UNIVERSITY OF MINES AND TECHNOLOGY

(UMaT), TARKWA
Faculty of Mineral Resources Technology
Department of Geological Engineering

GL 275 – SEDIMENTARY
PETROLOGY

Lecturer:
Emmanuel Daanoba SUNKARI
 Organisational Aspects
 Department: Geological Engineering
Email: edsunkari@umat.edu.gh
 Office hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays between 9-16hrs
 Assessment
 Class attendance (10 marks)
 Continuous Assessment: Assignments + Exercise + Mini Projects/Lab
Work (30 marks)
 End of semester exams (60 marks)
 NB: Marks will be allocated for class participation
 AREAS TO COVER
 Introduction
 Formation of Sedimentary Rocks
 Siliciclastic Textures
 Classification of Sedimentary Rocks
 Stability of Minerals
 Interpretation of some Sedimentary Structures and Textures
 Sedimentary Environments
 Deformational Structures and Mechanisms of Formation
 Diagenesis
 Sedimentary Rocks and Plate Boundaries
 What is Sedimentary Petrology?
 This is the study of sedimentary rocks and the
processes that resulted in their formation, i.e.
weathering, erosion, transportation, deposition, and
diagenesis.

 Sedimentary rocks are secondary products of

primary rocks, which consist of sediments.

 Sediments are formed either by mechanical,

chemical or biological weathering.
 Why Study Sedimentary Petrology?
The application of the knowledge of sediments and
sedimentary processes can help to;
 Trace source of sediments (provenance)
 Deduce depositional environments of sediments
 Locate economic resources
 Infer paleoclimatic conditions
 Decipher tectonic settings under which sediments were
formed
 Indicate the stratigraphic succession
 Deduce the paleo life/living organisms – Evolution
Weathering and the Sedimentary Cycle
 It is appropriate to study the genesis of sediment
particles, before proceeding to study sedimentary
rocks, their petrography, transportation and
deposition.
 A sedimentary rock is the product of provenance and
process.
 This is concerned primarily with the provenance of
sediments.
 That is to say the preexisting rocks from which it
forms and the effect of weathering on sediment
composition.
Formation of Sedimentary Rocks
 Sedimentary Cycle
The sedimentary cycle consists of the following phases:
 weathering
 erosion
 transportation
 deposition
 lithification
 uplift and
 weathering again
 Transportation and Sedimentation
 Whenever a running stream charged with mud or sand has its
velocity checked, as and when it enters a lake or sea, or
overflows a plain,
 the sediment, previously held in suspension by the motion of the
water, sinks, by its own gravity, to the bottom.
 This seeks to introduce some of the fundamental concepts of
sedimentation as a means to understanding the fabric and
structures of the deposits, which they generate.
 Sedimentation is, literally, the settling out of solid matter in
a liquid.
 To the geologist, however, sedimentary processes are generally
understood as those which both transport and deposit sediments.
 They include the work of water, wind, ice, and gravity.
 In the real world, settling velocity also varies according to grain
shape and grain concentration,
 since sedimentation rate will be affected by adjacent particles
colliding. Few sediment grains are perfect spheres.
 Quartz and feldspar particles are normally ovoid, micas are plate-
like, and skeletal fragments highly irregular.
 Detrital minerals have a wide range of densities. Terrigenous sands
are largely made up of quartz with a density of 2.65 g/cm3.
 But they may also contain feldspars, ranging between 2.55 and 2.76
g/cm3, and micas, ranging from 2.83 (muscovite) to 3.12 g/cm3
(biotite).
 Most sands also contain varying amounts of heavy minerals,
arbitrarily defined as those with a density greater than 3.0 g/cm3.
 These include many economically important minerals such as gold,
with a density of 19 g/cm3.
 Essentially a grain can move through a fluid (liquid or
gaseous) in three different ways: by rolling, by bouncing,
or in suspension.
 In a given situation, the heaviest particles are never lifted
from the ground. They remain in contact with their
colleagues, but are rolled along by the current.
 At the same velocity, lighter particles move down-current
with steep upward trajectories and gentler downward glide
paths.
 This process is known as saltation.
 At the same velocity the lightest particles are carried
along by the current in suspension.
 They are carried within the fluid in erratic but essentially
down-flow paths never touching the bottom or ground.
 In a situation such as a river channel, gravel will be rolling
along the bottom, sand will readily saltate, and silt and clay will
be carried in suspension.
 Sand and gravel are generally referred to as the traction
carpet or the channel bed load.
 The silt and clay, loosely termed "fines," are referred to as
the suspended load.
 Three types can be recognized: traction deposits, density
current deposits, and suspension deposits.
 Transportation in a traction current is mainly by rolling and
saltating bed load.
 The fabric and structure of sediments deposited from a
traction carpet reflect this manner of transport.
 They are generally cross-bedded sands. Traction currents may
be generated by gravity (for example in a river), or by wind or
tidal forces in the sea.
 Desert sand dunes are also traction deposits.
 The deposits of density currents, by contrast, originate from a
combination of traction and suspension.
 Their fabric and structures are correspondingly different
from those of traction deposits.
 They are characterized by mixtures of sand, silt, and clay,
which lack cross-bedding and typically show graded bedding.
 Density currents are caused by differences in density in
fluids (liquid or gaseous).
 These differences may arise from thermal layering,
turbidity, or from differences in salinity in liquids.
 The result is for the denser fluid to flow by gravity
beneath the less dense fluid and to traverse the sediment
substrate.
 Geologically, the most important density flow is the
turbidity current, a predominantly subaqueous phenomenon.
 Aeolian turbid flows include nudes ardentes and certain
types of high-velocity avalanches and mud flows.
 The third group of sedimentary deposits includes those
that settle out from suspension.
 These are fine-grained silts and clays and include
windblown silts, termed loess, and the pelagic detrital muds
or nepheloids of ocean basins.
 A fourth major group of sedimentary deposit types is the
diamictites. These are extremely poorly sorted rocks that
show a complete range of grain size from boulders down to
clay.
 Diamictites are formed both from glacial processes and
also by mud flows, both subaerial and subaqueous.
 Field view of Late Ordovician glacial deposits from the Hırmanlı area in Central Taurides,
Turkey a) quartz crystal-bearing sandy diamictites, b) coarse-grained rounded quartz pebble,
c), d) rounded-subrounded granitic pebbles
 Classification of Sedimentary Rocks
 For the identification of sedimentary rocks in the field, two
principal properties are considered – composition (mineralogy) and
grain size (texture).
 On the basis of origin, sedimentary rocks can be classified
broadly into four categories;
 The most common lithologies are the sandstones, mud
rocks and Carbonates/carbonate-bearing rocks.
 Other types – evaporites, ironstones, cherts and
phosphates – are rare or only locally well developed, and
volcaniclastics are important in some places.
 NB: In some cases you may have to think twice as to
whether the rock is even sedimentary in origin or not.
 Greywacke, for example, can look very much like dolerite or
basalt, especially in hand-specimens away from the outcrop.
Parameters generally indicating a sediments origin include the
presence of;
 stratification
 specific minerals of sedimentary origin (e.g., glauconite,
chamosite)
 sedimentary structures on bedding surfaces and within beds
 fossils
 grains or pebbles which have been transported (i.e. clasts).
 Terrigenous clastic rocks
 These are dominated by detrital grains (especially, silicate
minerals and rock fragments) and include sandstones, conglomerates,
breccia and mudrocks.
 Sandstones are composed of grains chiefly between 1/16 and 2 mm
in diameter.
 Bedding is usually obvious and sedimentary structures are common
within the beds and upon the bedding surfaces.
 Conglomerates and breccias also referred to as rudites, consist of
large clasts (pebbles, cobbles and boulders), more rounded in
conglomerates, more angular in breccias, with or without a sandy or
muddy matrix.
 Mudrocks are fine-grained with particles mostly less than 1/16 mm
in diameter, and are dominated by clay minerals and silt-grade quartz.
 Many mudrocks are poorly bedded and also poorly exposed. Colour is
highly variable, due to the fossil content.
 DIFFERENT CATERGORIES OF CLASTIC ROCKS

 RUDACEOUS ROCKS: made up of rounded or sub-rounded

Pebbles and cobbles e.g. Conglomerate.

 ARENACEOUS ROCKS: made up of mainly sand e.g.

Sandstone. These rocks are either accumulated by wind
action or deposited under water action or marine or lake
environment.

