 As mentioned, all sedimentary rocks originate in some manner

by deposition of sediment through the agencies of water, wind,

or ice. They are the product of a complex, sequential succession
of geologic processes that begin with formation of source rocks
through intrusion, metamorphism, volcanism, and tectonic uplift.
Physical, chemical, and biologic processes subsequently play
important roles in determining the final sedimentary product.
Weathering causes the physical and chemical breakdown of
source rocks, leading to concentration of resistant particulate
residues (mainly silicate mineral and rock fragments) and
formation of secondary minerals such as clay minerals and iron
oxides.
 The processes of terrestrial explosive volcanism and rock
decomposition owing to weathering generate gravel- to mud-size
particles that are either individual mineral grains or aggregates of
minerals (rock fragments or clasts). The minerals are mainly
silicates such as quartz, feldspars, and micas. The rock fragments
are clasts of igneous, metamorphic, or older sedimentary rock
that are also composed dominantly of silicate minerals. Further,
fine-grained secondary minerals, particularly iron oxides and
clay minerals, are generated at weathering sites by recombination
and crystallization of chemical elements released from parent
rocks during weathering. These land-derived minerals and rock
fragments are subsequently transported as solids to depositional
basins. Because of their largely extrabasinal origin and the fact
that most of the particles are silicates, we commonly refer to them
as terrigenous siliciclastic grains, although some pyroclastic
particles may originate within depositional basins. These
 siliciclastic grains are the constituents that make up common
sandstones, conglomerates, and shales.
 Minerals precipitated from pore waters within the sedimentary
pile during burial diagenesis constitute a fourth category of
constituents. These secondary, or authigenic, constituents may
include silicateminerals such as quartz, feldspars, clay minerals,
and glauconite and nonsilicate minerals such as calcite, gypsum,
barite, and hematite. Theymay be added during burial to any type
of sedimentary rock but are never the dominant constituents of
sedimentary rocks.
 Owing to the wide variety of igneous, metamorphic, and
sedimentary rocks that may constitute source materials for
detrital sediment, sandstones could theoretically contain an
extensive suite of major minerals. The fact that they do not can
be attributed to the processes of chemical weathering and
physical and chemical attack during transport, deposition, and
burial that tend to destroy or degrade chemically unstable and
mechanically weak sand-size grains. Thus, the framework grains
of most sandstones are composed predominantly (commonly >
90 percent) of quartz, feldspars, and rock fragments. Clay
minerals may be abundant in some sandstones as matrix
constituents; however, the detrital origin of such clay minerals is
often difficult to establish. Coarse micas, especially muscovite,
make up a few percent of the framework grains of many
sandstones. Finally, heavy minerals may constitute a small
percentage of the detrital constituents of sandstones, particularly
the chemically stable heavy minerals such as zircon, tourmaline,
and rutile.
 Clay minerals are common in sandstones as matrix constituents.
They occur also within argillaceous rock fragments. Because of
their fine grain size, clay minerals cannot easily be identified
under the petrographic microscope. Accurate identification
requires X-ray diffraction methods or use of the scanning
electron microscope or the electron probe microanalyzer.
Therefore, clay minerals are rarely identified during routine
petrographic study of sandstones. In most cases, they are simply
lumped together with fine-size (< 0.03 mm) quartz, feldspars, and
micas as “matrix.” Furthermore, there is growing evidence that
much of the matrix of sandstones may be authigenic, derived
during diagenesis by chemical precipitation of clay minerals into
pore space or alteration of framework grains to clays.
 Authigenic minerals are minerals that form in place within
sediments either shortly after deposition, while sediment is still
in an unconsolidated state, or during burial and diagenesis. They
may include minerals from most of the major mineral groups:
quartz and the other silica minerals, feldspars, carbonates, iron
silicates (glauconite and chamosite), clay minerals, iron and
manganese oxides, sulfides, and sulfates. They can occur as
cements, crystallize in pore space as new minerals that do not act
as cements, or form by replacement of original detrital minerals
or rock fragments.
