Rocks
•Sand and gravel are essential to construction. Pure clay deposits are
used for ceramics, and limestone is used in the manufacture of
cement.
•Evaporates are the source of the table salt, as well as chemical
compounds, and rock gypsum is used to manufacture wallboard.
• Phosphates bearing sedimentary rock is used in fertilizers and animal
feed supplements.
•Some valuable sedimentary deposits called placers are found in
streams and beaches where minerals were concentrated during
transport and deposition. Most of gold, diamond, and tin are
associated to these placers.
•Coal that is a primary source of energy in many countries are is a
sedimentary rock formed from fossilized trees in swamps millions of
years.
•Oil and natural gas are associated with ancient sedimentary basins.
 Petroleum and Natural Gas
• Petroleum and natural gas are hydrocarbons, meaning that
they are composed of hydrogen and carbon. They form from
the remains of microscopic organisms called plankton,
settles to the sea floor, or lake floor in some cases, where
little oxygen is available to decompose them. If buried
beneath the layers of sediments, they are heated and
transformed into petroleum and natural gas.
• For hydrocarbons to accumulate, they need to migrate the
source rock to a reservoir rock that should be porous enough
to trap the hydrocarbons, and sealed on the top by a cap
rock to prevent them form volatilizing.
 Uranium

• Most of the Uranium used in nuclear reactors in North

America comes from the complex potassium- uranium-
vanadium bearing mineral Carnotite which is found in
some sedimentary rocks.
• The richest Uranium ores in the U.S are wide spread in
the Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico states.
Large reserves of low grade Uranium are also foun in the
Chattanooga shale. The Uranium is finely disseminated
in this black organic-rich mudrocks that underlies large
parts of illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky states.
 Banded Iron Formations

• The chemical sedimentary rock known as banded

iron formation consists of alternating thin layers of
Chert, and iron minerals mostly hematite and
magnetite. Banded iron formations are present on
all continent and account for most of the iron ore
mined in the world today.
• Vast banded iron formations are present in the lake
superior region of the U.S and Canada.