 ARGILLACEOUS ROCKS: made up of clay size sediments

e.g. Shale, mudstones, siltstones.
 Sandstones
 Sandstones are composed of five principal ingredients; rock
fragments (lithic grains), quartz grains, feldspar grains, matrix and
cement.
 The matrix consists of clay minerals and silt-grade quartz, and in
most cases this fine-grained material is deposited along with the
sand grains.
 It can form from the diagenetic breakdown of labile (unstable)
grains, however, clay minerals can be precipitated in pores during
diagenesis.
 Cement is precipitated around and between grains, also during
diagenesis, common cementing agents are quartz and calcite.
 Diagenetic hematite stains a sandstone red.
 The composition of sandstone is largely a reflection of the geology
and climate of the source area.
Field exposures of sandstones (a–d) in the Kwahu/Bombouaka and
Oti/Pendjari groups
 Limestones and dolomites
 Limestones are composed of more than 50% CaCO3 and so the
standard test is to apply dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl). The rock will
fizz.
 Many limestones are a shade of grey, but white, black, red, buff,
cream and yellow are also common colours.
 Fossils are commonly present, in some cases in large numbers.
 Dolomites (also dolostones) are composed of more than 50%
CaMg(CO3)2.
 They react little with dilute acid (although a better fizz will be
obtained if the dolomite is powdered first).
 Most dolomites have formed by replacement of limestone and as a
result in many cases the original structures are poorly preserved.
 Poor preservation of fossils and the presence of vugs (irregular holes)
are typical of dolomites.
 Dolomite

Limestone

Limestone Dolomite
Discontinuous limestone layers from central Turkey Massive limestone layers from central Turkey

Brecciated dolomite from central Turkey

 Other Lithologies
 Gypsum is the only evaporite mineral occurring commonly at the
Earth’s surface, mostly as nodules of very small crystals in
mudrock, although veins of fibrous gypsum (satin spar) are
usually associated.
 Evaporites such as anhydrite and halite are encountered at the
surface only in very arid areas.
 Ironstones include bedded, nodular, oolitic and replacement
types.
 They commonly weather to a rusty yellow or brown colour at
outcrop. Some ironstones feel heavy relative to other sediments.
 Cherts are mostly cryptocrystalline to microcrystalline
siliceous rocks, occurring as very hard bedded units or nodules in
other lithologies (particularly limestones).
 Many cherts are dark grey to black, or red.
 Sedimentary phosphate deposits or phosphorites consist mostly of
concentrations of bone fragments and/or phosphate nodules.
 The phosphate itself is usually cryptocrystalline, dull on a fresh
fracture surface with a brownish or black colour.
 Organic sediments such as hard coal, brown coal (lignite) and peat
should be familiar, and oil shale can be recognized by its smell and dark
colour.
 Volcaniclastic sediments which include the tuffs, are composed of
material of volcanic origin, chiefly lava fragments, volcanic glass and
crystals.
 Volcaniclastics are variable in colour, although many are a shade of
green through chlorite replacement.
 They are commonly highly weathered at outcrop. The term pyroclastic
refers to material derived directly from volcanic activity, whereas the
term epiclastic is used to refer to ‘secondary’ sediments such as debris
flow and fluvial deposits resulting from the reworking of pyroclastic
material. from the reworking of pyroclastic material.
 The accepted classification of sandstones is based on the
percentages of quartz (+chert), feldspar, rock fragments and
matrix in the rock.
 Sandstones containing an additional, non-detrital component,
such as carbonate grains (ooids, bioclasts, etc.), are referred
to as hybrid sandstones and are described in succeeding
sections.
 The composition of a sandstone is based on a modal analysis
determined from a thin-section of the rock using a petrological
microscope and a point counter.
 Quartz arenites
 Compositionally supermatured and clean, these sandstones are
typical of, but not restricted to, high-energy shallow-marine
environments, and also aeolian (wind-blown) sands in deserts.
 Sedimentary structures are common, especially cross-
stratification, on small, medium and large scales.
 Since only quartz is present, the colour of quartz arenites is
commonly white or pale grey, especially those of shallow-marine
environments.
 Aeolian quartz arenites are commonly red through the presence of
finely disseminated hematite which coats grains.
 Quartz and calcite cements are common.
 Quartz arenites also form through leaching of a sediment, when
the unstable grains are dissolved out.
 Lithic arenites
 Lithic arenites are very variable in composition and
appearance, depending largely on the types of rock fragment
present.
 In phyllarenites, fragments of argillaceous sedimentary
rock are dominant, and in calclithites, limestone fragments
predominate.
 Lithic grains of igneous and metamorphic origin are common
in some lithic arenites.
 In the field, it is usually sufficient to identify a rock as
being a lithic arenite; a more precise classification would
have to come from a petrographic study.
 Many lithic arenites are deltaic and fluvial sediments, but
they can be deposited in any environment.
 Arkoses
 Arkoses (feldspathic arenite) can be recognized by the high
percentage of feldspar grains, although at outcrop these may be
altered, especially to kaolinite (a white clay mineral).
 Many arkoses are red or pink, in part due to the presence of pink
feldspars but also through hematite pigmentation.
 Some coarse-grained arkoses look like granites until you see the
bedding.
 In many, grains are sub angular to sub rounded and sorting is
moderate; a considerable amount of matrix may be present between
grains.
 Relatively rapid erosion and deposition under a semi-arid climate
produce many arkoses.
 Fluvial systems (alluvial fan, braided stream) are typical depositional
environments for arkoses, especially if granites and granite–gneisses
are exposed in the source area.
 Greywackes
 Greywackes are mostly hard, light to dark grey rocks with
abundant matrix.
 Feldspar and lithic grains are common and often clearly
identifiable with a hand-lens.
 Although greywackes are not environmentally restricted, many
were deposited by turbidity currents in relatively deep-water
basins and so show sedimentary structures typical of turbidites
(sole structures, graded bedding and internal laminae).
 Greywackes commonly grade upwards into mudrocks.
Greywacke
 Conglomerates and Breccias
 The key features which are important in the description of
conglomerates and breccias are the types of clast present and
the texture of the rock.
 Other terms used for these coarse siliciclastic sediments are
rudite (simply a coarse sedimentary rock) and
 diamictite – any poorly sorted terrigenous, generally non-
calcareous, pebble–sand–mud mixture (diamicton is the term if
uncemented).
 Mixtite has also been used. The term megabreccia is used for a
deposit of very large blocks.
 On the basis of clast origin, intraformational and
extraformational conglomerates and breccias are distinguished.
 Intraformational clasts are pebbles derived from within the
basin of deposition; many of these are fragments of mudrock or
lime mudstone liberated by penecontemporaneous erosion on the
seafloor, river channel, etc., or by desiccation along a shoreline,
lake margin, tidal flat, etc., with subsequent reworking
 Extraformational clasts are derived from outside the basin of
deposition and are thus older than the enclosing sediment. The
variety of clasts in a conglomerate should be examined:
 Polymictic conglomerates are those with several or many
different types of clast; oligomictic (or monomictic)
conglomerates are those with just one type of clast.
 The nature of the extraformational clasts in a conglomerate or
breccia is important since it can gives useful information on the
provenance of the deposit, and on the rocks exposed there at
the time.
 Mudrocks
 Mudrocks are the most abundant of all lithologies but they are
often difficult to describe in the field because of their fine
grain-size.
 Mudrock is a general term for sediments composed chiefly of
silt (4 to 62 μm) and clay (< 4 μm) sized particles.
 Siltstone and claystone are sediments dominated by silt- and
clay-grade material, respectively.
 Claystones can be recognized by their extremely fine grain-size
and usually homogeneous appearance; mudrocks containing silt or
sand have a ‘gritty’ feel when crunched between your teeth.
 Shales are characterized by the property of fissility, the ability
to split into thin sheets generally parallel to the bedding; many
shales are laminated.
 Mudstones are non-fissile and many have a blocky or
massive texture.
 Argillite refers to a more indurated mudrock, whereas
slate possesses a cleavage.
 A marl is a calcareous mudrock.
 Mudrocks grade into sandstones.
 Mudrocks are chiefly composed of clay minerals and silt-
grade quartz grains; other minerals may be present.
 Organic matter may reach several percent and higher, and
with increasing carbon content, the mudrock becomes
darker and eventually black in colour.
 A distinctive smell is produced by striking an organic-rich
rock with a hammer.
 Hit the rock and smell the end of the hammer.
 Nodules commonly develop in mudrocks, usually of calcite,
dolomite, siderite or pyrite.
 Fossils are present in many mudrocks, including microfossils,
which need to be extracted in the laboratory.
 However, macrofossils are commonly broken and compressed
through compaction of the mudrock during burial.
 Mudrocks can be deposited in practically any environment,
particularly river floodplain, lake, low-energy shoreline, lagoon,
delta, outer-marine shelf and deep-ocean basin.
 The sedimentological context of the mudrocks, together with
the fossil content, are important in their environmental
interpretation or typical feature.
 Note the colour, degree of fissility, sedimentary structures and
mineral, organic or fossil content.
 Limestones
 Limestones, like sandstones, can be described in only a limited
way in the field.
 The details are revealed through studies of thin-sections and
peels.
 Three components make up the majority of limestones:
carbonate grains, lime mud/micrite (micro-crystalline calcite)
and cement (usually calcite spar, also fibrous calcite).
 The principal grains are bioclasts (skeletal grains/fossils), ooids,
peloids and intraclasts.
 Many limestones are directly analogous to sandstones, consisting
of sand-sized carbonate grains, which were moved around on the
seafloor.
 Others can be compared with mudrocks, being fine grained and
composed of lithified lime mud (i.e., micrite or lime mudstone).
 Some limestones are formed in situ by the growth of carbonate
skeletons as in reef limestones or through trapping and binding
of sediment by microbial mats (formerly algal mats) as in
stromatolites and microbial laminites.
 Limestones are normally composed of just low-Mg calcite, with
original aragonite components replaced by calcite, and the
magnesium lost from original high-Mg calcite.
 Other diagenetic changes important in limestones are
dolomitisation and silicification.
 Although the majority of carbonate successions in the
geological record are shallow-marine in origin (supratidal to
shallow subtidal), limestones are also deposited in deeper water
as pelagic and turbidite beds, and in lakes.
 Nodular limestones, which may also be laminated and peloidal,
can develop in soils and are called calcretes or caliches.
 Limestone Composition
 Skeletal grains (bioclasts/fossils) are the dominant
constituents of many Phanerozoic limestones.
 The types of skeletal grain present depend on
environmental factors during sedimentation (e.g. water
temperature, depth and salinity) as well as on the state of
invertebrate evolution and diversity at the time.
 The main organism groups contributing skeletal material
are the molluscs (bivalves and gastropods), brachiopods,
corals, echinoderms (especially the crinoids), bryozoans,
calcareous algae, stromatoporoids and foraminifera.
 Dolomites
 The majority of dolomites, especially those of the Phanerozoic,
have formed by replacement of limestones.
 This dolomitisation can take place soon after deposition, i.e.,
penecontemporaneously and notably upon high intertidal–
supratidal flats in semi-arid regions, or later during shallow-
burial or deeper-burial diagenesis.
 Early-formed, peritidal dolomite is typically very fine-grained
and is associated with structures indicative of supratidal
conditions: desiccation cracks, vaporites and their pseudomorphs,
microbial laminites.
 Later diagenetic dolomitisation can vary from local replacement
of certain grains, or just the lime–mud matrix and not the grains,
or just burrows, or it may affect the whole limestone bed, the
formation or just a particular facies.
 Evaporites
 Most gypsum at outcrop is very finely crystalline and occurs as white to pink
nodular masses within mudrocks (which are commonly red) or as closely
packed nodules with thin stringers of sediment between (chickenwire
Texture)
 Irregular and contorted layers of gypsum forms the enterolithic texture.
 Nodular and enterolithic textures are typical of gypsum-anhydrite
precipitated in a marine sabkha (supratidal) environment,
 so that other peritidal sediments may be interbedded (e.g., microbial
laminites/stromatolites, fenestral lime mudstones/dismicrites), or in a
continental sabkha, where fluvial and aeolian sediments may be associated.
 Beds of gypsum may also consist of large (up to a metre or more) twinned
crystals (selenite), normally arranged vertically.
 This type of gypsum is typical of shallow-subaqueous precipitation.
 Gypsum can be reworked by waves and storms to form gypsarenite, which
displays current structures, and re-sedimented to form turbidites and
slumps.
 Gypsum interlaminated with organic matter or calcite is typical of
subaqueous (deeper water) precipitation.
 Ironstone
 A great variety of sedimentary rocks is included under the term ironstone and there are
minerals present
Chemical iron-rich sediments
 A: Cherty iron-formation: iron minerals include hematite, magnetite, siderite, commonly in
a fine lamination alternating with chert, but other varieties; mostly Precambrian.
 B: Ironstone: textures similar to limestone with oolitic varieties typical; iron minerals
include chamosite-berthierine, goethite, hematite; mostly Phanerozoic.

