Facies: part of a rock body that

has characteristics from which

we can infer the depositional
environment.

Sedimentary Facies
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lacles are dened by: sedlmenL Lype, Lype of sedlmenLary
sLrucLures (example: rlpples) and someumes Lhelr fossll conLenL

Slnce deposluonal envlronmenLs grade laLerally lnLo oLher
envlronmenLs- facles changes are C8AuuAL
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Turbulent (waves)
High Energy
Environment
RIVER INPUT
All clastic
sediments
have been
deposited
All coarse
sediments
have been
deposited
A coccolithophore: just
one type of CaCO
3

secreting planktonic
creature
Non clastic, biological sediment composed
of CaCO
3
Low Energy Environment
NOTE: this slope is greatly exaggerated
Consider this EXAMPLE of where
sediment is being deposited.
m
u
d
s

s
a
n
d
s

c
o
n
g
lo
m
e
r
a
te
s

c
a
r
b
o
n
a
te
s

HOWEVER:
Lets complicate things

Plot sea level versus time:

Facies SHIFT through time
due to changes in sea level

LOCAL and GLOBAL
(Global = Eustatic)
Facies and
Sea Level
Change
hup://en.wlklpedla.org/wlkl/llle:hanerozolc_Sea_Level.png
Key
Pebbles/
Gravel Sand
Silt
Carbonate
mud
Increasing grain size
Existing
land
surface
Sea Level
Input of
sediment
Facies as Diachronous units
Diachronus = time crossing

Example: with sea level rise
Shore line
T1
NOTE TIME
HORIZON T1
NOTE: Slope GREATLY exaggerated
Sea Level
Input of
sediment
Shore line#
T2
Shore line
T1
Movement of shoreline: TRANSGRESSION
As Before:
- sea level rises
- facies migrate in the
direction of the moving
shoreline.
NOTE TIME
HORIZON T2
Key
Pebbles/
Gravel Sand
Silt
Carbonate
mud
Increasing grain size
Existing
land
surface
Sea Level
Input of
sediment
Shore line#
T2
Shore line
T1
Shore line#
T3
- Sea level continues
to rise.
Movement of shoreline: TRANSGRESSION
NOTE TIME
HORIZON T3
Key
Pebbles/
Gravel Sand
Silt
Carbonate
mud
Increasing grain size
Existing
land
surface
Sea Level
Input of
sediment
Shore line#
T2
Shore line
T1
Shore line#
T3
Shore line#
Today
Movement of shoreline: TRANSGRESSION
Boundaries
between different
sea oors.. T1-T3
Effectively time
horizons (red)
Boundaries
between
different facies
(yellow)
If we just correlated the same sediment TYPE (facies
boundaries. the yellow lines) we would be CROSS
CUTTING the red time lines (T1, T2, T3)
Movement of shoreline: REGRESSION
facies
time
Key
Pebbles/
Gravel Sand
Silt
Carbonate
mud
Increasing grain size
Existing
land
surface
NOTE: Slope GREATLY exaggerated
SO WHAT IS ALL THIS LEADING TO?

We know the following facts:

1. Facies are distributed due to changing conditions of deposition
over the surface of our planet. In our example, shallow high
energy, near shore conditions are characterized by sand.
Deeper, quieter conditions are characterized by ner grained
sediments.

2. As conditions change (such as sea level) facies will appear to
MIGRATE, following their particular environmental conditions.

3. Over time this will lead to patterns of facies as one facies
MIGRATES OVER ANOTHER.
Walthers Law
4. This means that when we recover a vertical
succession of rock (like the one we used in our
example) we can PREDICT the lateral equivalence
of facies #
#
As we go from coarse, near-shore facies at the
bottom of the core to off-shore, deeper water
carbonate sediments at the top of the core, sea
level (in this example) must have been RISING over
time.
#

silts
sands
Conglomerates
silts
sands carbonates
carbonates
silts
sands
carbonates
pebbles
sands
silts
Carbon
-ates

bottom
top
The uneven boundaries between the facies are
an attempt to demonstrate that facies GRADE
into each other just as environments grade into
each other.
Conglomerates
Conglomerates
This is summed up in WALTHERS LAW

Facies that occur in a CONFORMABLE VERTICAL
SUCCESSION of strata, were deposited in laterally adjacent
depositional environments.
and put another way
adjacent sedimentary environments (facies) will end up
overlapping one another over time.
S
ea level fall
Sea level rise
Shore line
Beach
sediments
Near shore
sediments
Off shore
sediments
- Facies occur in ALL sedimentary environments#

- Do not just have to be in a marine environment
to demonstrate migration and Walthers Law