 The most common matrix minerals in sandstones are fine silica
minerals, feldspars, micas, clay minerals, and chlorite. Matrix
may make up trace amounts to a few tens of percent of the total
rock volume. Siliciclastic rocks that contain more matrix-size
 material than framework grains are generally considered to be
shales or mudrocks.
 Cements are authigenic minerals that fill interstitial areas that
were originally open pore spaces. Cement crystals may be any
size up to or larger than the sizes of the individual pores they fill.
A single crystal of calcite, for example, can fill several adjacent
pores. Cements visible under a petrographic microscope rarely
make up more than about 30 percent of the total volume of
sandstones and commonly are much less abundant. Several
minerals may act as cements in sandstones; however, clay
minerals, carbonate minerals, and quartz are particularly
common cements.
 Alteration of framework grains during diagenesis may also
produce significant amounts of clay matrix and cement.
Alteration takes place mainly by dissolution and replacement of
framework grains, and the alteration products are reconstituted
as clay minerals, chlorite, micas, and fine quartz and feldspar. In
particular, the matrix in so-called graywackes is now believed to
be largely authigenic.
 The shapes of the small particles that make up mudstones, unlike
the shapes of sand-size and larger particles, are little modified by
sediment erosion and transport. For example, Kuenen (1959,
1960) demonstrated that very small quartz particles (< ~ 0.1mm)
do not become rounded very effectively by any type of eolian or
stream transport. Therefore, the shapes of fine-silt- and clay-size
particles in mudstones reflect mainly the original shapes of the
detrital particles, largely unmodified by transport abrasion, or
they reflect the shapes of minerals generated during diagenesis.
 Thus, most particles in mudstones are very angular. Many
particles, especially clay minerals and fine micas, have very low
sphericity. Electron microscopy (e.g. Sudo et al., 1981) reveals
that most clay minerals have platy, flaky, or acicular shapes (e.g.
Fig. 6.2).
 Note that the average contents of quartz in the shales listed in this
table range from about 15 to 54 percent. Average values of
feldspar (K-feldspar plus plagioclase) content range from less
than 1 percent to more than 15 percent. Average clay-mineral
abundances range between about 17 and 57 percent. The
abundances of calcite, dolomite, siderite, and pyrite, which are
secondary minerals (cements and replacement minerals), are
relatively low in most shales.
 Mineral composition may vary also owing to tectonic setting or
depositional environment. For example, Bhatia (1985) reports
that quartz ranges from a low of 17 percent in passive margin
shales to as much as 46 percent in shales deposited in oceanic
island arcs, whereas clay mineral abundance ranges from 20
percent in oceanic island-arc shales to more than 75 percent in
passive-m argin shale s. Blatt and Totten ( 1981 ) report
significant variationin the quartz content of marine shales as a
function of distance from shoreline 47 percent quartz at a
distance of 60 km from shore versus 11 percent quartz at a
distance of 270 km. Because so many different factors may affect
the mineral composit ion of muds tones and shales, it is difficult
to general ize about thei r average compo sition. Many additional
data are needed to better define their bulk mineralogy. The values
shown in Table 6.3 suggest, however, that the average quartz
 content of muds tones and shales may be about 35 percent,
average feldspar content about 5 percent, and a verage clay-
mineral content approximately 35 percent. Note, however, that
clay minerals make up nearly half of the minerals in some muds
tones and shales.
 Because clay minerals form such a significant fraction of most
mudstones and shales, some additional discussion of the clay
minerals is desirable. Clay minerals belong to the group of
silicate minerals known as phyllosilicates. They are characterized
particula rly by SiO4 4− ionic groups in combination with
metallic cations. The SiO4 4− g roups consist of a silicon atom
surrounded by four oxygen atoms in a tetrahedral configuration.
Therefore, they are called silica tetrahedra or silicon –oxygen
tetrahedra. Silica tetrahedra can be linked together to form
indefinitely extending tetrahedra l sheets.