Module 5.

Weathering & Sedimentary Rocks

What's This Module About?
In this module, you'll learn how rocks are broken down through physical and chemical
processes into sediments and ions, and what the characteristics of sediments can tell us about
the origins of particular sediments.

The formation of different types of sedimentary rocks is discussed next, including common
examples of those rocks. You'll learn about the environments where those rocks form, and
how clues within the rocks can tell us about those environments long after the environments
themselves have disappeared. The module concludes with a discussion of how sea-level
change affects the geological record preserved in sedimentary rocks.

Master List of Readings & Activities (In Order)

 Read Chapter 8, Weathering, Sediment, & Soils to the end of section 8.2.

 Try to solve the mystery of the deadly rockfall (Activity Interlude 1).

 Continue reading Chapter 8 (sections 8.3 and 8.4).

 Watch the video summarizing the difference between weathering and erosion (Video
Interlude 2).

 Watch the video overview of types of sedimentary rocks (Video Interlude 3).

 Read Chapter 9, Sedimentary Rocks to the end of section 9.4.

 Watch the video about types of depositional environments, and complete the activity
(Activity & Video Interlude 4).

 Continue reading Chapter 9, 9.5 Sedimentary Structures & Fossils.

 Go find a snack that resembles either conglomerate or breccia.

Learning Objectives
1. Explain how physical and chemical weathering yield materials for new sedimentary
rocks.

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 2. Interpret the history of sedimentary grains based on their characteristics.

3. Explain how clastic sedimentary rocks form.

4. Identify common clastic sedimentary rocks from the size and shape of their grains.

5. Explain how chemical, biochemical, and organic sedimentary rocks form, and give
examples of each.

6. Interpret the nature of depositional environments based on the sedimentary rocks and
structures that are present.

7. Explain how sea-level change can be inferred from sedimentary rocks.

Key Terms & Concepts

1. Weathering

a. Physical/mechanical

i. Exfoliation

ii. Wedging (frost, salt, root)

b. Chemical

i. Dissolution

ii. Hydrolysis

iii. Hydration

iv. Oxidation

2. Erosion

3. Outcrop

4. Confining pressure

5. Pressure-release cracking

6. Talus slope

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7. Differential weathering

8. Sediment

9. Clasts/grains

10. Clastic grain characteristics

a. Grain size

b. Sorting

c. Rounding

d. Sphericity

11. Transportation, deposition, and burial of sediment

12. Lithification

a. Compaction

b. Cementation

13. Types of sedimentary rocks

a. Clastic

b. Chemical

c. Biochemical

d. Organic

14. Types of clastic sedimentary rocks

a. Conglomerate

b. Breccia

c. Sandstone

d. Shale

e. Mudstone

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15. Sediment maturity

16. Types and formation of chemical/biochemical sedimentary rocks

a. Carbonate

i. Limestone

ii. Tufa

iii. Travertine

iv. Dolostone

b. Chert

c. Banded iron formation (BIF)

d. Evaporites

17. Formation of the organic sedimentary rock (coal):

a. Peat

b. Lignite

c. Bituminous coal

d. Anthracite

18. Depositional environment

a. Marine depositional environments

i. Reef

ii. Submarine fan, gravity flow

b. Terrestrial depositional environments

i. Glacial

ii. Alluvial

iii. Fluvial

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 iv. Aeolian

v. Lacustrine

c. Transitional depositional environments

i. Delta

ii. Lagoon

19. Sedimentary structures

a. Beds

b. Cross-bedding

c. Ripples

d. Graded bedding

e. Mud cracks

20. Sea-level change

a. Eustatic

b. Relative