Geology: Sedimentary Rocks

Lecture 1: Historical Geology and the study of sedimentary systems

Why are Sedimentary rocks Important?

All oil, gas and coal deposits and many
ore deposits occur in sedimentary rocks Sedimentary rocks are important building materials. Sedimentary rocks provide us with the best window into the past. - the past may allow us to predict the future. Sedimentary rocks constitute 75% of the earth's surface

What are Sedimentary Rocks

Rocks formed at low temperature and pressure. Sedimentary rocks are composed of either:
particles derived from pre-existing rocks (we call these detrital or clastic sedimentary rocks) rocks precipitated from water by chemical or biochemical processes.

Sedimentary rocks are characterized by being

layered.
The layers are like pages in book and eventually you will be able to read the layers in sedimentary rocks like pages in a book.

Some Definitions
Sedimentology is the study of sedimentary rocks and,
in particular how they form. Stratigraphy is the science of rock strata. The distinction between sedimentology and stratigraphy has become blurred. Sedimentary petrography is the description and classification of sedimentary rocks. The word petrography suggests the study is done using the petrographic microscope. Although a microscope is invaluable in many studies, a simple hand lens is adequate for many studies whereas for other studies sophisticated instruments such as a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) may be required. Sedimentary petrology is the study of the composition and origin of sedimentary rocks.

A Brief History of Rock Classification

Dark ages to mid - 18th century: strict
interpretation of Book of Genesis Leonard Da Vinci - 1500: recognized fossils were remains of animals Robert Hooke (1650's) used microscope to study fossils; suggested fossils useful for dating rocks

Nicolas Steno (1669)

A Danish cleric who, as a result of his
studies around Rome devised:
Principal of superposition Principal of original horizontality principal of stratal continuity

Principal of superposition
In a sequence of strata, any stratum is
younger than the sequence of strata on which it rests, and is older than the strata that rest upon it.
"...at the time when any given stratum was being formed, all the matter resting upon it was fluid, and, therefore, at the time when the lower stratum was being formed, none of the upper strata existed."

Principle of original horizontality

Strata are deposited horizontally
and then deformed to various attitudes later.
"Strata either perpendicular to the horizon or inclined to the horizon were at one time parallel to the horizon."

Principal of Stratal Continuity

Strata can be assumed to have
continued laterally far from where they presently end.
"Material forming any stratum were continuous over the surface of the Earth unless some other solid bodies stood in the way."

Later developments
Giovanni Ardvino (1714-1795) divided rocks into:
Primary Secondary Tertiary Alluvium

Johann Lehmann (1719-1767) recognized:

Primitive rocks Layered rocks Alluvium

Abraham Werner (leader of the Neptunists), believed in all encompassing

ocean which gradually receded to present position, depositing rocks as it receded
primitive (primary precipitates) transitional stratified (secondary, fossiliferous) alluvial volcanic

Neptunists and Plutonists

Late 1700s there were 2 schools of
thought:
All rocks were deposited from water (Neptunists) Some rocks were originally molten (Plutonists)

Neptunism: Abraham Werner

leader of the Neptunists believed in all encompassing ocean which
gradually receded to present position, depositing rocks as it receded:
primitive (primary precipitates) transitional stratified (secondary, fossiliferous) alluvial volcanic

Plutonism: James Hutton

(1727-1797) led the Plutonists Was a Scot gentlemen farmer who made
field observations and popularized the concept of uniformitarianism believed-- crystalline rocks were once molten; earth surface is dynamic

The Principal of Uniformitarianism

Late 1700s, prevailing view was that
Earth was created through supernatural means and had been affected by a series of catastrophic events such as the biblical Flood.

Hutton, 1785; Whewell 1832 contested

that
Earth had a long history that can be interpreted in terms of processes currently observed.

Uniformitarianism: the present is the key to the past

William Smith (1769-1839)

English engineer/surveyor
produced maps of parts of England and Wales resulting in his formulation of the law of faunal succession (early 1800)

Law of Faunal Succession

Where there are many layers of rock, certain "assemblages" (associated groups) of fossils are found in rock that's closer to the surface (younger) and other assemblages are found in rock below those layers.

Charles Lyell (1797-1875)

wrote "Principles of Geology" published in
1830 Promoted the case for "uniformitarianism ... present is the key to the past. Grouped rocks into periods separated by cataclysmic events. The father of modern Geology

Walther (1894): Law of facies correlation

The various deposits of the same faciesarea and similarly the sum of the rocks of different facies areas are formed beside each other in space though in cross section we see them lying on top of each other.

Walthers Law

Vertical succession of deposits reflect the lateral distribution of environments

The Early 20th Century

Geologic time scale developed Depositional environments recognized Basic concepts of stratigraphy, including
the distinction between
rock-, fossil- and time-correlation

Mid- 20th Century

Petrographic studies Flow and sediment transport Comparison of processes depositing
sediments in modern environments with variations in ancient rocks Facies models

Late 20th Century

Large-scale stratal geometry observed in
seismic Analysis of genetically related depositional units Process models for stratigraphic-scale depositional systems

Summary
Considerable time has been devoted to
the understanding of how sedimentary rocks relate to each other and to environments. We are now in a position to examine these rocks and understand part of the story they have to tell.

Examining Sedimentary Rocks

Summary so far
We have looked at the primary types of
sedimentary rocks We have also discussed their economic value We have looked at some of the environments they may occur in.

How do sedimentary rocks form?

