Chapter 5

Sedimentary Environments
Paleogeography
• Reconstruction of ancient
environments from the
stratigraphic record
– Distribution of land and sea
– Identification of localized
environmental features
– Framework for
interpretation of past life
– Employ actualism
 Nonmarine Environments
• Soil
– Loose sediment containing organic matter
and accumulated in contact with atmosphere
– Topsoil
• Upper zone of many soils
• Sand and clay mixed with humus
– Humus
• Organic matter that gives topsoil its dark color
• Derived from decay of plant debris by bacteria
Nonmarine Environments
• Soils
– Type of soil depends on
climatic conditions
• Caliche
– Calcium carbonate
produced by evaporation of
groundwater
• Laterite
– Iron oxide rich soil
produced in moist tropical
regions
Nonmarine Environments
• Burrows
– Plant
– Animal
– Aid in identifying
ancient soils
– “Devil’s corkscrews”
Nonmarine Environments
• Lakes
– Lower elevation, more
likely preservation
– Indicates abundant
precipitation
• Sediments
– Coarsest around lake
margin
– Finest at center
• Often layered
• Freshwater fossils
Nonmarine Environments
• Glaciers
– Indicate cold climates
• Scratches produced
by glacial motion
– Record direction of
motion
Nonmarine Environments
• Till
– Unsorted,
heterogeneous
material
• Tillite
– Lithified till
• Moraine
– Ridges of till plowed
up at the farthest edge
of the glacier
Nonmarine Environments
• Meltwater
– Transports sediments from
glacier
– Forms streams and lakes
• Outwash
– Well-stratified layers of
sediment
• Varve
– Annual layers of alternating
coarse and fine sediments
Nonmarine Environments
• Varves
– Annual record
• Count!
• Dropstones
– Scattered coarse
sediments found in
sediment matrix
– Ice-rafted debris
 Lacustrine Environments (Lakes)
a. May be large or small
b. May be shallow or deep
c. Filled with terrigenous, carbonate, or evaporitic
sediments
d. Sediments are typically fine grained but may
be coarse near the edges
e. Fine sediment and organic matter settling in
some lakes produced laminated oil shales
f. Playa lakes are shallow, temporary lakes that
form in arid regions They periodically dry up as
a result of evaporation
Nonmarine Environments

• Desert soils
– Little organic matter
– Evaporite minerals
• Interior drainage
– Precipitation does
not leave the basin
– Playa lake
• Temporary lakes
• Associated with
evaporites
Nonmarine Environments
• Dunes
– Piles of sand
– < 1% of deserts
– Moves with prevailing
wind direction
– Associated with
deserts and beaches
 Eolian Environments

a. Wind is the agent

of sediment
transport and
deposition
b. Dominated by sand
and silt
c. Common in many
desert regions
 Nonmarine Environments
• Dune migration • Trough cross-
– Moves downwind stratification
– Sands move up and – Direction changes
over top; accumulate with prevailing winds
on downwind side – Beds accumulate on
curved surface cut
through older beds
Nonmarine Environments

• Alluvial fans
– Low, cone-shaped
structures
– Develop where
mountain slope
meets valley floor
– Change in slope
reduces stream
velocity
• Sediments settle out
• Braided streams form
Alluvial Fans
a. Fan-shaped
deposits at base of
mountains.
b. Most common in
arid and semi-arid
regions with rapid
erosion.
c. Sediment is
coarse, poorly-
sorted gravel and
sand.
Nonmarine Environments
• Mudcracks
– Polygonal shape
– Form from alternate
wetting and drying
– Associated with
evaporites
• Halite
• Gypsum
• Anhydrite
Nonmarine Environments

• Waters move from

mountains to sea
through a variety of
depositional
environments
– Braided streams
– Meandering rivers
– Marginal marine
systems
 Fluvial Environments
a. Braided and meandering river and stream
systems
b. River channels, bars, levees, and floodplains
are subenvironments
c. Channel deposits are coarse, rounded gravel,
and sand.
d. Bars are sand or gravel.
e. Levees are fine sand or silt.
f. Floodplains are covered by silt and clay.
 River Features
Main Channel fed by tributaries
 River Features
Erosion dependent on rock type
SEDIMENT TRANSPORT BY STREAMS