Iron-rich mudrocks
 A: Pyritic mudrocks: pyritic nodules and laminae, often in black or bituminous shales,
usually marine
 B: Sideritic mudrocks: mostly nodules in organic-rich mudrocks; often non-marine.

Other iron-rich deposits

 A: Fe–Mn oxide-rich sediments: in oceanic facies, often associated with pillow lavas,
hydrothermal activity or pelagic limestones.
 B: Iron-rich laterites and soils: often developed at unconformities, on lavas.
 C: Bog-iron ores: rarely preserved in rock record.
 D: Placer deposits, especially with magnetite and ilmenite.
Ironstone
 Cherts
 Two varieties of chert are distinguished: bedded and nodular.
 Most bedded cherts are found in relatively deep-water
successions and are equivalent to the radiolarian and diatom
siliceous oozes of the modern ocean floors.
 The chert beds are usually some 3–10 cm thick, with thin (< 1
cm) shale partings between.
 With a hand-lens on a fresh fracture surface (conchoidal
fracture is typical), you can sometimes see the radiolarians in a
chert sample as minute round specks about 14 – 12 mm across; a
thin-section is required to check their presence.
 Although many beds of chert appear massive, they can possess
cross-lamination and graded bedding as a result of reworking on
the seafloor or re-sedimentation into deeper water.
 Nodular cherts are common in limestones and some other
lithologies and form by diagenetic replacement.
 In some cases there is a nucleus, such as a fossil (echinoid,
sponge, etc.) around which replacement has proceeded;
 In others, the nodules occur regularly spaced at particular
horizons.
 Flint is a popular name for chert nodules occurring in
Cretaceous chalks.
 In many cases, the flint has precipitated within burrow
systems, which were originally filled with sediment a little
coarser than the surrounding chalk.
Chert
Assignment: Please, read this paper
and:

1. Explain what is done in the paper

in one sentence.
2. Explain what is found (main
results) in one sentence.
3. Briefly explain the geology of the
Volta Basin of Ghana based on the
findings of the paper.
4. Which economic resources can be
exploited from the Volta Basin
and from which geological
formations?

NB: Plagiarism is a criminal offense

and will attract zero marks and
punishment. Use your own sentences
in your answers to the questions.
 Stability of minerals
 Some grains and minerals are mechanically and chemically more stable
than others.
 Minerals, in decreasing order of stability, are quartz, muscovite,
microcline, orthoclase, plagioclase, hornblende, biotite, pyroxene and
olivine (Bowen rxn series).
 A useful concept is that of compositional maturity; immature
sandstones contain many unstable grains (rock fragments, feldspars and
mafic minerals).
 Mature sandstones consist of quartz, some feldspar and some rock
fragments, whereas supermature sandstones consist almost entirely of
quartz.
 In general, compositionally immature sandstones are deposited close to
the source area, whereas supermature sandstones result from long
distance transport and much reworking.
 The minerals present in a sandstone thus depend on the geology of the
source area, the degree of weathering there, and the length of the
transport path.
 Sedimentary Structures
 They are the internal megascopic features of a sediment and
are distinguished from the microscopic structural features of a
sediment, thus, the fabric.
 Sedimentary structures are arbitrarily divided into primary and
secondary classes.
 Primary structures are those generated in a sediment during or
shortly after deposition (penecontemporaneously).
 They result mainly from physical processes.
 Examples of primary structures include ripple marks, cross-
bedding, slumps, etc.
 Secondary sedimentary structures are those that formed
sometime after sedimentation.
 They result from essentially chemical processes, such as those
which lead to the diagenetic formation of concretions.
 Primary sedimentary structures are divisible into inorganic
structures, including those already mentioned and organic
structures, such as burrows, and trails.
 Predepositional Structures
 Predepositional sedimentary structures occur on surfaces between
beds. They were formed before the deposition of the overlying bed.
The majority of this group of structures are erosional in origin.
 The common structures of this group are the flute, groove and
tool marks, which occur on the undersurfaces (soles) of beds, scour
structures in general and channels.

Flute casts
 Flute casts are readily identifiable from their shape.
 In plan, on the bedding undersurface, they are elongated to
triangular (‘heel-shaped’) with a pointed upstream end.
 In section they are asymmetric,
 Flute marks vary in length from several to tens of
centimeters.
 Flutes form through erosion of a muddy sediment surface
by eddies in a passing turbulent current and then the marks
are filled with sediment as the flow decelerates.
 Flute marks are reliable indicators of paleocurrent
direction; their orientation should be measured
 Groove casts
 Groove casts are elongated ridges on bed undersurfaces,
ranging in width from a few millimetres to several tens of
centimetres.
 They may fade out laterally, after several meters, or persist
across the exposure.
 Groove casts on a bed undersurface may be parallel to each
other or they may show a variation in trend, up to several tens of
degrees or more.
 Groove casts form through the filling of grooves, cut chiefly by
objects (lumps of mud or wood, etc.) dragged along by a current.
 Groove casts are common on the undersurfaces of turbidites.
 Groove/gutter casts indicate the trend of the current and
their orientation.
 Tool marks
 These form when objects being carried by a current come into
contact with the sediment surface.
 The marks are referred to as prod, roll, brush, bounce and skip
marks, as appropriate, or simply as tool marks.
 An impression left by an object may be repeated several times,
if it was saltating (gliding/sliding along the bed).
 Objects making the marks are commonly mud clasts, pebbles,
fossils and plant debris.
 Once made, the impression of a tool may be eroded and
elongated parallel to the current direction.
 As with flutes and grooves, casts are formed when sediment
fills the tool mark and so they are usually seen on the soles of
sandstone and limestone beds.
 Scour marks and scoured surfaces
 These are structures formed by current erosion.
 The term scour mark would be used for a small-scale
erosional structure, generally less than a meter across,
cutting down several centimetres, and occurring on the base
of or within a bed.
 In plan, they are usually elongate in the current direction.
 With increasing size, scours grade into channels.
 The scoured surfaces are usually sharp and irregular with
some relief, but they can be smooth.
 Sole Marks - Load Casts
 Bulbous protrusions of denser sand into less dense
mud layers.

 Form due to density instability when sediment is still

soft (i.e., still unlithified).

