SEDIMENTARY PETROLOGY

Geol 2106

Dr. Solomon
Geol 2106 : Sedimentary Petrology

Subject Status Core

Credit Value 3

Lecture 28 hours
Course Work 50%
Test 25%
Assessment Assignment 10%
Practical 10%
Quizzes
Geol 2103 : Paleontology 5%

Final Exam 50%

 Geol 2106 : Sedimentary Petrology

Lecture Monday 8:30am-10:20 pm B-57, R-2-005

Attendance is compulsory !
Be Punctual !
 Course Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
• Classify, describe, identify and name the major types of
sedimentary rocks
• Discuss the different types of sedimentary processes and interpret
them in rocks
• Characterize basics of fluid mechanics and sediment transport and
associated sedimentary structures in a geologic record
• Describe the major sedimentary environments and identify
equivalent facies
• Discuss earth’s climate system in the past and presentwith their
fossil relatives
 Subject planning
The course covers the following main topics:
- Introduction to Sedimentary rocks
- Petrology of Siliciclastic rocks
- Petrology of Non-siliciclastic rocks
- Fluid Mechanics and Sedimentary Structures
- Depositional Environments and Tectonic Settings
- Facies and Stratigraphy
- Earth’s climate system
References
 CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Sedimentary rocks
- Petrology and petrography of sedimentary rocks
- Genesis of Sediments and controlling factors
- Environments of transport and deposition
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lecture, students should be able to:
- Differentiate sedimentary petrology and petrography
- Describe sediment origin to formation of sedimentary rocks.
- Explain the criteria for differentiating sedimentary rocks.
 Introduction
- Sedimentary rocks cover 80% of the earth’s surface but only comprise
~1% of the volume of the crust (they are generally NOT dense either!)

- Many different terms are used to describe the study of sedimentary

rocks, including sedimentology, stratigraphy, sedimentation,
petrology, and paleontology.
- The Importance of Sedimentary Rocks
A. Sedimentary rocks are used to study Earth history
i. Sediments and rock layers contain evidence of past conditions and
events at the surface
ii. Sedimentary rocks contain fossils that aid study of the geologic past
B. Sediments and sedimentary rocks are source of resources
i. Major energy sources (coal, oil, natural gas, uranium) are derived
from sedimentary rocks
ii. Sedimentary rocks are also sources of many other vital resources—for
example, iron, aluminum, manganese, and phosphate are materials for cement
and aggregate
iii. Sediments and sedimentary rocks are the primary reservoir for
groundwater
 Sedimentary rocks are important in
the study of Earth history. How?

Fig. Sedimentary rocks are exposed at Earth’s surface more than igneous and metamorphic rocks.
 Cont…..
• Sedimentary Geology
 Sedimentology:
- processes that erode, transport, and deposit sediments.
- surface environments of sediment accumulation.
- Genesis of sedimentary strata.
 Sedimentary Petrology:
- physical and mineralogical properties and origin of sediments and
sedimentary rocks.
- deals with the composition, characteristics, and origins of
sediments and sedimentary rocks.
 Stratigraphy:
- Origin, distribution and description of sedimentary strata in space
and time.
• Sedimentary Petrography
- study of sedimentary rocks under the microscope.
- It is important to:
 Identify minerals and grain types of sediments
 Reveal the original source of the eroded fragments of terrigeneous
clastic rocks (provenance)
 Shed light on depositional environment of limestone
 Understand post-depositional changes (diagenesis)
 Origins of sedimentary rocks and controlling factors

Sediment is defined as the set of minerals and particles that are deposited in a
sedimentary basin.
Sedimentary rocks are made of various constituents. There are terrigenous clastic
particles deriving from alteration and erosion phenomena on the continent, along
with chemical and biochemical precipitates from solutes in the marine or
lacustrine environment and, to a lesser extent, volcanic and hydrothermal
products.
a. Sedimentary rocks represent portion of rock cycle that occurs at Earth’s
surface
i. Weathering
1. Preexisting rocks are physically and chemically weathered into a
variety of products
2. Ions in solution, sediment become raw materials for sedimentary rocks
ii. Transport
1. Soluble materials are carried away by runoff and groundwater
2. Solid particles are moved by gravity (mass wasting), running water
 Cont…

groundwater, wind, and glacial ice.