Because of the role of rivers in erosion of the continents,

they must also carry this material downstream and finally
to the oceans, in order to remove it from the continents.
Rivers transport erosion products in three ways:

A) In Suspension (clay, silt; kept in suspension by turbulence)

B) In Bedload (Gravel, sand, and silt)
C) In Solution (the components that enter solution during

erosion, dissolved salts)

 River Features
Transport of particles via Gravity
 Stream
Erosion

And

Deposition
 Stream
Erosion
and
Deposition

Upland region
Stream Erosion and Deposition
Alluvial Fans
Stream Erosion and Deposition
Braided Streams
abundant supply of coarse sediment
Stream Erosion and Deposition
Braided Streams
abundant supply of coarse sediment
Nonmarine Environments

• Braided streams
– More sediment
available than the
water can transport
– Forms numerous
channels and bars
Nonmarine Environments

• Point bar
– Slowest flow on inner bend
• Accumulate sands
– Fastest flow on the outer
bank
• Cuts away bank
• Natural levees
– Form during floods
• Coarsest sands deposited
first, then fines
 Rivers

Quic kTime™ and a TIFF (Uncompress ed) dec ompres sor are needed to s ee this pic ture.
Stream Erosion and Deposition
Meandering Streams
Point Bar
Stream Erosion and Deposition
Meandering Streams
Point Bars
Stream Erosion and
Deposition
Meandering Streams
Point Bars
Stream Erosion and
Deposition
Meandering Streams
Flood Plain
Stream Erosion and
Deposition
Meandering Streams
Flood Plain
Stream Erosion and
Deposition
Meandering Streams
Flood Plain
Nonmarine Environments
• Meandering River
– Abundant water
relative to sediment
• Backswamps
– Flood plain
– Mud settles out when
stream overflows
Nonmarine Environments

• Vertical sequence of
accumulation
– Coarse channel
sediments at base
– Fine backswamp
muds at top
• Illustrates Walther’s
Law
 Transitional Depositional
Environments
Environments at or near the transition
between the land and the sea.
1. Deltas
2. Beaches and barrier Islands
3. Lagoons
4. Tidal flats
5. Estuaries
Depositional Environments
 Deltas
a. Fan-shaped accumulations of sediment
b. Formed where a river flows into a standing
body of water, such as a lake or the sea
c. Coarser sediment (sand) tends to be deposited
near the mouth of the river; finer sediment is
carried seaward and deposited in deeper
water.
d. The delta builds seaward (or progrades) as
sediment is deposited at the river mouth.
Marginal Marine

• Delta
– Depositional body of
sand, silt, and clay
formed when river
empties into the sea
– Sediments settle out
in sequence
Marginal Marine

• Delta plain
– Layers of sand and silt
deposited as river nears sea
– Distributary channels
• Separated by levees
• Delta front
– Silt and clay slope deposits
• Prodelta
– Clays often deposited by a
freshwater plume
• Progrades into basin
– Sediments coarsen upward
Marginal Marine
• Mississippi River
Delta
– River dominated delta
– Progrades into Gulf of
Mexico
– Lobes
• Growing portion of the
delta
Marginal Marine

• Mississippi River Delta

– Active lobe
• Growing portion of delta
• Switched lobes in the
past
– Abandoned lobe
• Sediments compact
• Lobe sinks
• New lobe forms on top
Marginal Marine
• Deltaic Cycles
– Sequence of
deposition
– Coarsens upward
– Erosion can remove
tops
 Deltas

Mississippi River delta Niger River delta

Marginal Marine

• Barrier-Island Lagoon
Complex
• Barrier Islands
– Waves and currents pile
up sands
– Longshore Current
• Lagoons
– Protected from strong
waves behind barriers
– Muds and muddy sands
Marginal Marine