 The sinking is triggered by the disturbance during a

possible earthquake, storm, or slump

 At greater depths, partially consolidated mud breaks

into pieces and sink into underlying sand, forming
disrupted bedding.
 Syn-depositional Structures
 Graded beds: Progressive fining of clast grain size, from
the base to the top of a bed;
 They form as a result of deposition by turbidity currents
(e.g., in turbidite – Bouma sequence).
 Can indicate which way is up provided the bed is not
inversely graded.
 Provide information for stratigraphic facing and possibly
current direction, e.g., if cross-beds are present.
 Must know what kind of depositional environment
deposited the bed – example:
 debris flows - deposit inverse graded beds,
 storm deposits (tempestites) & turbidites are typically
graded beds
 Graded beds
 These beds show grain-size changes from bottom to top.
 The most common is normal graded bedding, where the
coarsest particles at the base give way to finer particles
higher up.
 The upwards decrease in grain size can be shown by all
particles in the bed or by the coarsest particles only, with
little change in the grain-size of the matrix.
 Composite or multiple graded bedding is where there are
several graded units within one bed.
 Less commonly, reverse (or inverse) grading is developed, where
the grain-size increases upwards.
 This can occur throughout a bed, or more commonly it occurs in
the bottom few centimetres of the bed, with normal grading
following.
 Reverse grading may affect only the coarse particles.
 Graded bedding can be observed (and measured) in
conglomerates with no difficulty and in sandstones with the aid
of a hand-lens.
 Normal graded bedding usually results from deposition of waning
flows; that is as a flow decelerates the coarsest (heaviest)
particles are deposited first and then the finer particles.
 Such graded bedding is typical of turbidity current and storm-
current deposits.
 Composite graded bedding is usually the result of pulses in the
current.
 Reverse grading can arise from an increasing strength of flow
during sedimentation but more commonly from grain dispersion and
buoyancy effects.
 It commonly occurs in the deposits of high-concentrated
sediment–water mixtures.
 Laminae deposited on beaches by swash–backwash are commonly
reversely graded, as are cross-beds deposited by avalanching and
grain flow.
 Cross Beds provide information for facing and possibly current direction

• Cross beds: Are surfaces within a thicker,

master bed that are oblique to the bedding
in the master bed
• Defined by subtle parting or concentration
of grains
• Form when grains move from the windward
or upstream side of a dune ripple, toward
the leeward or downstream side
• Topset: thin, usually concave upward,
laminations parallel to the upper master
bedding.
• Foreset: inclined, curved, laminations or
beds deposited parallel to the slip face.
These merge with the topset and
bottomset beds. Foresets define the
cross beds.
• Bottomset: thin laminations parallel to the
bottom master bedding
 Erosion truncates the topset and upper part of the foreset,
juxtaposing younger bottomsets on the older foreset; this
forms higher foreset angles at the upper bedding compared
to the tangential angles below (used for facing).

 The foreset beds are inclined at an angle to the main planes

of stratification.
Truncated at top
Tangential at bottom .
Dip direction indicates transport direction
 Cross-stratification
 Cross-stratification is an
internal sedimentary
structure of many sand-
grade, and coarser,
sedimentary rocks and
consists of a stratification
at an angle to the principal
bedding direction.
 Much cross-stratification
is formed as a result of
deposition during the
migration of ripples, dunes
and sand-waves.
 Tidal cross-bedding
 There are several features of cross-bedding, which indicate deposition by
tidal currents.
 Herringbone cross-bedding refers to bipolar cross-bedding, where cross-bed
dips of adjacent sets are oriented in opposite directions.
 Herringbone cross-bedding is produced by reversals of the current, causing
dunes and sand-waves to change their direction of migration.
 It is a characteristic but not all the cases a feature of tidal-sand deposits.
 In many cases tidal cross-bedding is all unidirectional, since one tidal current
is much stronger than the other.
 However, there may be subtle features to indicate a tidal origin: there may
be mud drapes on cross-bed surfaces, reflecting deposition from slack water
during tidal current reversals.
 Or there may be thin lenses of ripples and cross-lamination within the cross-
beds with a current direction opposite to that of the cross-beds (that is, up
the lee slope of the sand-wave/dune), indicating a weak, reverse-flow tidal
current.
 Aeolian cross-bedding
 Compared with cross-bedding of subaqueous origin, cross-
bedding produced by wind action generally forms sets, which
are much thicker, and the crossbeds themselves dip at higher
angles.
 Sets of aeolian cross-beds are typically several metres (up to
30 m) in height.
 Cross-beds can be trough or planar in shape and they most
commonly have tangential bases.
 Foresets commonly dip up to angles in excess of 30◦.
 By way of contrast, crossbedding formed subaqueously is
generally less than 2 m in thickness and cross-bed dips are
generally less than 25◦.
 Ripple Marks
 Ridges and valleys on the surface of a bed, formed due to current flow.

(1) Oscillation or Symmetric Ripple Marks

• Oscillation wave-produced ripples (current moving in two opposite
directions)
• Crests are pointed and troughs are curved
• Symmetrical concave up small-scale (amplitude < 6") cross
stratification.
• Good facing indicator
(2) Current or Asymmetric Ripple Marks
• Asymmetric cross stratification produced by current moving in one
direction; i.e., uniformly flowing current
• Good current direction indicator
Current ripples, dunes and sand-waves
 Current ripples are produced by unidirectional currents so
they are asymmetric with a steep lee-side (downstream) and
gentle stoss-side (upstream).
 On the basis of shape, three types of current ripples are
common: straight-crested, sinuous or undulatory, and
linguoid ripples, with increasing flow velocity of the current,
straight-crested ripples pass into linguoid ripples via the
transitional sinuous ripples.
 The ripple index of current ripples is generally between 8
and 15.
 Wind ripples and dunes
 These are asymmetric structures like current ripples.
 Wind ripples typically have long, straight, parallel crests
with bifurcations like wave-formed ripples.
 The ripple index is high. Wind ripples are rarely preserved.
 The dunes produced by wind action are also rarely
preserved themselves, but the cross-stratification
produced by their migration is a feature of ancient desert
sandstones.
 Climbing-ripple cross-lamination
 When ripples are migrating and much sediment is being
deposited, especially out of suspension, ripples will climb up
the backs of those down current to form climbing-ripple
cross-lamination, also called ripple-drift.
 Mud Cracks
 Polygon shape in map view.

 Result from desiccation into an array of polygons separated

by mud cracks.

 Thin (typically sand filled) fractures that taper down in

cross section because each polygon curls upwards along its
margin.

 Good facing indicator (individual cracks taper downward.

Mud Cracks
 Classification of Sedimentary Rocks
 For the identification of sedimentary rocks in the field, two
principal properties are considered – composition (mineralogy) and
grain size (texture).
 On the basis of origin, sedimentary rocks can be classified
broadly into four categories;
 The most common lithologies are the sandstones, mud
rocks and Carbonates/carbonate-bearing rocks.
 Other types – evaporites, ironstones, cherts and
phosphates – are rare or only locally well developed, and
volcaniclastics are important in some places.
 NB: In some cases you may have to think twice as to
whether the rock is even sedimentary in origin or not.
 Greywacke, for example, can look very much like dolerite or
basalt, especially in hand-specimens away from the outcrop.
Parameters generally indicating a sediments origin include the
presence of;
 stratification
 specific minerals of sedimentary origin (e.g., glauconite,
chamosite)
 sedimentary structures on bedding surfaces and within beds
 fossils
 grains or pebbles which have been transported (i.e. clasts).
 Terrigenous clastic rocks
 These are dominated by detrital grains (especially, silicate
minerals and rock fragments) and include sandstones, conglomerates,
breccia and mudrocks.
 Sandstones are composed of grains chiefly between 1/16 and 2 mm
in diameter.
 Bedding is usually obvious and sedimentary structures are common
within the beds and upon the bedding surfaces.
 Conglomerates and breccias also referred to as rudites, consist of
large clasts (pebbles, cobbles and boulders), more rounded in
conglomerates, more angular in breccias, with or without a sandy or
muddy matrix.
 Mudrocks are fine-grained with particles mostly less than 1/16 mm
in diameter, and are dominated by clay minerals and silt-grade quartz.
 Many mudrocks are poorly bedded and also poorly exposed. Colour is
highly variable, due to the fossil content.
 DIFFERENT CATERGORIES OF CLASTIC ROCKS

 RUDACEOUS ROCKS: made up of rounded or sub-rounded

Pebbles and cobbles e.g. Conglomerate.

 ARENACEOUS ROCKS: made up of mainly sand e.g.

Sandstone. These rocks are either accumulated by wind
action or deposited under water action or marine or lake
environment.

 ARGILLACEOUS ROCKS: made up of clay size sediments

e.g. Shale, mudstones, siltstones.
 Sandstones
 Sandstones are composed of five principal ingredients; rock
fragments (lithic grains), quartz grains, feldspar grains, matrix and
cement.
 The matrix consists of clay minerals and silt-grade quartz, and in
most cases this fine-grained material is deposited along with the
sand grains.
 It can form from the diagenetic breakdown of labile (unstable)
grains, however, clay minerals can be precipitated in pores during
diagenesis.
 Cement is precipitated around and between grains, also during
diagenesis, common cementing agents are quartz and calcite.
 Diagenetic hematite stains a sandstone red.
 The composition of sandstone is largely a reflection of the geology
and climate of the source area.
Field exposures of sandstones (a–d) in the Kwahu/Bombouaka and
Oti/Pendjari groups
 Limestones and dolomites
 Limestones are composed of more than 50% CaCO3 and so the
standard test is to apply dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl). The rock will
fizz.
 Many limestones are a shade of grey, but white, black, red, buff,
cream and yellow are also common colours.
 Fossils are commonly present, in some cases in large numbers.
 Dolomites (also dolostones) are composed of more than 50%
CaMg(CO3)2.
 They react little with dilute acid (although a better fizz will be
obtained if the dolomite is powdered first).
 Most dolomites have formed by replacement of limestone and as a
result in many cases the original structures are poorly preserved.
 Poor preservation of fossils and the presence of vugs (irregular holes)
are typical of dolomites.
 Dolomite

Limestone

Limestone Dolomite
Discontinuous limestone layers from central Turkey Massive limestone layers from central Turkey

