JAWAD (THUNDER)

Presents

SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES (Syn depositional stru tures)

SEDIMENATARY STRUCTURES
Sedimentary structures are important attributes of sedimentary rocks. They occur on the upper and lower surfaces of beds as well as within beds. They can be used to deduce the processes and conditions of deposition, the directions of the currents which deposited the sediments and in areas of folded rocks. Sedimentary structures are very diverse and many can occur in almost any lithology. Sedimentary structures develop through physical and/or chemical processes before, during and after deposition, and through biogenic processes. Sedimentary structures are arbitrarily divided into pri!ary and se ondary lasses" #ri!ary stru tures are those generated in a sediment during or shortly after deposition. They result mainly from the physical processes, examples of primary structures include ripples, cross-bedding, and slumps. Se ondary sedi!entary structures are those that formed sometime after sedimentation. They result from essentially chemical processes, such as those which lead to the diagenetic formation of concretions.

STUDYIN$ AND ANA%AY&IN$ SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES

Sedimentary structures can be studied at outcrop and in cliffs, quarries, and stream sections. arge-scale channeling and cross-bedding can also be studied using groundpenetrating radar . They can also be studied in cores taken from wells. Sedimentary structures in cores are the easiest to describe because of the small si!e of the sample to be observed. There are two basic approaches to observing sedimentary structures. The first approach is to pretend the outcrop is a borehole and to measure a detailed sediment logical log. This records a vertical section of limited lateral extent. The second method is to create a two-dimensional survey of all, or a ma"or part, of the outcrop. This may be recorded on graph paper, using a tape measure and an #bney level for accurately locating inaccessible reference points on cliff faces. This method is aided by photography, especially by on-the-spot $olaroid photos, on which significant features and sample points can be located. %onsider now the interpretation of sedimentary structures. They are the most useful of sedimentary features to use in environmental interpretation because, unlike sediment

grains, texture, and fossils, they cannot be recycled. They unequivocally reflect the depositional process that laid down the sediment.

#RIMARY IN'R$ANIC SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES

$rimary inorganic sedimentary structure is classified into four ma"or types which are.

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4e will not discuss the pre depositional type of sedimentary structure. we "ump to Syndepositional stru tures.

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Syndepositional structures are those actually formed during sedimentation. They are therefore, essentially constructional structures that are present within sedimentary beds. DI,,ERENCE -ETWEEN -EDDIN$ AND %AYERIN$ .t is necessary to define and discuss "ust what is meant by a bed or .eddin/. 3edding, stratification, or layerin/ is probably the most fundamental and diagnostic feature of sedimentary rocks. bedding is sometimes absent in thick diamictites, reefs, and some very well-sorted sand formations. 'evertheless, some kind of parallelism is present in most sediments. 3edding is due to vertical differences in lithology, grain si!e, or, more rarely, grain shape, packing, or orientation. Though bedding is so obvious to see it is hard to define what is meant by the terms bed and bedding and few geologists have analy!ed this fundamental property.&ere are two more arbitrary but useful definitions6 -eddin/ is layering within beds on a scale of about 7 or 8 cm. %a!ination is layering within beds on a scale of 7 or 8mm 8 mm.

3edding and lamination define stratification. 3edding is thicker than 7 cm whereas lamination is thinner than 7 cm. 3edding is composed of beds9 lamination is composed of laminae. $arallel :also called planar or hori!ontal; lamination is a common internal structure of beds.

MASSI0E -EDDIN$
#n apparent absence of any form of sedimentary structure is found in various types of sedimentation unit. .t is due to a variety of causes. -irst, a bed may be massive due to diagenesis. This is particularly characteristic of certain limestones and dolomites that have been extensively recrystalli!ed. Secondly, primary sedimentary structures may be completely destroyed in a bed by intensive organic burrowing. ,IE%D 'CCURRENCE AND '-SER0ANCE 1enuine depositional massive bedding is often seen in fine-grained, low-energy environment deposits, such as some claystones, marls, chalks, and calcilutites. +eef rock :biolithite; also commonly lacks bedding. .n sandstones massive bedding is rare. .t is most frequently seen in very well-sorted sands, where sedimentary structures cannot be delineated by textural variations.