Erosion Transport Deposition
Terrestrial processes Rivers, Lakes, Deltas, Fans

Precipitation Marine/ groundwater processes

Sea, Lakes, Cave systems

Erosion
Freeze-thaw action of ice Mechanical breakdown Chemical breakdown

Transport
In a fluid Air Water Grain size will determine how far material
is transported Flow velocity will determine how far material is transported

Deposition
Deposited in layers (strata) Layers are progressively younger towards
the top of a succession Different environments will produce different layering patterns

Quiet environment: thin beds or laminae Energetic environment: thicker beds,

coarser brained

Recognizing sedimentary rocks

Stratification visible
Bedding Lamination

Fossils present Grains or pebbles visible Sedimentary minerals (e.g. glauconite)

present Sedimentary structures visible on bedding planes

Revision: main sedimentary types

Terrigenous
Sandstones, conglomerates, mudrocks

Marine
Limestones & Dolomites

Others
Evaporites Ironstones Cherts Phosphates Organics.

Finding out the history of clastic sedimentary rocks

Textural Analysis

Texture of Sedimentary Rocks Part 1

Reflects the processes of deposition

Aspects of textural analysis

Grain Size Grain Morphology Grain Surface Texture Sedimentary Fabric (grains put together)

Grain Size
Defined by
UddenWentworth diagram

Assessing Grain Size Distributions

Plot histogram of number of grains of a given
size range against all size ranges

Grain Size Analysis

Histogram may be:

Unimodal Bimodal Polymodal

Sorting

Sorting:

Measure of the standard deviation of the distribution

Sorting gauge

 Sorting shows how effective the

depositional medium (gravity, water, wind) is in separating grains of different size.
Desert: good sorting. Glacier: very poor.

Factors involved:
Source. Grain size. Depositional mechanism.

Good sorting

Poor Sorting

Skewness
Symmetry about the mean grain size
distribution
E.g. beach deposition tends to be negative: waves
winnow the fine particles

Grain Size Trends

Deposition over large area often shows a
trend
Deltas: finer grained seawards Rivers: finer grained downstream Sea: continental shelf deposition

Graded Bedding
Coarse base g fine top.
Decelerating flow (e.g. turbidity currents). Common.

Fine base g coarse top.

Reverse/ inverted grading : uncommon. E.g. Delta deposits.

Graded bedding

Grain Morphology
Shape
Measured in x,y,z dimensions

Sphericity
How closely the grain approximates a sphere

Roundness
Degree of curvature of grain corners N.B. High roundness does NOT necessarily imply
high sphericity

Form & Sphericity

Roundness/ Angularity
defined as the average radius of curvature
of corners (ri in figure) to that of the largest inscribing circle (R in figure). As you can see, very tricky.

Well rounded, well sorted

Roundness & Angularity

Poorly rounded, poorly sorted

 Roundness influenced by:

Mineralogy
(e.g. mica breaks down easily)

Source Rock:
weathered material often well rounded before transport begins (e.g. Causeway basalts)

Degree of abrasion suffered during transport Post depositional chemical attack

Degree of roundness reflects duration of

transport

Angularity Classification

Grain Surface Texture

Useful in inferring mechanism of transport:
E.g. Striations on pebble surface : scratched during ice
transport. Impact marks on pebbles: common in beach and river channel deposits.

Sedimentary Fabric
Preferred orientation of grains: usually
aligned parallel to water flow direction : Palaeocurrent Indicator.

PREFERRED ORIENTATION OF GRAINS

Packing: how well the grains are packed together.

Packing

affects
Well

porosity and permeability.

sorted sand: lot of spaces after packing: good porosity. sorted sand smaller particles fill voids lower porosity and K.
Poorly

CUBIC PACKING RHOMBOHAEDRAL PACKING (48% POROSITY) (26% POROSITY)

Grain Contacts/ Fabrics

Concavo-convex.
Well packed.

Sutured.
Point contacts: dissolution. Increased burial causes further penetration of point contacts.

Types of grain contacts

POINT CONTACTS

CONCAVO-CONVEX CONTACTS

SUTURED CONTACTS

Support

GRAIN-SUPPORTED FABRIC

MATRIX-SUPPORTED FABRIC

Matrix and Cement

Very important to distinguish these:
Cement: chemically precipitated Matrix: mechanically deposited (e.g. clay infills)

Matrix & The ability of rocks to store (porosity) and Cement transmit (permeability) fluids is one of the
most important properties of sediments in economic and engineering terms. At deposition, sediments are extremely porous with very high volumes of voids (space) per unit volume of sediment. Cementation: Reduces porosity and permeability.

Common cements: Calcite, silica, iron oxides .

Matrix & Cement

Infilling: Pore space is infilled by finer sediments:

both porosity and permeability are reduced dramatically.

Clean sands free from fines (silt and clay) make the best aquifers and reservoir rocks. Dirty sands have the porosity plugged by fine particles.

Matrix & Cement

Estimating Textural Maturity

Immature
Poor sorting Angular grains High matrix content

Mature
No matrix Moderate-good sorting Degree of rounding

Supermature
No matrix Very good sorting High degree of roundness

 Both porosity and K increase with textural

maturity Textural maturity reflects depositional processes
Little current activity: immature sed (glaciers, some
rivers) High current activity: mature (deserts, beaches)

Composition
Also indicates textural maturity: TRANSPORT BREAKS SOFTER
GRAINS DOWN SO:
Mature: high quartz content, low lithics, feldspar, micas etc.