Brecciated dolomite from central Turkey

 Other Lithologies
 Gypsum is the only evaporite mineral occurring commonly at the
Earth’s surface, mostly as nodules of very small crystals in
mudrock, although veins of fibrous gypsum (satin spar) are
usually associated.
 Evaporites such as anhydrite and halite are encountered at the
surface only in very arid areas.
 Ironstones include bedded, nodular, oolitic and replacement
types.
 They commonly weather to a rusty yellow or brown colour at
outcrop. Some ironstones feel heavy relative to other sediments.
 Cherts are mostly cryptocrystalline to microcrystalline
siliceous rocks, occurring as very hard bedded units or nodules in
other lithologies (particularly limestones).
 Many cherts are dark grey to black, or red.
 Sedimentary phosphate deposits or phosphorites consist mostly of
concentrations of bone fragments and/or phosphate nodules.
 The phosphate itself is usually cryptocrystalline, dull on a fresh
fracture surface with a brownish or black colour.
 Organic sediments such as hard coal, brown coal (lignite) and peat
should be familiar, and oil shale can be recognized by its smell and dark
colour.
 Volcaniclastic sediments which include the tuffs, are composed of
material of volcanic origin, chiefly lava fragments, volcanic glass and
crystals.
 Volcaniclastics are variable in colour, although many are a shade of
green through chlorite replacement.
 They are commonly highly weathered at outcrop. The term pyroclastic
refers to material derived directly from volcanic activity, whereas the
term epiclastic is used to refer to ‘secondary’ sediments such as debris
flow and fluvial deposits resulting from the reworking of pyroclastic
material. from the reworking of pyroclastic material.
 The accepted classification of sandstones is based on the
percentages of quartz (+chert), feldspar, rock fragments and
matrix in the rock.
 Sandstones containing an additional, non-detrital component,
such as carbonate grains (ooids, bioclasts, etc.), are referred
to as hybrid sandstones and are described in succeeding
sections.
 The composition of a sandstone is based on a modal analysis
determined from a thin-section of the rock using a petrological
microscope and a point counter.
 Quartz arenites
 Compositionally supermatured and clean, these sandstones are
typical of, but not restricted to, high-energy shallow-marine
environments, and also aeolian (wind-blown) sands in deserts.
 Sedimentary structures are common, especially cross-
stratification, on small, medium and large scales.
 Since only quartz is present, the colour of quartz arenites is
commonly white or pale grey, especially those of shallow-marine
environments.
 Aeolian quartz arenites are commonly red through the presence of
finely disseminated hematite which coats grains.
 Quartz and calcite cements are common.
 Quartz arenites also form through leaching of a sediment, when
the unstable grains are dissolved out.
 Lithic arenites
 Lithic arenites are very variable in composition and
appearance, depending largely on the types of rock fragment
present.
 In phyllarenites, fragments of argillaceous sedimentary
rock are dominant, and in calclithites, limestone fragments
predominate.
 Lithic grains of igneous and metamorphic origin are common
in some lithic arenites.
 In the field, it is usually sufficient to identify a rock as
being a lithic arenite; a more precise classification would
have to come from a petrographic study.
 Many lithic arenites are deltaic and fluvial sediments, but
they can be deposited in any environment.
 Arkoses
 Arkoses (feldspathic arenite) can be recognized by the high
percentage of feldspar grains, although at outcrop these may be
altered, especially to kaolinite (a white clay mineral).
 Many arkoses are red or pink, in part due to the presence of pink
feldspars but also through hematite pigmentation.
 Some coarse-grained arkoses look like granites until you see the
bedding.
 In many, grains are sub angular to sub rounded and sorting is
moderate; a considerable amount of matrix may be present between
grains.
 Relatively rapid erosion and deposition under a semi-arid climate
produce many arkoses.
 Fluvial systems (alluvial fan, braided stream) are typical depositional
environments for arkoses, especially if granites and granite–gneisses
are exposed in the source area.
 Greywackes
 Greywackes are mostly hard, light to dark grey rocks with
abundant matrix.
 Feldspar and lithic grains are common and often clearly
identifiable with a hand-lens.
 Although greywackes are not environmentally restricted, many
were deposited by turbidity currents in relatively deep-water
basins and so show sedimentary structures typical of turbidites
(sole structures, graded bedding and internal laminae).
 Greywackes commonly grade upwards into mudrocks.
Greywacke
 Conglomerates and Breccias
 The key features which are important in the description of
conglomerates and breccias are the types of clast present and
the texture of the rock.
 Other terms used for these coarse siliciclastic sediments are
rudite (simply a coarse sedimentary rock) and
 diamictite – any poorly sorted terrigenous, generally non-
calcareous, pebble–sand–mud mixture (diamicton is the term if
uncemented).
 Mixtite has also been used. The term megabreccia is used for a
deposit of very large blocks.
 On the basis of clast origin, intraformational and
extraformational conglomerates and breccias are distinguished.
 Intraformational clasts are pebbles derived from within the
basin of deposition; many of these are fragments of mudrock or
lime mudstone liberated by penecontemporaneous erosion on the
seafloor, river channel, etc., or by desiccation along a shoreline,
lake margin, tidal flat, etc., with subsequent reworking
 Extraformational clasts are derived from outside the basin of
deposition and are thus older than the enclosing sediment. The
variety of clasts in a conglomerate should be examined:
 Polymictic conglomerates are those with several or many
different types of clast; oligomictic (or monomictic)
conglomerates are those with just one type of clast.
 The nature of the extraformational clasts in a conglomerate or
breccia is important since it can gives useful information on the
provenance of the deposit, and on the rocks exposed there at
the time.
 Mudrocks
 Mudrocks are the most abundant of all lithologies but they are
often difficult to describe in the field because of their fine
grain-size.
 Mudrock is a general term for sediments composed chiefly of
silt (4 to 62 μm) and clay (< 4 μm) sized particles.
 Siltstone and claystone are sediments dominated by silt- and
clay-grade material, respectively.
 Claystones can be recognized by their extremely fine grain-size
and usually homogeneous appearance; mudrocks containing silt or
sand have a ‘gritty’ feel when crunched between your teeth.
 Shales are characterized by the property of fissility, the ability
to split into thin sheets generally parallel to the bedding; many
shales are laminated.
 Mudstones are non-fissile and many have a blocky or
massive texture.
 Argillite refers to a more indurated mudrock, whereas
slate possesses a cleavage.
 A marl is a calcareous mudrock.
 Mudrocks grade into sandstones.
 Mudrocks are chiefly composed of clay minerals and silt-
grade quartz grains; other minerals may be present.
 Organic matter may reach several percent and higher, and
with increasing carbon content, the mudrock becomes
darker and eventually black in colour.
 A distinctive smell is produced by striking an organic-rich
rock with a hammer.
 Hit the rock and smell the end of the hammer.
 Nodules commonly develop in mudrocks, usually of calcite,
dolomite, siderite or pyrite.
 Fossils are present in many mudrocks, including microfossils,
which need to be extracted in the laboratory.
 However, macrofossils are commonly broken and compressed
through compaction of the mudrock during burial.
 Mudrocks can be deposited in practically any environment,
particularly river floodplain, lake, low-energy shoreline, lagoon,
delta, outer-marine shelf and deep-ocean basin.
 The sedimentological context of the mudrocks, together with
the fossil content, are important in their environmental
interpretation or typical feature.
 Note the colour, degree of fissility, sedimentary structures and
mineral, organic or fossil content.
 Limestones
 Limestones, like sandstones, can be described in only a limited
way in the field.
 The details are revealed through studies of thin-sections and
peels.
 Three components make up the majority of limestones:
carbonate grains, lime mud/micrite (micro-crystalline calcite)
and cement (usually calcite spar, also fibrous calcite).
 The principal grains are bioclasts (skeletal grains/fossils), ooids,
peloids and intraclasts.
 Many limestones are directly analogous to sandstones, consisting
of sand-sized carbonate grains, which were moved around on the
seafloor.
 Others can be compared with mudrocks, being fine grained and
composed of lithified lime mud (i.e., micrite or lime mudstone).
 Some limestones are formed in situ by the growth of carbonate
skeletons as in reef limestones or through trapping and binding
of sediment by microbial mats (formerly algal mats) as in
stromatolites and microbial laminites.
 Limestones are normally composed of just low-Mg calcite, with
original aragonite components replaced by calcite, and the
magnesium lost from original high-Mg calcite.
 Other diagenetic changes important in limestones are
dolomitisation and silicification.
 Although the majority of carbonate successions in the
geological record are shallow-marine in origin (supratidal to
shallow subtidal), limestones are also deposited in deeper water
as pelagic and turbidite beds, and in lakes.
 Nodular limestones, which may also be laminated and peloidal,
can develop in soils and are called calcretes or caliches.
 Limestone Composition
 Skeletal grains (bioclasts/fossils) are the dominant
constituents of many Phanerozoic limestones.
 The types of skeletal grain present depend on
environmental factors during sedimentation (e.g. water
temperature, depth and salinity) as well as on the state of
invertebrate evolution and diversity at the time.
 The main organism groups contributing skeletal material
are the molluscs (bivalves and gastropods), brachiopods,
corals, echinoderms (especially the crinoids), bryozoans,
calcareous algae, stromatoporoids and foraminifera.
 Dolomites
 The majority of dolomites, especially those of the Phanerozoic,
have formed by replacement of limestones.
 This dolomitisation can take place soon after deposition, i.e.,
penecontemporaneously and notably upon high intertidal–
supratidal flats in semi-arid regions, or later during shallow-
burial or deeper-burial diagenesis.
 Early-formed, peritidal dolomite is typically very fine-grained
and is associated with structures indicative of supratidal
conditions: desiccation cracks, vaporites and their pseudomorphs,
microbial laminites.
 Later diagenetic dolomitisation can vary from local replacement
of certain grains, or just the lime–mud matrix and not the grains,
or just burrows, or it may affect the whole limestone bed, the
formation or just a particular facies.
 Evaporites
 Most gypsum at outcrop is very finely crystalline and occurs as white to pink
nodular masses within mudrocks (which are commonly red) or as closely
packed nodules with thin stringers of sediment between (chickenwire
Texture)
 Irregular and contorted layers of gypsum forms the enterolithic texture.
 Nodular and enterolithic textures are typical of gypsum-anhydrite
precipitated in a marine sabkha (supratidal) environment,
 so that other peritidal sediments may be interbedded (e.g., microbial
laminites/stromatolites, fenestral lime mudstones/dismicrites), or in a
continental sabkha, where fluvial and aeolian sediments may be associated.
 Beds of gypsum may also consist of large (up to a metre or more) twinned
crystals (selenite), normally arranged vertically.
 This type of gypsum is typical of shallow-subaqueous precipitation.
 Gypsum can be reworked by waves and storms to form gypsarenite, which
displays current structures, and re-sedimented to form turbidites and
slumps.
 Gypsum interlaminated with organic matter or calcite is typical of
subaqueous (deeper water) precipitation.
 Ironstone
 A great variety of sedimentary rocks is included under the term ironstone and there are
minerals present
Chemical iron-rich sediments
 A: Cherty iron-formation: iron minerals include hematite, magnetite, siderite, commonly in
a fine lamination alternating with chert, but other varieties; mostly Precambrian.
 B: Ironstone: textures similar to limestone with oolitic varieties typical; iron minerals
include chamosite-berthierine, goethite, hematite; mostly Phanerozoic.

