Sedimentary Rocks

Deposited on or Near Surface of Earth by

Mechanical or Chemical Processes

What Rocks Tell Us

Rock Type
Igneous

Sedimentary

How Classified
Composition
Texture
Chemical
Composition
Grain Size

Composition
Metamorphic

Mineral Makeup
Texture

What it Tells Us
Tectonic Setting
Cooling History
Surface
Environment
Energy of
Environment
Original Rock Type
Temperature,
Pressure
Degree of Change

Types of Sedimentary Rock

Clastic (terrigenous or detrital)

Conglomerate or Breccia
Sandstone
Siltstone
Shale

Chemical/biochemical
Evaporites
Carbonate sedimentary rocks (limestones and
dolostone)
Siliceous sedimentary rocks

Organic (coals)
Other - ironstones

Sedimentary Rocks are the

Principal Repository for
Information About the
Earths Past Environment

Depositional environments in ancient sediments are

recognized using a combination of sedimentary facies,
sedimentary structures and fossils

Environmental Clues in
Sedimentary Rocks

Grain Size - Power of Transport Medium

Grading - Often Due to Floods
Rounding
Transport, Reworking
Sorting
Cross-bedding - Wind, Wave or Current
Action

Environmental Clues in
Sedimentary Rocks
Fossils
Salt Water - Corals, Echinoderms
Fresh Water - Insects, Amphibians
Terrestrial - Leaves, Land Animals

Color And Chemistry

Red Beds - Often Terrestrial
Black Shale - Oxygen Poor, Often Deep Water
Evaporites Arid Climates

Sedimentary Rocks
Clastic Rocks
Made of Fragmentary
Material
Deposited by
Water (Most
Common)
Wind
Glacial Action
Gravity

Biochemical
Sedimentary Rocks
Evaporation
Precipitation
Biogenic Sediments

Clasts (larger pieces, such as sand or

gravel)
Clasts and matrix
(labelled),
and iron oxide
cement
(reddish brown
color)

Terrigenous (also called detrital or clastic)

Terrigenous
sedimentary rocks
are classified
according to their
texture (grain size):
Gravel:
Grain size greater than 2 mm
1. If rounded clasts = conglomerate
2. If angular clasts = breccia

Sandstones

Conglomerates

Rounded fragments

Breccia

Angular fragments

CLASTIC ROCKS
Formed from broken rock fragments
weathered and eroded by river, glacier, wind
and sea waves. These clastic sediments are
found deposited on floodplains, beaches, in
desert and on the sea floors.
(mudstone)

solidify

Clastic rocks

Clastic rocks are classified on the basis of the grain

size: conglomerate, sandstone, shale etc.

Clastic Rocks
Classified by:
Grain Size
Grain Composition
Texture

Degree of roundness helps in knowing the

distance of transportation (method of erosion)
Angular clasts- short distance transport from the source
Rounded clasts- long distance transport

Sediment Sizes and Clastic

Rock Types
Rock Type

Sediment

Grain Size

Shale

Clay

less than 0.001 mm

Siltstone

Silt

.001-0.1 mm

Sandstone

Sand

.01-1 mm

Conglomerate Gravel

1mm +

Sedimentary rocks made of silt- and clay-sized

particles are collectively called mudrocks, and are
the most abundant sedimentary rocks.

Bedding or Stratification
Almost Always Present in Sedimentary
Rocks
Originally Horizontal
Tilting by Earth Forces Later
Variations in Conditions of Deposition
Size of Beds (Thickness)
Usually 1-100 Cm
Can Range From Microscopic to 50m

GRADED BEDDING

Fine gravelly lithounit

Medium-coarse sandy
lithounit (cross stratified)

Laminated layers of fine silt and clay

Cross-stratified sst.
Paleo-flow from
right to left

Ripple marks

Mud cracks

Biogenic structures

Foot prints

Diagenesis
Compaction
+
Cementing
Quartz
Calcite
Iron Oxide
Clay
Glauconite
Feldspar

Alteration
Limestone - Dolomite
Plagioclase Albite
Recrystallization
Limestone
Diagenesis is any chemical, physical,
or biological change undergone by a
sediment after its initial deposition and
during and after its lithification.

Cementation
Clastic particles ranging from siltsize to boulder-size may be
deposited on the sea floor. As
they are buried, ion-laden sea
water may deposit minerals in
the pore spaces between the
grains, thus effectively
cementing them together. By
this process the sediments
become rocks such as
siltstone, sandstone and
conglomerate.

Compaction
Clastic particles smaller than
silt, such as mud are deposited
on the sea floor. As they are
buried, the weight of overlying
sediments presses downward
on the mud particles and
compacts them, resulting in the
formation of rocks such as
claystone,mudstone or shale.

TYPES OF SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Clastic rocks

Chemical & Organic rocks

Sandstones
Conglomerates
Breccia
Shale/mudstones

Evaporites rocks
These rocks are formed
due to evaporation of saline
water (sea water)
eg. Gypsum, Halit
(rock salt)

Carbonate rocks

Organic rocks

Form basically from

CaCO3 both by
chemical leaching and
by organic source
(biochemical)
eg.
Limestone; dolomite

Form due to
decomposition of
organic remains
under temperature
and pressure eg.
Coal/Lignite etc.