iii. Deposition
1. When wind and water slow down, or ice melts, solid material is
deposited onto Earth’s surface
2. Chemical or temperature changes allow materials in solution to

precipitate crystallize to solid form)

iv. Burial and lithification

1. Older sediments are buried by newer sediments

2. Lithification (conversion to rock) occurs through compaction and

cementation

3. Diagenesis is the term for the changes in texture, composition,

and other physical properties after sediment is deposited

 Cont….
Transportation - Deposition - occurs when
Weathering - movement of sediment by geologic agent can no longer
mechanical or chemical gravity, wind, water transport material
break down of rock geologic/ geomorphic
agents)

Sedimentary rocks

Compaction (lithification) - pressure of overlying

sediments packs grains and squeezes connate water out
Crystallization or diagenesis - new from pores
minerals grow, or existing crystals Cementation - pore spaces fill with a binding agent,
grow larger as time passes - helps typically - calcite, quartz, iron oxide, precipitated from
hold rock together. circulating water.
Fig. Schematic representation of three types of sedimentation
Fig. Diversity of sedimentary origins.
The various origins depicted here are the particle input from continental erosion with
fluvial (open arrows) transport; volcanic products transported by air or from underwater
sources (thin solid arrows); eolian, meteoritic and cosmic dust (dashed arrows); and
biochemical precipitation from within the aquatic environment (thick solid arrows).
(Bernard, 2002)
Physical process of transportation

 Most sedimentary deposits are the result of transport of material as

particles.

 Sediments are eroded, transported and deposited by a variety of agents

that flow across Earth’s surface.

- Movement of detritus may be purely due to gravity but more

commonly it is the result of flow in water, air, ice or dense
mixtures of sediment and water.
 Cont….

Gravity: The simplest mechanism of sediment transport is the movement

of particles under gravity down a slope.

Water: Transport of material in water is by far the most significant of all

transport mechanisms.

Air: Wind blowing over the land can pick up dust and sand and carry it
large distances.

Ice: is high viscosity fluid that is capable of transporting large amounts

of clastic debris.

Dense sediment and water mixtures: When there is a very high

concentration of sediment in water the mixture forms a debris flow.
Where do sediments originate?
 Cont….

Sediment Flow/Transportation
There are two types of fluid flow.
Laminar
- orderly, parallel flow lines
- all molecules within the fluid move parallel to each other in the direction
of transport.
- in a heterogeneous fluid almost no mixing occurs during laminar flow.
Turbulent
- particles everywhere; flow lines change constantly.
- molecules in the fluid move in all directions but with a net movement in
the transport direction.
- heterogeneous fluids are thoroughly mixed in turbulent flows.
Why are they different?
Flow velocity, bed roughness, type of fluid
 No mixing between layers

Nichols (2009) (C)

Fig. (A) In laminar flow, discrete parcels of fluid (streamlines) move in a parallel, sheetlike fashion and
propel any sedimentary clasts downstream. (B) In turbulent flow, streamlines become intertwined, and up-
and-down eddies develop. Turbulent flow not only propels clasts downstream but also can lift particles
into the flow. (C) The transition from laminar (left) to turbulent flow in water on a flat plate as seen by dye
injection. Such a sharp transition is known as a hydraulic jump.
 Transport of particles in a fluid

Particles of any size may be moved in a fluid by one of three

mechanisms:
Rolling/Traction: the clasts or grains move by rolling along a bed surface.

Saltation: the grains move in a series of jumps along a bed surface.

Suspension: grains remain in the moving flow above the bed surface.

 Particles being carried by rolling and saltation are referred to as

bedload, and the material in suspension is called the suspended load.
 - Rolling/Traction: a grain rolls along
a bed surface due to dominating drag
forces caused by flow.

- Saltation: a grain moves in a series

of jumps along the bed surface due
to a lift force caused by differences
in pressure along the grain.

Fig. Particles move in a flow by rolling, saltating and in suspension.