Iron-rich mudrocks
 A: Pyritic mudrocks: pyritic nodules and laminae, often in black or bituminous shales,
usually marine
 B: Sideritic mudrocks: mostly nodules in organic-rich mudrocks; often non-marine.

Other iron-rich deposits

 A: Fe–Mn oxide-rich sediments: in oceanic facies, often associated with pillow lavas,
hydrothermal activity or pelagic limestones.
 B: Iron-rich laterites and soils: often developed at unconformities, on lavas.
 C: Bog-iron ores: rarely preserved in rock record.
 D: Placer deposits, especially with magnetite and ilmenite.
Ironstone
 Cherts
 Two varieties of chert are distinguished: bedded and nodular.
 Most bedded cherts are found in relatively deep-water
successions and are equivalent to the radiolarian and diatom
siliceous oozes of the modern ocean floors.
 The chert beds are usually some 3–10 cm thick, with thin (< 1
cm) shale partings between.
 With a hand-lens on a fresh fracture surface (conchoidal
fracture is typical), you can sometimes see the radiolarians in a
chert sample as minute round specks about 14 – 12 mm across; a
thin-section is required to check their presence.
 Although many beds of chert appear massive, they can possess
cross-lamination and graded bedding as a result of reworking on
the seafloor or re-sedimentation into deeper water.
 Nodular cherts are common in limestones and some other
lithologies and form by diagenetic replacement.
 In some cases there is a nucleus, such as a fossil (echinoid,
sponge, etc.) around which replacement has proceeded;
 In others, the nodules occur regularly spaced at particular
horizons.
 Flint is a popular name for chert nodules occurring in
Cretaceous chalks.
 In many cases, the flint has precipitated within burrow
systems, which were originally filled with sediment a little
coarser than the surrounding chalk.
Chert
 Deformational Sedimentary Structures
 Where a sediment mass is internally deformed during downslope
movement, then the term slump is more appropriate.
 A slumped mass typically shows folding; recumbent folds,
asymmetric anticlines and synclines, and thrust folds are
common, on all scales.
 Fold axes are oriented parallel to the strike of the slope, and
the direction of overturning of folds is downslope.
 It is thus worth measuring the orientation of fold axes and
axial planes of slump folds to ascertain the direction of slumping
and so the paleoslope.
 Slumps and slides range from meters to kilometers in size.
 Many are triggered by earthquake shocks.
 Paleocurrent Analysis
 The preceding analysis of sedimentary structures shows
that they can be used to determine depositional processes.
 This is because depositional processes occur in several
environments, few structures are immediately diagnostic of
a specific environment; assemblages of structures are most
useful.
They can also indicate the direction of paleocurrent flow,
paleo slope, paleogeography, and sand-body trend.
 Paleocurrent analysis, forms an integral part of facies
analysis.
 Data collection
 A wide range of sedimentary structures can be used in paleocurrent
analysis.
 Some structures yield only the sense of current flow, others yield
both sense and direction.
 Examples of the first group include groove marks, channels, washouts
and parting lineation.
 Examples of the second group include pebble imbrication, cross-
lamination, cross-bedding, slump folds, flute marks/casts, and the
asymmetric profiles of ripples.
 The measurement of the orientation of sedimentary structures must
be done with care.
 At least some detailed notes on stratigraphy, lithology, facies, and
fauna.
 At each station it is necessary to record structural dip and strike.
 The orientation of the structures should be recorded,
including both the azimuth and dip of planar structures that
need correction.
 For linear structures and for planar structures in outcrops
of low tectonic dip only the azimuth need to be recorded.
 At the same time, it is necessary to note the type and scale
of the structure and the lithology in which it occurs.
 The number of readings that needs to be measured at a
sample station is a matter for debate and may fortunately be
dictated by the size of the exposure.
 Sedimentary Texture
 Sedimentary texture is a valuable tool for environmental analysis.
 Along with other properties of these rocks, it helps to characterize
and distinguish them from other types of rocks and it aids in their
correlation.
 Furthermore, the texture of sedimentary rocks affects such
derived properties of these rocks as porosity, permeability, bulk
density, electrical conductivity, and sound transmissibility.
 These derived properties are of particular interest to petroleum
geologists, hydrologists, and geophysicists.
 Sedimentary texture encompasses three fundamental properties of
sedimentary rocks: grain size, grain shape (form, roundness, and
surface texture [micro relief] of grains), and fabric (grain packing
and orientation).
 Grain size and shape are properties of individual grains.
 Fabric is a property of grain aggregates.
 Grain Size
 Natural siliciclastic particles range in size from clay to boulders.
 Due to this wide range of sizes, the most useful grade scales for
expressing particle size are logarithmic or geometric scales that
have a fixed ratio between successive elements of the series.
 The grade scale most widely used by sedimentologists is the
Udden–Wentworth scale.
 The Udden–Wentworth scale extends from < 1/256mm (0.0039
mm) to > 256 mm and is divided into four major size categories
(clay, silt, sand, and gravel).
 Some of these major size categories can be further subdivided.
 The grain-size of a sediment may fine or coarsen upwards
through the bed to give a graded bed.
 Normal graded bedding is most common with the coarsest
particles at the base, but inverse (or reverse) grading also
occurs, with a coarsening upward of grains.
 In some instances a bed may show no grain-size sorting at all.
 Composite graded bedding denotes a bed with several fining-
upward units within it.
 The grain-size of siliciclastic sediments reflects the hydraulic
energy of the environment.
 Coarser sediments are transported and deposited by faster
flowing and high energy currents than finer sediments.
 Mudrocks tend to accumulate in quieter water.
 The sorting of a sandstone reflects the depositional process,
and this improves with increasing agitation and reworking.

 In contrast, the grain-size of carbonate sediments generally

reflects the size of the organism’s skeletons and calcified hard
parts which make up the sediment, these can also be affected
by currents.
 Grain Morphology
 The morphology of grains has three aspects: shape (or
form), determined by various ratios of the long,
intermediate and short axes
sphericity, a measure of how closely the grain shape
approaches that of a sphere
Roundness, concerned with the curvature of the corners of
the grain.
 For shape, four classes are recognized – spheres, discs,
blades and rods.
 Based on ratios involving the long (L), intermediate (I) and
short (S) axes.
 Roundness is more significant than sphericity as a
descriptive parameter and for most purposes the simple terms
of the figure below are sufficient.

 These terms can be applied to grains in sandstones and to

pebbles in conglomerates.

 In general, the roundness of grains and pebbles is a

reflection of transport distance or degree of reworking.
 Sediment Fabric
 Fabric refers to the mutual arrangements of grains in a sediment.
 It includes the orientation of grains and their packing.
 Fabrics may be produced during sedimentation or later during burial and
through tectonic processes.
 Preferred orientations of particles arise from interaction with the
depositional medium (water, ice, wind) and can be both parallel to (the
more common), and normal to, the flow direction.
 Tabular and disc-shaped pebbles or fossils commonly show imbrication.
 In this fabric, they overlap each other (like a pack of cards), dipping in
an upstream direction
 This can be a useful texture for deducing the palaeocurrent direction
 The amount of fine-grained matrix and the matrix–grain
relationship affect the packing and fabric of a sediment.

 These properties are important in interpretations of

depositional mechanism and environment.

 Where grains in a sediment are in contact, the sediment is

grain-supported .

 However, where the grains are not in contact, the sediment is

matrix-supported.
Conglomerate with a clast-support fabric, crude normal
graded bedding and well-developed imbrication (elongate,
flat clasts dipping down to the left)
 With sandstones and limestones, grain-support fabric with no
mud generally indicates reworking by currents and/or
waves/wind, or deposition from turbulent flows where
suspended sediment (mud) is separated from coarser bed load.

 Limestones with matrix support-fabric, such as a wacke stone,

mostly reflect quiet-water sedimentation.
 Sediment Maturity
 The maturity of sediments can either be compositional or
textural.
 The degree of sorting, the roundness and the matrix
content in a sandstone contribute towards the textural
maturity of the sediment.
 Texturally immature sandstones are poorly sorted with
angular grains and some matrix, whereas texturally
supermature sandstones are well sorted with well-rounded
grains and no matrix.
 Textural maturity generally increases with the amount of
reworking or distance travelled;
 For example, aeolian and beach sandstones are typically
mature to supermature, whereas fluvial sandstones are less
matured.
Sedimentary Depositional
Environments
WHAT IS A SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENT?