,%AT -EDDIN$
)ne of the simplest intrabed structures is flat- or hori!ontal bedding. This, as its name

implies, is bedding that parallels the ma"or bedding surface. .t is generally deposited hori!ontally. -lat-bedding grades, however, via sub hori!ontal bedding, into crossbedding. The critical angles of dip that separate these categories are undefined.
,IE%D 'CCURRENCE AND '-SER0ANCE

-lat-bedding occurs in diverse sedimentary environments ranging from fluvial channels to beaches and delta fronts. .t occurs in sand-grade sediment, both terrigenous and carbonate. -lat-bedding is attributed to sedimentation from a planar bed form. This occurs under shooting flow or a transitional flow regime with a -roude number of approximately 7. Sand deposited under these conditions is arranged with the long axes of the grains parallel to the flow direction. #ARTIN$ %INEATI'N /oderately well-indurated sandstones easily split along flat-bedding surfaces to reveal a preferred lineation or graining of the exposed layer . This feature is termed partin/ lineation, or primary current lineation. .t is important to remember that, like many of the bed sole markings previously described, parting lineation will not be seen in friable unconsolidated sands, nor in low-grade metamorphic sediments.

$RADED -EDDIN$

The term 1/raded .ed1 is normally applied to beds measurable in centimeters or decimeters. 10ar2es31 typical of lacustrine deposits, are measurable in millimeters. The term 1up4ard56inin/ se7uen e< is normally applied to intervals of several beds whose grain si!e fines up over several meters. # graded bed is one in which there is a vertical change in grain si!e. Nor!al /radin/ is marked by an upward decrease in grain si!e. Re2erse /radin/ is where the bed coarsens upward. There are various other types . 1raded bedding is produced as a sediment settles out of suspension, normally during the waning phase of a turbidity flow. ,IE%D 'CCURRENCE AND '-SER0ANCE The lower part of a graded bed is normally massive, the upper part may exhibit the 3ouma sequence of sedimentary. 'ormally graded beds generally represent depositional environments which decrease in transport energy as time passes, but also form during rapid depositional events. They are perhaps best represented in turbidite strata, where they indicate a sudden strong current that deposits heavy, coarse sediments first, with finer ones following as the current weakens. They can also form in terrestrial stream deposits.

CR'SS -EDDIN$
%ross-bedding is one of the most common and most important of all sedimentary structures. %ross bedding, as its name implies, consists of inclined dipping bedding, bounded by sub hori!ontal surfaces. (ach of these units is termed a set. 2ertically

contiguous sets are termed as osets. The inclined bedding is referred to as a 6oreset" -oresets may grade down with decreasing dip angle into a bottomset or toeset. #t its top a foreset may grade with decreasing dip angle into a topset. .n nature toesets are rare and topsets are virtually nonexistent. -oresets may be termed heterogeneous if the layering is due to variations in grain si!e, or homogeneous if it is not. Two other descriptive terms applied to foresets are avalanche and accretion. #valanche foresets are planar in vertical section and are graded toward the base of the set. #ccretion foresets are ungraded, homogeneous, and have asymptotically curved toesets. 3asically, two main types of cross-bedding can be defined by the geometry of the foresets and their bounding surfaces6 Ta.ular planar ross5.eddin/ and trou/8 ross5 .eddin/ (M 9ee and Weir3 (:;*). .n tabular planar cross-bedding, planar foresets are bounded above and below by subparallel subhori!ontal set boundaries :-ig. =.7=;. .n trough cross-bedding, upward concave foresets lie within erosional scours which are elongated parallel to current flow, closed upcurrent and truncated downcurrent by further troughs. ,IE%D 'CCURRENCE AND '-SER0ANCE .t appears that much cross-bedding is formed from the migration of sand dunes or megaripples. -lume experiments showed how these bed forms migrate downcurrent depositing foresets of sand in their downcurrent hollows. .f sedimentation is sufficiently great, then the erosional scour surface in front of a dune will be higher than that of its predecessor and a cross-bedded set of sand will be preserved. Tabular planar crossbedding will thus form from straight crested dunes. .n river channels, especially those of braided type, the course consists of an alternation of shoals and pools through which the axial part or parts of the channel :termed the 1t8al4e/1) make their path. 4here the thalweg suddenly enters a pool there is a drop in stream power and a subaqueous sand delta, termed a braid bar, is built out. 1iven time, sufficient sediment, and the right flow conditions, this delta may completely infill the pool with a single set of cross-strata . # second important way in which cross-bedding forms is seen in channels. # channel may be infilled by cross-bedding paralleling the channel margin. #lternatively cross-bed deposition occurs on the inner curves of meandering channels synchronous with erosion on the outer curve. # third important variety of cross-bedding is that formed by antidunes in upper flow regime conditions. .t has been pointed out that at very high current velocities sand dunes develop that migrate upcurrent . These deposit upcurrent dipping foresets. The foresets of these antidunes, as they are called, are seldom preserved. #s the current wanes prior to net sedimentation, antidunes tend to be obliterated as the bed form changes to a plane bed or dunes.

