EPS 455, Fall, Lab 1, p.

1
Depositional Environments and Sequence Stratigraphy
Lab 1 Grain-Size Analysis
Purpose
This lab will provide students with a chance to work with grain-size data from a modern
environment. The idea is to learn how these data can be used to help infer simple
sediment transport mechanisms and pathways.
Background Material
The raser !elta is building out into the deep "#$%% m& 'trait of (eorgia on )anada*s
west coast. The delta is formed of sand and mud that was deposited by the raser +iver
as it empties into the strait. ,ery fine-grained sand and mud is carried out into the strait
in suspension at all times of the year- whereas fine- and coarser-grained sand is
transported "as bedload& out of the river mouth only during snowmelt-derived high spring
discharges. .pon leaving the confines of the river- the relatively warm river water
spreads out as a buoyant /plume0 a few meters thick over the denser "colder and salty&
water of the 'trait of (eorgia. The plume can be recognized at least $% km from the river
mouth by its colour "light tan- as compared to the blue marine waters& but eventually it
becomes mi1ed into the ambient waters by waves and friction
2s part of a research program to understand the sedimentary dynamics of the submarine
portions of the delta- a sedimentary geologist collected marine geophysical and
geological data on a series of cruises aboard research vessels. This research program
included the collection of cores from the seafloor and bathymetric surveying. The part of
P a r 1 8
P a r 1 7
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igure 1. 'tudy area- showing bathymetry and location of coring sites. The dark line e1tending
seaward from the river mouth is the location of a submarine channel- identified from marine surveying.
EPS 455, Fall, Lab 1, p.3
the survey area immediately seaward of the river mouth is shown "schematically& in
igure 1.
our coring sites are shown on the map. !escriptions of the cores are as follows4
Table 1
)ore 5ater !epth !escription
,ec67 67 m Thin- to medium-bedded sand interbedded with
thin bedded muds
Par17 189 m :omogeneous mud
Par33 389 m Thin bedded sand and medium bedded mud
Par18 $99 m :omogeneous mud
The ,ec67 core is representative of other cores within about a 1 km radius of the river
mouth. The Par17 core is representative of cores on the flanks of the channel between
;1%%m to 39%m depth. The Par33 core was taken near the base of a submarine channel
that was identified during the surveying. The Par18 core was taken about 3% km from the
river mouth- well away from the base of the submarine channel. +epeat hydrographic
surveys near the river mouth "i.e.- at the top of the submarine channel& show that this area
is prone to submarine landslides every few years.
The cores were subsampled for grain-size analysis. This entailed taking about 19 g of
sediment from selected intervals in the core then separating the sand and mud fractions
by wet sieving. The sand fraction was analysed using a sedimentation column
1
- and the
mud fraction was analysed using a laser particle counter. +esults of the two analyses
were then merged to yield a final grain-size distribution for the sub-sample.
The 2ssignment
1& )umulative curves for grain-size distributions of /typical0 subsamples from each of
the cores are presented on the pages attached at the back of this e1ercise. or each
subsample- derive the graphic mean "Mz&- median "Md& and sorting "& using the
following e<uations4
Mz = "1> ? 9% ? 86&@$
Md = 9%
= "86 - 1>&@6 ? "A9 - 9&@>.>
where n is the phi value "read off the graph& corresponding to the nth percentile.
)haracterize the sorting of each sample using the classification presented in Table 3.
1
Bn a sedimentation column- sand is introduced to the top of a water-filled column of known temperature.
The sand descends through the water and accumulates on a plate at the base of the column that is linked to
a scale. .sing knowledge of the settling velocities of different sizes "assuming they are <uartz spheres&- it
is possible to convert the accumulation rate on the scale into a weight per size class.
EPS 455, Fall, Lab 1, p.$
!escription
# 6.% C1tremely poorly sorted
3.%-6.% ,ery poorly sorted
1.%-3.% Poorly sorted
.71 D 1.% Moderately sorted
.9% - .71 Moderately well sorted
.$9 - .9% 5ell sorted
E .$9 ,ery well sorted
Table 3
'orting classification scale "from olk- 1A8%&
3& !ownload the C1cel spreadsheet with the data for these samples and make histograms
of the grain-size distributions. !o you notice anything about the histograms that should
concern you about the use of the statistical measures used in Fuestion 1G
$& Plot each sample on the )-M diagram below. !oes this diagram help you to interpret
the depositional environmentG ":int4 you will need to convert the measures into
microns. :ow will you do thisG& !o the suggested environments make sense in terms of
the information presented earlierG
6& .sing the knowledge you have gained above- and what you have learned in class- how
many depositional processes are represented by the samples you analysedG !escribe
these processes with reference to the map "igure 1&.
igure 3. )-M diagram "from Passega- 1A>6- H.'edim.Petrol.-v.$6- p.8$%-867&. Plot each of the samples on
this diagram- and interpret the depositional environment.
EPS 455, Fall, Lab 1, p.6
VEC47_1
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Phi Grain Size
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9% = IIIJ 1> = IIIJ86 = IIIJ 9 = IIIJ A9 = IIIJ 1 = III
EPS 455, Fall, Lab 1, p.9
VEC47_2
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1 3 5 7 9 11 13
Phi Grain Size
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9% = IIIJ 1> = IIIJ86 = IIIJ 9 = IIIJ A9 = IIIJ 1 = III
EPS 455, Fall, Lab 1, p.>
PA17
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1 3 5 7 9 11 13
Phi Grain Size
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m
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l
a
t
i
v
e

P
e
r
c
e
n
t
9% = IIIJ 1> = IIIJ86 = IIIJ 9 = IIIJ A9 = IIIJ 1 = III
EPS 455, Fall, Lab 1, p.7
PA22_1
0
10
20
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1 3 5 7 9 11 13
Phi Grain Size
C
u
m
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l
a
t
i
v
e

P
e
r
c
e
n
t
9% = IIIJ 1> = IIIJ86 = IIIJ 9 = IIIJ A9 = IIIJ 1 = III
EPS 455, Fall, Lab 1, p.8
PA22!2
0
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1 3 5 7 9 11 13
Phi Grain Size
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u
m
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t
i
v
e

P
e
r
c
e
n
t
9% = IIIJ 1> = IIIJ86 = IIIJ 9 = IIIJ A9 = IIIJ 1 = III
EPS 455, Fall, Lab 1, p.A
PA18
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1 3 5 7 9 11 13
Phi Grain Size
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

P
e
r
c
e
n
t
9% = IIIJ 1> = IIIJ86 = IIIJ 9 = IIIJ A9 = IIIJ 1 = III