 A sedimentary environment is an area of the earth's surface

where sediment(s) is/are deposited.
 It can be distinguished from other areas on the basis of its
physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the
observed sediments.
 Before studying ancient sedimentary environments, it is helpful
to consider the types of sedimentary environments present on
the earth today.
Depositional Environments
 CONTINENTAL ENVIRONMENTS

 Continental environments are those environments which are

present on the continents.
 Continental Deposits
Glacial: glacial sediment = unsorted mix of unweathered clasts in a
clay matrix.
Alluvial Fan: coarse, arkosic sandstones and conglomerates,
marked by cross-bedding and lens-shaped channel deposits.
Form where a river emerges on to a valley floor from a
mountain chain.
River Channel: lenses of conglomerate or sandstone (arkosic or
sand-size rock fragments). Typically cross-bedded
with ripple marks.
 Alluvial fans
 Fan-shaped deposits formed
at the base of mountains.
 Alluvial fans are most
common in arid and semi-arid
regions where rainfall is
infrequent but torrential, and
erosion is rapid.
 Alluvial fan sediment is
typically coarse, poorly-
sorted gravel and sand.
 Fluvial (River) environments

 Include braided and meandering river and stream systems.

 River channels, bars, levees, and floodplains are parts (or
sub-environments) of the fluvial environment.
 Channel deposits consist of coarse, rounded gravel, and
sand.
 Bars are made of sand or gravel.
 Levees are made of fine sand or silt.
 Floodplains are covered by silt and clay.
 River deposits
 Most rivers flow through loops
and bends called meanders
 In a meander, water must flow
further along the outside of the
meander bend to keep up with
the water on the inside of the
meander
 Water on the outside of the
meander bend flows faster and
erodes the outer bank
 Water on the inside of the
meander slows down, depositing
coarsest sediments that was
suspended in the water
 Sandstone reservoirs
 The well-sorted sand bars deposited on the inside of the river
meanders is called point bars.
 After a river abandons a meander, a clay plug that will become
shale is deposited in the channel.
 Buried point bar sandstones are often good oil and gas
reservoirs.
 Most river channel sandstones are deposited and preserved as
incised valley fill during a fall and rise of sea level.
 During sea level rise filled with sands.
 If the sands are overlain by a cap rock, it can form a gas or
oil trap.
 Lacustrine environments
 Lakes are diverse; they may be large or small, shallow or
deep, and filled with terrigenous, carbonate, or evaporitic
sediments.

 Fine sediment and organic matter settling in some lakes

produce laminated oil shales.
 Deserts (Aeolian or eolian environments)
 Usually contain vast areas where sand is deposited in dunes.

 Dune sands are cross-bedded, well sorted, and well rounded,

without associated gravel or clay.

 Can form excellent reservoir rocks if overlain by marsh

deposits or transgressed and overlain by offshore marine
deposits.
Dune Deposits
 Swamps (Paludal environments)
 Standing water with trees. Coal is deposited.
 TRANSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS
 Transitional environments are those environments at or near
the transition between the land and the sea.
 Deltas
 Fan-shaped deposits formed where a river flows into a
standing body of water, such as a lake or sea.

 Coarser sediment (sand) tends to be deposited near the

mouth of the river; finer sediments are carried seaward and
deposited in deeper water.

 Some well known deltas include the Niger River delta and
the Nile River delta.
Modern delta
 Delta deposits
 Deltas can be good environments for the formation and
accumulation of oil and gas.
 Nutrient-rich river flowing into the oceans causes large offshore
algal booms.
 The organic matter eventually falls to the sea bottom forming an
organic mud that is preserved as black shale in front of the delta.
 Sediments cover the black shale source rock as the delta is
deposited out into the ocean.
 The overlying delta sediments contain beach, and river channel
sandstone reservoir rocks.
 As the loose shale compacts, the delta on surface subsides and is
covered with marsh, swamp and river deposits.
 The oil and gas forms in the underlying source rocks and migrates
up into the sandstone reservoir rocks.
Beach, Barrier Island, Dune: a Barrier Island is an elongate sand
bar built by wave action. All are comprised of well-sorted quartz
sandstones with rounded grains.
Beach and Barrier Island: low angle cross-bedding and
marine fossils.
Dune: high-angle and low-angle cross-bedding and occasional
fossil footprints.
All 3 environments can also contain carbonate sand in tropical
areas producing cross-bedded clastic limestone.
 Beaches and barrier islands
 Shoreline deposits are exposed to wave energy and
dominated by sand with a marine fauna.

 Barrier islands are separated from the mainland by a

lagoon.

 They are commonly associated with tidal flat deposits.

 Shoreline deposits
 Beaches are long, narrow deposits of well sorted sands.

 Beach sands, called buttress sands, can be deposited on an

angular unconformity during rising seas and form giant oil
and gas field reservoirs
 Barrier Island

Beach
 Lagoons
 Are bodies of water on the landward side of barrier
islands.

 They are protected from the pounding of the ocean waves

by the barrier islands, and contain finer sediments than the
beaches (usually silt and mud).

 Lagoons are also present behind reefs, or in the center of

atolls.
 Tidal flats
 Border lagoons.
 They are periodically flooded and drained by tides.
 Tidal flats are areas of low relief, cut by meandering tidal
channels.
 Laminated or rippled clay, silt, and fine sand (either
terrigeneous or carbonate) may be deposited. Intense
burrowing is common.
 Stromatolites may be present if conditions are
appropriate.
 MARINE ENVIRONMENTS
 Marine environments are those environments in the seas or
oceans.
 Marine Deposits
Shallow Marine Shelves: grain size decreases offshore. Widespread
sandstones, siltstones, shales.
Sandstone & siltstone contains ripple marks, low-angle cross-beds, &
marine fossils.
If tidal flats near shore are alternately covered & exposed, mud-
cracked marine shales form.
Reefs: Massive limestone in core of reef, with steep beds of
limestone breccia forming seaward, horizontal beds of sand-sized
and finer-grained limestones form landward. All are full of fossil
fragments (coral, shells, etc.).
Deep Marine Deposits: shale = quiet deposition; greywacke
sandstones (with graded bedding and current ripple marks)
deposited by turbidity currents.
 Reefs
 Reefs are mounts of shells
 All reefs have a wave-resistant, calcium carbonate framework
of overlapping organic branches formed by a plant or animal.
 Other organisms live in the protection of the framework.
 Modern reefs have corals as framework; ancient reefs have
sponges, calcareous algae, clams and other organisms as
framework.
 Several types exist based on shape:
– Barrier reef grow parallel to a shoreline separated from the land by
lagoon.
– An atoll is a circular reef surrounding a central lagoon.
BARRIER REEF
Atoll
 Ancient reefs and atolls are prolific petroleum reservoirs,
especially in North America.
 The reef rock has the most original pore spaces.
 These spaces are often enhanced in the subsurface when
fresh waters percolate through the pores and dissolve the
limestone.
 In the lagoon, limestone mud called micrite was deposited. It
is not a reservoir rock.
 If the ancient reef is covered with a shale or salt cap rock it
forms a gas and oil trap.
 Continental shelf
 The flooded edge of the continent.

 The continental shelf is relatively flat (slope < 0.1o), shallow

(less than 200 m or 600 ft deep), and may be up to hundreds
of miles wide.

 Continental shelves are exposed to waves, tides, and

currents, and are covered by sand, silt, and mud.
Continental slope and continental rise
 Located seaward of the continental shelf.
 The continental slope is the steep (5- 25o) "drop-
off" at the edge of the continent.
 The continental slope passes seaward into the
continental rise, which has a more gradual slope.
 The continental rise is the site of deposition of
thick accumulations of sediment, much of which is in
submarine fans, deposited by turbidity currents.
Submarine fan
 Abyssal plain
 The abyssal plain is the deep ocean floor.

 It is basically flat, and is covered by very fine-grained

sediment, consisting primarily of clay and the shells of
microscopic organisms (such as foraminifera, radiolarians,
and diatoms).
Relationship between sandstone composition and depositional environment
 WHAT KINDS OF FEATURES HELP US TO IDENTIFY
ANCIENT SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENTS?

 Sedimentary rocks, which are exposed in many areas, contain

clues that help us to determine the sedimentary environment in
which they were deposited millions of years ago.
 By an examination of the physical, chemical, and biological
characteristics of the rock, we can determine the environment
of deposition.
 Each sedimentary environment has its unique combination of
physical, chemical, and biological features.
These features help us to identify the sedimentary environment
in which a rock was deposited.
Physical environment has “static” and dynamic elements
 Static: basin geometry, sediment composition, water depth,
etc.
 Dynamic: currents (wind, water), precipitation, climate

NB. The “static” variables actually change over geologic time,

e.g., basin shape, water depth.

 Chemical elements: pH, Eh, salinity, etc.

 Biological aspects: activities of organisms (burrowing, skeletal

particles, etc.) and their remains (e.g., peat)
 In lab, you will be examining hand specimens of
sedimentary rocks, describing their physical, chemical, and
biological features, and then, interpreting their possible
sedimentary environments of deposition.

 Geologists consider the characteristics that we will study

in lab, but they also study the geometry of the sedimentary
deposits, the vertical sequence in which the rocks occur, and
the paleocurrent directions.
 Certain generalizations can be made, which help in
identifying the depositional environment.