T#3* #+ $ #'#+ %+)SS 3(,,.'1

T+)*1& %+)SS 3(,,.'1 The term 8u!!o <y ross5strati6i ation was first applied by &arms :7>?=; to a particularly distinctive type of cross-bedding. (ach unit contains several sets of irregular convex-up cross-beds, some 7@-7= cm thick :-ig. =.88;. &ummocky cross-bedding tends to occur in regular sequences about @.= m thick :,ott and 3ourgeois, 7>A8, 7>AB;. The base of each unit is generally a planar erosional surface with a lag gravel, often with bioclasts. The upper contact is sharp or gradational.

Cross5la!ination and ross5.eddin/

%ross-stratification forms either a single set or several/many sets :then termed a coset; within one bed . )n si!e alone, the two principal types of crossstratification are cross-lamination, where the set height is less than C cm and the thickness of the cross-laminae is only a few millimetres, and cross-bedding, where the set height is generally greater than C cm and the individual cross-beds are many millimetres to 7 cm or more in thickness. +ipples are a wave-like bed form that occurs in fine sands sub"ected to gentle traction currents. /igrating ripples deposit cross-laminated sediment. .ndividual cross-laminated sets seldom exceed 8-B cm in thickness, in contrast to crossbedding, which is normally D=@ cm thick. .t is hard to define arbitrarily the set height that separates cross-lamination from cross-bedding. .n practice, the problem seldom arises,

because sets =-=@ cm thick are rare in nature. +ipple marking in modern and ancient sediments has attracted the interest of many geologists.

,IE%D 'CCURRENCE AND '-SER0ANCE

+ipples, however, and the cross-lamination they give rise to, are commonly produced by local flow directions which do not reflect the regional palaeoslope. .n turbidite beds, for example, cross-lamination within the bed may vary considerably in orientation and differ substantially from the palaeocurrent direction recorded by the sole structures. The crosslamination forms when the turbidity current has slowed down and is wandering or meandering across the seafloor. .n spite of their shortcomings, if there is no other, more suitable directional structure present :cross-bedding or sole structures;, it is always worth recording the orientation of the ripples and cross-lamination. 4ave-formed ripples are small-scale structures which record local shoreline trends and wind directions9 their crest orientation should be measured, or if visible the direction of dip of internal cross-lamination Simplest of all are the straight-crested ripples9 these include ripples with both symmetric and asymmetric profiles. Strai/8t5 rested or re tilinear ripples can be traced laterally for many times further than their wavelength. They are oriented perpendicular to the direction of wave or current movement that generates them. Sinuous ripples show continuous but slightly undulating crest lines. The second main group of ripples, as seen in plan, are those whose crest lengths are generally shorter than their wavelength. These are exclusively asymmetric current ripples. Two important varieties can be recogni!ed. %unate ripples have an arcuate crest, which is convex upcurrent. %in/uoid ripples have an arcuate crest, which is convex down current.

# third main group of ripples can be recogni!ed from their appearance in plan. These are interference ripples, which, as their name suggests, consist of two obliquely intersecting sets of ripple crests. .nterference ripples result from the modification of one ripple train due to one set of conditions by a later train, generated by waves or currents with a different orientation. +ipples occur today in many different environments, ranging from the backs of eolian sand dunes, through rivers and deltas, to the ocean bed. .t has already been pointed out that ripples are closely related to a given set of flow conditions and that these may be encountered in diverse environments.

#'ST DE#'SITI'NA% SEDIMENATRY STRUCTURES

The third main group of sedimentary structures is a result of deformation. These may be termed post depositional because, obviously, they can only form after a sediment has been laid down. # great variety of deformational structures exist, many of which are ill defined and strangely named.

Slu!ps and Slides

Slump structures, involve the penecontemporaneous plastic deformation of sand and mud. Slump folds, however, commonly show clear evidence of extensive lateral movement in a consistent direction. 4here a sediment mass is internally deformed during downslope movement, then the term slump is more appropriate. # slumped mass typically shows folding9 recumbent folds, asymmetric anticlines and synclines, and thrust folds are common, on all scales. -.( , )%%*++('%( #', )3(S(+3#'%( Slump folds are commonly associated with penecontemporaneous faulting and with ma"or lowangle !ones of decollement termed <slide planes.< arge masses of sediments are lat erally displaced along slide surfaces. .n rare, but fascinating cases, the top of a slump bed may be covered by volcanoes of sand complete with axial vents and bedded cones. These are formed from sand carried up during dewatering of the slump after it came to rest.