Fig. showing the three depositional
environments
b. Three categories of sedimentary rocks based on transport,
deposition, and transformation into solid rock
i. Detrital (a.k.a. clastic, epiclastic, siliciclastic): sedimentary rocks
- consist of the physically weathered (disintegrated) and chemically
weathered (decomposed) material from older rocks (igneous, metamorphic,
or sedimentary), which has been transported and deposited by running
water (streams, ocean currents ), wind, or ice.
- consist of minrals not readily soluble- quartz, feldspars, and clay
minerals, which are transported as particles.
- size and composition of the particles are used for their further subdivision
ii. Chemical sedimentary rocks
- Form by precipitation of minerals from water, or by alteration of
pre-existing material
- Classification on the basis of the chief component: siliceous (opal,
chalcedony, quartz), calcareous (aragonite, calcite, dolomite), phosphatic
(apatite), ferruginous (limonite, h matite, glauconite, ete, ), and salines
(halit , sylvite, carnallite, etc. )
iii. Organic sedimentary rock: formed of previously living organic debris
Fig. This diagram outlines the portion of the rock cycle
that pertains to the formation of sedimentary rocks.
Table: Size classification of clastic sedimentary particles and aggregates
Initial Compositional Classification of the Most Common
Sedimentary Rocks
T=Terrigenous
sand mud and gravel weathering products formed at the earth’s surface
from exposed, pre-existing ign, meta, and sed rocks; extra-basinal (outside
the basin of deposition).
- examples: quartz or feldspar sand, heavy minerals, clay minerals,
chert or limestone pebbles derived from erosion of older rock outcrops.
A= Allochemical
Allochemical constituents (Greek: “allo” meaning different from normal)
chemical or biochemical ppt formed within the basin of deposition (intra-basinal)
but subsequently reworked at or near the site of deposition; they have a higher
degree of organization than simple precipitates.
E.g. particulate carbonate sediment, broken or whole shells, ooids, etc
O= Orthochemical
Orthochemical constituents (Greek: “ortho” meaning proper or true)

- primary chemical ppt formed within the basin without subsequent reworking or
transport.
- Carbonate mud (micrite), phosphate, halite, gypsum, chert, etc
 Types of Sedimentary Material

Allochemical Particles formed in situ at the site of deposition; of

chemical/ biochemical origin

Carbonates: ooids, fossil fragments, pellets,

lithoclasts
Glauconite, phosphate :in situ
authigenic/particulate minerals
Biogenic sediments: pelagic tests, siliceous and
calcareous
 Cont…

Orthochemical Components
Chemical Precipitates
Secondary cement
Primary chemical sediments: halite, etc
Organic Particulate Material (detrital organic
matter )
terrestrial and particulate
marine pelagic
95% found in mudrocks

Laminated Castile Formation basinal

evaporites. Dark laminae are calcite plus
organic matter; light laminae are gypsum
(Peter Scholle)

Coal
Initial Compositional Classification
T: Terrigenous rocks
Most mudrocks, sandstones, and conglomerates. Comprise 65% to 75% of
sedimentary strata
Terrigenous Rocks. Example: most mudrocks, sandstones, and conglomerates.
Comprise 65% to 75% of the stratigraphic section. Most terrigenous rocks occur in
the shaded area.
IA: Impure Allochemical rocks
E.g.: Very fossiliferous shale, sandy fossiliferous or oolitic limestones. Comprises 10-
15% of sedimentary strata.
IA: Impure Allochemical Rocks. Example: very fossiliferous shales; sandy
fossiliferous or oolitic limestones. Comprise I O-15% of the stratigraphic section.
IO: Impure Orthochemical rocks
Impure Orthochemical Rocks. Example: clayey microcrystalline limestones. Comprise
2-5% of the stratigraphic section.
E.g.: clay-rich microcrystalline limestones. Comprises 2-5% of sedimentary strat
A: Allochemical Rocks. Example: fossiliferous, oolitic, pellet or intraelastic limestones or
dolomites. Comprise 8-15% of the stratigraphic section.
O: Orthochemical Rocks. Example: microcrystalline limestone or dolomite; anhydrite;
chert. Comprise 2-8% of the strat igraphic section.
Collectively, “IA” and “I0” are classed as Impure Chemical Rocks, and “A” and “0” as
Pure Chemical Rocks.
Fig. A simple classification of sedimentary rocks (Folk 1959)
 Cont…

3. Detrital Sedimentary Rocks

A . Clasts — mineral and rock fragments that constitute detrital sedimentary rocks
i. Clay minerals and quartz are most common clasts in sedimentary rocks
1. Clay minerals are from chemical weathering of silicate minerals
2. Quartz is very durable and resistant to weathering
ii. Other mineral clasts include feldspars and micas
1. If these are present as clasts, we can deduce that erosion and
deposition were fast enough to prevent chemical decomposition
of these minerals
iii. Particle size is used to distinguish detrital sedimentary rocks
1. Smallest particle clay, silt, sand, granule, pebble, cobble,
boulder→largest particle
2. Size of grain provides information about environment of deposition
a. Currents of water or air sort sediment by size—stronger current
moves larger sized particles
b. Gravel is moved by high-energy rivers or by glaciers
c. Clay settles out of quiet waters in lakes, lagoons, and swamps
 Cont…