Chemical Sediments
Evaporites -Water
Soluble
Halite
Gypsum
Calcite
Precipitates
Example: Ca(sol'n) +
SO4 (Sol'n) = CaSO4
Gypsum
Limestone
Iron Formations

Alteration After
Deposition
Dolomite
Biogenic Sediments
Limestone - Shells,
Reefs, Etc.
Organic Remains
Coal
Petroleum

EVAPORITIC ROCKS
These rocks are formed within the a depositional basin
from chemical substances dissolved in the seawater or
lake water.

Gypsum

CaSO4.2H20

Halite

(NaCl)

Economic importance of Evaporites

SALT: other then daily use of salt for cooking,

it is used
For production of Paper,
Soap
Detergents
Antiseptics
As chemical for dyeing etc.

GYPSUM:

is used for plaster and in

manufacturing construction materials.

Biogenic Sediments
Chalk: which is made up of foraminefera is very fine grained

Non-Clastic
Sedimentary
Particles I
Broken fragments of
calcite, mostly from
algae. Shallow sub
tidal sediments from
the Yucatan,
Holocene.

Chalk

Largest fragments are about 1 mm in length.

Biogenic Sediments
Non-Clastic Sedimentary Particles
Broken shell fragments of calcite
frombivalve molluscs. These shell
fragments accumulated on a beach
and are cemented together.

This rock is almost

100 percent shell fragments,
and is therefore called a coquina.
Largest fragments about 2 cm in length.

CARBONATE ROCKS
Limestone: It is a non-clastic rock
formed either chemically or due to
precipitation of calcite (CaCO3) from
organisms usually (shell). These
remains will result in formation of a
limestone.
Limestones formed by chemical precipitation are usually fine
grained, whereas, in case of organic limestone the grain size
vary depending upon the type of organism responsible for the
formation
Fossiliferous Limestone: which medium to coarse grained, as it is
formed out of cementation of Shells.

COALS: Organic Remains

Coals are carbon-rich rocks that are composed of the
altered remains of woody plant debris.
The two principal types of coals are:
lignite (brown coal): composed
of loosely bound (friable) organic
detritus, including some clearly
recognizable plant remains
bituminous coal: highly compacted
black coal composed of
recrystallized carbon

Coal Seams, Utah

 Delta, continental environments

Carbonized Woody Material
Often fossilized trees, leaves
present
Coal Formation

Plant Fragments Are Often

Visible in Coal

Characteristics and names of some common clastic sedimentary rocks.

Particle Size

Rock Name

Rock Characteristics

mud
(see below)

Shale

smooth feel, layered appearance

mud
(mud sized particles:
< 0.063 mm)

Mudstone

smooth feel, massive to layer

silt
(silt sized particles:
0.063 - 0.004 mm)

Siltstone

slightly gritty feel, may have

layered appearance

sand
(sand-sized particles:
0.0625-2.0 mm)

Sandstone

granules, pebbles,
cobbles, boulders
(granule to boulder
sized particles:
2 mm - > 256 mm)

Conglomerate

large rounded fragments composed of older rock

materials

granules, pebbles,
cobbles, boulders
(granule to boulder sized
particles:
2 mm - > 256 mm)

Breccia

large angular fragments composed of

older rock materials

rough gritty feel, constituent grains clearly visible,

including quartz, feldspar, other minerals, and rock
fragments.

Characteristics of common non-clastic sedimentary rocks that will not react with dilute HCl.

Grain size

very fine
grained:
can't see
constituent
particles with
naked eye

variable grain
size

Rock Name

Rock Characteristics

Chert

hard, scratches glass,

typically white, green, or
red; tends to have
conchoidal fracture

Rock Gypsum

soft, can be scratched with

fingernail;
may be translucent or
opaque

Characteristics of common non-clastic sedimentary rocks that will react with dilute HCl.
Grain Size

Rock Name

Rock Characteristics

very fine grained, can't make

out particles with naked eye

Chalk

Pure white, powdery, light-weight, will write on

sidewalks or walls

variable in grain size

Limestone

dense and soft, with a crystalline

or dull (earthy) luster

medium grained, particles

commonly visible with naked
eye

Coquina

fragments of fossils, usually

shells of invertebrates

Fossil Limestone

dense and soft, may be

crystalline or dull, with visible fossils, such as
snail or
clam shells or other taxa

variable in grain size

Sedimentary Rock

Review Of Sedimentary Processes

This chart is a review of the various steps involved in the
formation of sedimentary rocks that have been discussed
above.

Landforms Associated with

Sedimentary Rocks
Mesa
Flat-topped hill capped
with hard rock
Cuesta
Gently-tilted layer of
hard rock: Door
Peninsula
The gentle upper slope,
on top of the layer is
called the dip slope
Hogback
A sharp ridge of hard
rock, edge of a steeplydipping layer

Mesas, Utah

Grandfather Bluff, Wisconsin

Cuestas, Wyoming

A Hogback, Wyoming

Flatirons, Boulder, Colorado

Garden of the Gods, Colorado