• Progradation
– Shoreline builds out
into sea
• High supply of
sediment
– Builds over deeper
water environments
– Illustrates Walther’s
Law
Marine
• Tempestites
– Storm deposits on
shelf
– Sands deposited
within normal muds
and muddy sands
Marginal Marine

• Fossils
– Useful in
reconstructing
environments of past
Depositional Environments
 Beaches and Barrier Islands

a. Shoreline deposits
b. Exposed to wave energy
c. Dominated by sand
 Beaches and Barrier Islands
d. Marine fauna
e. A few km or less in width but may be more
than 100 km long
f. Separated from the mainland by a lagoon
(or salt marsh)
g. May be associated with tidal flat deposits
Depositional Environments
 Lagoons
a. Bodies of water on the landward side of
barrier islands
b. Protected from the pounding of the
ocean waves by barrier islands
c. Contain finer sediment than the beaches
(usually silt and clay)
d. Lagoons are also present behind reefs,
or in the center of atolls.
Sydney Australia

Palimco Sound NC
 Tidal flats
a. Nearly flat, low relief areas that border
lagoons, shorelines, and estuaries
b. Periodically flooded and exposed by
tides (usually twice each day)
c. May be cut by meandering tidal channels
d. May be marshy, muddy, sandy or mixed
sediment types (terrigenous or
carbonate)
 Tidal flats – cont’d

e. Laminations and ripples are common

f. Sediments are intensely burrowed
g. Stromatolites may be present (if
conditions are appropriate)
 Estuaries
a. Mouth of a river drowned by the sea
b. Brackish water (mixture of fresh and salt)
c. May trap large volumes of sediment
d. Sand, silt, and clay may be deposited
depending on energy level
e. Many estuaries formed due to sea level rise as
glaciers melted at end of last Ice Age
f. Some formed due to tectonic subsidence,
allowing sea water to migrate upstream
Marine Depositional Environments

1. Continental shelf
2. Continental slope
3. Continental rise
4. Abyssal plain
Marine Depositional Environments
Marine Depositional Environments
 Continental Shelf
The flooded edge of the continent. Flooding
occurred when the glaciers melted about
10,000 years ago.
a. Relatively flat (slope < 0.1o)
b. Shallow water (less than 200 m deep)
c. May be up to 300 km wide (averages 80
km wide)
d. Exposed to waves, tides, and currents
 Continental Shelf – cont’d
e. Covered by sand, silt, and clay
f. Larger sedimentary grains are deposited
closer to shore.
g. Locally cut by submarine canyons
(eroded by rivers during Ice Age low sea
level stand)
h. Coral reefs and carbonate sediments
may accumulate in tropical areas
 Continental Slope
The steeper slope at edge of the continent.
a. Located seaward of the continental shelf
b. Boundary between continental and
oceanic crust
c. May be about 20 km wide
 Continental Slope – cont’d
d. Deeper water
e. More steeply inclined (3 - 6o)
f. Rapid sediment transport down the slope
by dense, muddy turbidity currents
g. Passes seaward into the continental rise
 Continental Rise
At the base of the continental slope.
a. More gradual slope
b. May be hundreds of km wide
c. Water depths of 1400 to 3200 m
d. Submarine fans form off submarine canyons
e. Turbidity currents transport sediment
downslope from continental shelf (turbidites)
f. Passes seaward into the abyssal plain
 Abyssal Plain
The deep ocean floor.
a. Nearly flat
b. Water depths of 3 to 5 km + (2 - 3 miles +)
c. Covered by very fine-grained sediment and
shells of microscopic organisms
– Clay
– Volcanic ash
– Foraminifera (calcareous)
– Radiolarians (siliceous)
– Diatoms (siliceous)
Depositional Environments
 Color of Sedimentary Rocks
• Black and dark gray coloration in
sedimentary rocks generally indicates the
presence of organic carbon and/or iron.
• Organic carbon in sedimentary requires
anoxic environmental conditions.
 Color of Sedimentary Rocks
• Red coloration in
sedimentary rocks indicates
the presence of iron oxides.
• Red beds typically indicate
deposition in well-
oxygenated continental
sedimentary environments.
May also be transitional or
marine.
 Color of Sedimentary Rocks
• Green and gray coloration in sedimentary
rocks indicates the presence of iron, but in
a reduced (rather than an oxidized) state.
• Ferrous iron (Fe+2) generally occurs in
oxygen-deficient environments.
 Textural Interpretation of Clastic
Sedimentary Rocks
Texture = size, shape, sorting, and arrangement of
grains in a sedimentary rock.