3. Detrital rocks classified by particle size

a. smallest particle size shale/mudstone/
siltstone, sandstone,
breccia/ conglomerate ← largest
Particle size

Fig. Particle size classification for detrital

sedimentary rocks. Particle size is the primary
basis for distinguishing among various detrital
sedimentary rocks.
 Cont…
b. Shale
i. Sedimentary rock consisting of silt- and clay-size particles
ii. Accounts for over half of all sedimentary rocks
iii. Particles cannot be seen without great magnification
iv. Formation of shale
1. Small particles indicate gradual settling from relatively quiet, nonturbulent
currents
2. Environments: lakes, river floodplains, lagoons, deep ocean basins
3. Chemical composition can indicate more information about environment of
deposition
a. Abundant organic matter (black shale) suggests deposition in oxygen-
poor environment, such as a swamp.
v. Thin layers
1. Thin layers in shale are called laminae
2. Clay and silt particles are packed into parallel alignment with continued
burial
3. Large pore spaces become very small with continued time & compaction;
solutions of cementing agents do not circulate freely
a. Shales are generally poorly cemented and weak
 Cont…

vi. Shale, mudstone, siltstone

1. A true shale must exhibit fissility—ability to split into thin layers
along well-developed, closely spaced planes
2. If the rock breaks into chunks or blocks, it is called a mudstone
3. If the rock is made of fine-grains, but lacks fissility, it is called
siltstone (more silt-size particles than clay-size particles)
vii. Gentle slopes
1. Shale does not form prominent outcrops; crumbles easily and
soils can easily form on its surface
a. In Grand Canyon, gentler slopes are composed of shale
viii. Shale deposits can have economic value
1. Raw materials for pottery, brick, tile, and china
2. Shale mixed with limestone is used to make cement
3. Oil shale may be valuable energy resource of future
 Cont…

c. Sandstone
i. Sedimentary rocks composed of sand-sized grains
ii. Accounts for about 20 percent of all sedimentary rocks
iii. Environment of deposition inferred from sorting, particle shape, and
composition
1. Sorting is the degree of similarity of particle sizes in a sedimentary
rock
a. If all are the same size, we call it well sorted
b. If it is a mix of large and small grains, we call it poorly sorted
2. Particle tells about environment of transport, and the distance or time
in transportation
a. Rounded grains were likely airborne or waterborne
b. Degree of rounding indicate distance or time traveled—more
rounded grains indicate long transport
c. Angular grains imply short travel distances or movement by a
medium other than air and water (glaciers, for example)
3. Mineral composition also impacts degree of rounding and sorting
Fig. Detrital rocks
commonly have a
variety of different
size clasts. Sorting
refers to the range of
sizes present.
 Sandstone Cont…..

Composition
- Due to its durability, quartz is the predominant mineral in most
sandstones. When this is the case, the rock may simply be called quartz
sandstone.
- When a sandstone contains appreciable quantities of feldspar (25
percent or more), the rock is called arkose.
-The mineral composition of arkose indicates that the grains were
derived from granitic source rocks.
- The particles are generally poorly sorted and angular, which
suggests short-distance transport, minimal chemical weathering in a
relatively dry climate, and rapid deposition and burial.
- A third variety of sandstone is known as graywacke. Along with quartz
and feldspar, this dark-colored rock contains abundant rock fragments
and matrix.
- Matrix refers to the silt- and clay-size particles found in spaces between
larger sand grains. More than 15% of graywacke’s volume is matrix.
 Cont…..

Quartzarenite
Arkose (Sandstone)
Sandstone

Lithic Sandstone Greywacke

 Cont…..
Sandstones Under Microscope
 Assignment

How does size of grains

provide information about
environment of deposition?
 4. Chemical Sedimentary Rocks
a. Formed when ions in solution precipitate into chemical sediments
i. By inorganic processes such as evaporation or chemical
activity (e.g., dripstone, salt from evaporating ocean body)
ii. By organic processes of water-dwelling organisms (e.g.,
shells and hard parts of water plants and animals)—called
biochemical.
b. Limestone
i. 10 percent of the total volume of all sedimentary rocks
ii. Composed primarily of calcite (CaCO3)
iii. Forms inorganically or biochemically
iv. Many types; those with marine biochemical origin most common
1. Carbonate Reefs
a. Corals secrete a calcareous external skeleton
b. Create massive structures called reefs
c. Secreting algae that live with coral help cement
structure into solid mass
 Cont…..