 For example, fluvial sequences become finer upward,

whereas delta and lacustrine sequences coarsen upward.

 These predictable changes occur because the environments

migrate over one another as sea level changes, or as a basin
fills with sediment.
 As a general rule, grain size is coarser in shallow water "high
energy" environments, where waves or currents are present.

 Waves and currents transport finer sediment offshore into "low

energy" environments, generally in deep, quiet water.

 Fine grain size indicates deposition in a "low energy", quiet

water environment.
 In some areas far from shore (or far from a source of
terrigenous input), only the shells of planktonic micro-
organisms contribute to the sediment.

 These microscopic shells accumulate to form rocks such as

chalk or diatomite.
Provide the names of the
numbered sedimentary
environments on the
figure below.

http://novella.mhhe.com/sites/0072402466/student_view0/chapter6/matching_quiz.html
 Plate Tectonics:
Earth's Plates and Continental
Drift
By
Emmanuel Daanoba SUNKARI

Email: edsunkari@umat.edu.gh
• Some questions we will answer today:

– How is the earth always changing?

– What forces inside the earth create and change
landforms on the surface?
– What is the theory of plate tectonics and how does it
work?
– What two theories help make up the theory of plate
tectonics?
– What is continental drift and sea floor spreading?
– What happens when the plates crash together, pull
apart, and slide against each other?
 The Earth’s Layers
• The Earth is made of many different and distinct layers. The
deeper layers are composed of heavier materials; they are
hotter, denser and under much greater pressure than the
outer layers.

• Natural forces interact with and affect the earth’s crust,

creating the landforms, or natural features, found on the
surface of the earth.
Before we start to look at the forces that contribute
to landforms,lets look at the different layers of
the earth that play a vital role in the formation of
our continents, mountains, volcanoes, etc.
 Crust

Mantle
Outer Core

Inner Core

crust - the rigid, rocky outer surface of the Earth, composed mostly of basalt
and granite. The crust is thinner under the oceans.
mantle - a rocky layer located under the crust - it is composed of silicon,
oxygen, magnesium, iron, aluminum, and calcium. Convection (heat) currents
carry heat from the hot inner mantle to the cooler outer mantle.
outer core - the molten iron-nickel layer that surrounds the inner core.
inner core - the solid iron-nickel center of the Earth that is very hot and under
great pressure.
DID YOU KNOW?
 Land and Water
• Photographs of the earth taken from space
show clearly that it is a truly a ”watery
planet.”
• More than 70 percent of the earth’s
surface is covered by water, mainly the
salt water of oceans and seas.
 Land
•The large landmasses in the oceans are called
continents.
• Landforms are commonly classified according to
differences in relief. The relief is the difference in
elevation between the highest and lowest points. Another
important characteristic is whether they rise gradually or
steeply.
• The major types of landforms are mountains, hills,
plateaus, and plains.
• Most people know that Earth is moving
around the Sun and that it is constantly
spinning.

• But did YOU know that the continents and

oceans are moving across the surface of the
planet?

• Volcanoes and earthquakes as well as

mountain ranges and islands all are results
of this movement.

• Why is this?
Plate Tectonics
• Most of these changes in the earth’s
surface take place so slowly that they are
not immediately noticeable to the human
eye.

• The idea that the earth’s landmasses have

broken apart, rejoined, and moved to other
parts of the globe forms part of the
– plate tectonic theory.
 Plate Tectonic Theory
About forty years ago, scientists exploring the seafloor found that it is full of tall
mountains and deep trenches, a single seafloor mountain chain circles Earth and
contains some of Earth’s tallest mountains.
Along this mountain chain is a deep crack in the top layers of earth. Here the
seafloor is pulling apart and the two parts are moving in opposite directions,
carrying along the continents and oceans that rest on top of them. These pieces of
Earth’s top layer (crust) are called tectonic plates. They are moving very slowly,
but constantly (Most plates are moving about as fast as your fingernails are
growing -- not very fast!). Currently Earth’s surface layers are divided into nine
very large plates and several smaller ones.
According to the theory of plate tectonics, the
earth’s outer shell is not one solid piece of
rock. Instead the earth’s crust is broken into
a number of moving plates. The plates vary
in size and thickness.
• The North American Plate stretches from
the mid-Atlantic Ocean to the northern top of
Japan. The Cocos Plate covers a small area
in the Pacific Ocean just west of Central
America.
• These plates are not anchored in place but
slide over a hot and bendable layer of the
mantle.
– How is the earth always changing?
– What is the theory of plate tectonics and how
does it work?
To really understand how the earth became to look
as it does today, and the theory of plate
tectonics, you also need to become familiar with
two other ideas:

Continental Drift

and

Seafloor Spreading.
Less than 100 years ago, many scientists thought
the continents always had been the same shape
and in the same place.

A few scientists noted that the eastern coastline of

South America and the western coastline of
Africa looked as if they could fit together.

Some also noted that, with a little imagination, all

the continents could be joined together like giant
puzzle pieces to create one large continent
surrounded by one huge ocean.
So, if our continents fit together,
why does the earth look like it
does today?
 Continental Drift Theory
• When the tectonic plates under the
continents and oceans move, they carry
the continents and oceans with them.

• In the early 1900s a German explorer and

scientist proposed the continental drift theory.
He proposed that there was once a single
“supercontinent” called Pangaea.
• Wegner’s theory was that about 180 million
years ago, Pangaea began to break up into
separate continents. To back this theory up, he
perserved remains and evidence from ancient
animals and plants (fossils) from South America,
Africa, India, and Australia that were almost
identical.
 Seafloor Spreading
• The other theory supporting plate tectonics
emerged from the study of the ocean floor.
• Scientists were suprised to find that rocks taken
from the ocean floor were much younger than
those found on the continents. The youngest
rocks were those nearest the underwater ridge
system which is a series of mountains that
extend around the world, stretching more than
64 thousand kilometers (40 thousand miles).
• The theory of seafloor spreading suggests that
molten rock (think of a melted chocolate bar that
has been left in your pocket for too long) rises under
the underwater ridge and breaks through a split at
the top of the ridge (the crust... Remember, the
plate).
• The split is called a rift valley. The rock then
spreads out in both directions from the ridge as if it
were on two huge conveyor belts. As the seafloor
moves away from the ridge, it carries older rocks
away.
• Seafloor spreading, along with the continental drift
theory, became part of the theory of plate tectonics.
The blue and red arrows represent the magnetic pull of the earth when the
rock was created. Scientists use these marks to determine how old the ocean
is.
Plate motions also can be looked at into the future, and we can have a
stab at what the geography of the planet will be like. Perhaps in 250
million years time there will be a new supercontinent.
– What two theories help make up the theory of
plate tectonics?
– What is continental drift and sea floor
spreading?
 So....
• When a geologist or a geographer looks at
a piece of land they often ask, ”What
forces shaped the mountains, plains, and
other landforms that are here?”
• What is their answer?
 Plate Tectonics

But this doesn’t actually tell me how the

mountains or volcanoes were formed or
how earthquakes happen, does it?
 YES!
• As mentioned earlier, those tectonic plates
are always moving. They are always
moving:
– pulling away from each other
– crashing head-on
– or sliding past each other.

Depending on which way these plates are moving will decide what is
happening on the earth you and I are standing on.
 They’re Pulling Apart!
• When plates pull away from
one another they form a
diverging plate boundary, or
spreading zone.

Thingvellir, the spreading zone in Iceland between the North American (left
side) and Eurasian (right side) tectonic plates. January 2003.
 The Crash!
• What happens when plates crash into
each other depends on the types of
plates involved.
– Because continental crust is lighter
than oceanic crust, continental plates
”float” higher.
– Therefore, when an oceanic plate
meets a continetnal plate, it slides
under the lighter plate and down into
the mantle. The slab of oceanic rock
melts when the endges get to a depth
which is hot enough. A temperature
hot enough to melt about a thousand
degrees!. This process is called
subduction. Molten material produced
in a subduction zone can rise to the
earth’s surface and cause volcanic
building, mountains, and islands.
 When they Crash
• When two plates of the same type meet,
the result is a process called converging.

– What type of plates these are, depends on

what occurs.
 Converging... They crash!
And they’re both ocean plates!
• When both are oceanic plates, one slides
under the other. Often an Oceanic island
forms at this boundary.
Wadati-
Benioff
Zone
 Converging...They Crash!
And they’re both Continental Plates
• When both are continental plates, the plates
push against each other, creating mountain
ranges.
 They Crash and are both
continental plates!
• Earth’s highest mountain range, the Himalayas, was formed millions
of years ago when the Indo-Australian Plate crashed into the
Eurasian Plate. Even today, the Indo-Australian Plate continues to
push against the Eurasian Plate at a rate of about 5 cm a year!
 They meet and slide past each
other!

• Sometimes, instead of pulling away from

each other or colliding with each other,
plates slip or grind past each other along
faults.
• This process is known as faulting.
• These areas are likely
to have a rift valley,
earthquake, and
volcanic action.
For example: Here, the San Andreas
Fault lies on the boundary between
two tectonic plates, the north
American Plate and the Pacific Plate.
The two plates are sliding past each
other at a rate of 5 to 6 centimeters
each year. This fault frequently
plagues California with earthquakes.
East African Rift Valley
– What forces inside the earth create and
change landforms on the surface?
– What happens when the plates crash
together, pull apart, and slide against each
other?
• All graphics were taken from Google
Images, enchanted learning, boom zone,
and other educational sites.
• All written information was taken from
Prentice Hall, World Geography, PBS.org,
and other educational websites.
• A good website for a deeper
understanding is
www.observe.arc.nasa.gov/