The texture of a sedimentary rock can provide clues

to the depositional environment.

• Fine-grained textures typically indicate deposition

in quiet water.

• In general, it takes higher energy to transport

larger grains.
 Three "textural components" to
most clastic sedimentary rocks:

1. Clasts - the larger grains in the rock (gravel,

sand, silt)
2. Matrix - the fine-grained material surrounding
clasts (often clay)
3. Cement - the "glue" that holds the rocks
together
a. Silica (quartz, SiO2)
b. Calcite (CaCO3)
c. Iron oxide
d. Other minerals
 Grain Size
Sedimentary grains are categorized according to
size using the Wentworth Scale.

Gravel > 2 mm

Sand 1/16 - 2 mm

Silt 1/256 - 1/16 mm

Clay < 1/256 mm

 Sorting
Sorting refers to the distribution of grain
sizes in a rock.
The range of grain sizes in a sedimentary
rock can provide clues to help interpret the
depositional environment.
For example, turbulence from waves will
winnow out finer grain sizes such as silt
and clay, leaving sands on the beach.
 Sorting
• If all of the grains are the
same size, the rock is
"well sorted".
• If there is a mixture of
grain sizes, such as sand
and clay, or gravel and
sand, the rock is "poorly
sorted".
 Sorting
Well-sorted sands tend to have higher
porosity and permeability than poorly-
sorted sands (if they are not tightly
cemented), and may be good reservoirs
for petroleum and natural gas. Or good
aquifers.
 Sorting

Poor sorting is the result of rapid deposition

of sediment without sorting by currents.
Examples of poorly-sorted sediment
include alluvial fan deposits and glacial till.
 Grain Shape
Grain shape is described in terms of
rounding of grain edges and sphericity
(equal dimensions, or how close it is to a
sphere).
Shape of clasts is important in naming the
coarser-grained sedimentary rocks.
Grain Shape

• Conglomerates
have rounded
clasts.

• If the particles
are angular, the
rock is a breccia
 Rounding
• Rounding results from
abrasion against other
particles and grain impact
during transport.
• Very well rounded sand
grains suggest that a sand
may have been recycled
from older sandstones.
 Sedimentary Structures

Larger features which form during (or shortly

after) deposition of the sediment, but
before lithification.
 Sedimentary Structures

Some sedimentary structures are created by

the water or wind which moves the
sediment. Other sedimentary structures
form after deposition - such as footprints,
worm trails, or mudcracks.
 Sedimentary Structures
Sedimentary structures can provide
information about the environmental
conditions under which the sediment was
deposited.
Some structures form in quiet water under
low energy conditions, whereas others
form in moving water or high energy
conditions.
 Sedimentary Structures
Stratification (= layering or bedding) is the
most obvious feature of sedimentary
rocks. The layers (or beds or strata) are
visible because of differences in the color,
texture, or composition of adjacent beds.
 Graded Bedding
The grain size in a
graded bed is coarser
at the bottom and finer
at the top.
Graded bedding results
when a sediment-laden
current (such as a
turbidity current) begins
to slow down.
 Cross-bedding or cross-stratification

An arrangement of beds or laminations in

which one set of layers is inclined relative
to the others.
 Ripple marks
Undulations of the sediment surface
produced as wind or water moves across
sand.
– Symmetric ripple marks are produced by
waves
 Ripple marks

Asymmetric ripples form in unidirectional

currents (such as in streams or rivers).
 Mud cracks
A polygonal pattern of cracks produced on
the surface of mud as it dries.
 Scour marks
Depressions or erosional features formed as
a current flows across a bed of sand.
 Determining "up direction"
Rocks can be overturned by tectonic forces.
Examine sedimentary structures to determine
"up direction".