2. Coquina and Chalk

a. Coquina is a coarse rock composed of poorly cemented
shells and shell fragments
b. Chalk is a soft, porous rock made up entirely of the hard
parts of microscopic calcareous marine organisms
3. Inorganic Limestone
a. Form when chemical changes or high temperatures increase the
calcium carbonate concentration in water to the point it precipitates
b. Travertine is the type of inorganic limestone found in caves
c. Oolitic limestone is composed of small ooids that form as layers of
calcium carbonate around a tiny seed particle .
 Fig. cave deposits (dripstone) -
Travertine

Florida beach consists

primarily of shells and
shell fragments—
biochemical sediment. Fig. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef
system in the world. it extends for 2600 kilometers (1600
miles) and consists of more than 2900 individual reefs.
 Cont…..
c. Dolostone
i. Rock composed of dolomite, a calcium-magnesium carbonate
mineral
ii. Can be distinguished from limestone because it does not react as
vigorously with hydrochloric acid, unless powdered
iii. Origin of dolostone unclear; some could be formed by the process
of dolomitization when magnesium rick waters circulate through
a limestone body and convert calcite to dolomite by the
replacement of some calcium ions with magnesium ions.
d. Chert
i. Made of microcrystalline quartz (SiO2).
ii. Flint, jasper, Agate, and petrified wood are varieties of chert
iii. Form as layered deposits (bedded chert) or as nodules
1. Bedded cherts originate from diatoms and radiolarian; these
organisms extract silica from seawater
2. Chert nodules are called secondary cherts, or replacement
cherts, because they occur with beds of limestone
 Cont…..

(C) Jasper

(A) Agate

Fig. Chert is a name used for a number of dense, hard rocks

made of microcrystalline quartz. Three examples are shown
here. A. Agate is the banded variety. B. The dark color of flint
results from organic matter. C. The red variety, called jasper,
gets its color from iron oxide.
(B) Flint
 Cont…..
e. Evaporites
i. Salt is deposited by evaporating seawater
ii. Includes the minerals halite and gypsum
iii. Minerals precipitate in a sequence from an evaporating
body of seawater
1. Less soluble minerals first, more soluble minerals later
2. Gypsum precipitates when about 89 percent of the
seawater has evaporated
3. Halite precipitates when 90 percent of the water has
evaporated
iv. During last stages of evaporation, potassium
and magnesium salts precipitate
v. Smaller salt flats form when dissolved
minerals are precipitated as a white crust
on the ground .

Fig. salt flats in Utah

 Cont…..
5. Coal: An Organic Sedimentary Rock
a. Coal is created from the burial of organic matter, in this process:
i. Accumulation of plant remains in an oxygen-poor
environment. One important environment that allows for the
buildup of plant material is a swamp. .
ii. The partial decomposition of plants in an oxygen-poor
swamp creates a layer of peat, a soft brown material in which
plant structures are still easily recognized. With shallow
burial, peat slowly changes to lignite, a soft brown coal.
Burial increases the temperature of sediments as well as the
pressure on them.
iii. Formation of lignite and bituminous coal after deep burial
and increased temperatures
iv. Formation of anthracite coal as further heat and pressure
metamorphoses bituminous coal
b. Coal is a major energy resource
• During burial the coal also becomes
increasingly
compact. For example, deeper burial
transforms
Lignite into a harder, more compacted black
Rock called bituminous coal.
• Compared to the peat from which it formed,
a bed of bituminous coal may be only 1/10 as
thick.

Fig. Successive stages in the formation of coal.

 SUMMARY
• At Earth’s surface, sediments and sedimentary rocks cover about 80% of
land areas, and sediments cover the majority of the ocean floor.
• Sedimentary petrology, deals with the composition, characteristics, and
origins of sediments and sedimentary rocks, where as petrography study of
sedimentary rocks under the microscope.
• Sedimentary rocks are important because they allow us to understand and
reconstruct Earth history through study of layers and formations that represent
past conditions.
• Clay minerals and quartz are the primary minerals found in detrital
sedimentary rocks.
• Detrital sedimentary rocks are distinguished by particle size.
• Detrital rocks are the products of weathering; chemical sedimentary rocks
are formed from chemical sediments that form when ions in solution are
precipitated by organic or inorganic processes.
• Evaporites form as water evaporates in a closed basin.
• The primary difference in limestone, dolostone, and chert is composition.
• The raw material for coal is organic matter.
• Sedimentary rocks can also be subdivided based on their terrigneous,
allochemical and orthochemical constituents.