• Graded beds • Symmetrical ripples

• Cross beds • Stromatolites
• Mudcracks • Burrows
• Scour marks • Tracks
 Sands and Sandstones
Sandstone classification is based on the
composition of the grains.

•Quartz
•Feldspar
•Rock fragments
 Major types of sandstone

• Quartz sandstone - dominated by quartz

• Arkose - 25% or more feldspar
• Graywacke – about 30% dark fine-grained
matrix
• Lithic sandstone - quartz, muscovite, chert,
and rock fragments. Less than 15% matrix.
 Sandstone Interpretation
Minerals provide information on the amount of
weathering and transport of sand grains.

• Intense weathering and long transport produce

sandstone dominated by quartz.
• Sandstones with abundant feldspars, and
ferromagnesian minerals indicate relatively little
weathering and transport.
 Sandstone Environmental
Interpretation
Quartz sandstone
• Long time in the depositional basin
• Tectonically stable setting
• Shallow-water environments
 Sandstone Environmental
Interpretation
Arkose
• Short time in the depositional basin
• Rapid erosion
• Arid climate
• Tectonic activity
 Sandstone Environmental
Interpretation
Graywacke
• Tectonically active source area & basin
• Rapid erosion
 Sandstone Environmental
Interpretation
Lithic sandstone
• Deltaic coastal plains
• Nearshore marine environments
• Swamps or marshes
Deep Sea Environments
• Turbidity current
– Dense sediment-laden
flow driven by gravity
• Turbidite
– Produces graded
deposit
– Poorly sorted coarse
grains at base
– Fine grains at top
Deep Sea Environments

• Turbidites are
common in canyons
• Drop sediment load
at base
– Form deposit similar
to alluvial fan
Deep Sea Environments

• Pelagic sediment
– Fine-grained
sediments that
accumulate by
settling through the
water column
– Calcium carbonate
– Silica
– Clay
Deep Sea Environments
• Calcareous ooze
– Accumulations of
single-celled
planktonic organisms
• Foraminifera
• Calcareous
nannoplankton
• Common < 4 km w.d.
– Dissolution increases
below 4 km w.d.
Deep Sea Environments

• Siliceous ooze
– Diatoms
– Radiolarians
• Common in
upwelling regions
• Accumulations can
alter to opal then
chert
 Carbonate Systems
• Organic reefs
– Modern reefs formed from coral
– Ancient reefs formed from different organisms
 Carbonate Systems
• Reef front • Reef flat
– Seaward side • Lagoon
– Often rubble called – On leeward side
talus – Patch reef
Carbonate Systems
Carbonate Systems

• Barrier reefs
– Elongate reefs with
lagoon behind
• Fringing Reefs
– Grow along coast
– Lack lagoon
Carbonate Systems

• Atolls
– Reefs on volcanic
islands
– Darwin
• Formed by sinking
island
– Up to 65 km across
– Often open at one
end
Carbonate Systems
• Buried atolls
• Often important
petroleum reservoirs
Carbonate Systems

• Carbonate Platform
– Broad carbonate
structure above seafloor
– Windward side
• Nutrient rich
• Abundant reefs
• Buffered system
– CO2 + H2O = H2CO3
– HCO3 + CaCO3 = 2HCO-
3
Carbonate Systems

• Stromatolites
– Cyanobacteria mats
trap sediments
– Grows up through
sediments to
produce new one
– Layered organic-rich
and organic-poor
muds
Carbonate Systems

• Living Stromatolites
– Found in
hypersaline,
supratidal and
intertidal settings
– Little competition and
predation
– Shark Bay, Australia