6—SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Goosenecks of the San Juan River

The sinuous black ribbon of the San
Juan River cuts deep into the
San Juan
sandstone-pink landscape of Form when
southeastern Utah. The image shows loose
Goosenecks
Goosenecks State Park, where the river sediment
is surrounded by canyon walls more
than 1,000 feet high. Light gray, pink,
(mud, sand,
and white striations (parallel lines) on gravel) or
the canyon walls mark where the river organic
has eaten away at the ancient landscape material
to reveal 16 layers of geology, the oldest
of which is well over 300 million years consolidates,
old. or when ions
in solution
precipitate.

The ancient San Juan River flows out of the San

Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado. Early
in its history, the river flowed over a flat
landscape where swirling water wandered freely
in ever-changing loops. Over time, the river wore
away at the earth, cutting the deep canyons seen
here, until its course was fixed into a groove. At
the same time, the land of southern Utah and
northern Arizona was being pushed up, making
the groove even deeper. The result—the chasms
of Goosenecks State Park—is one of the best
examples of an entrenched river meander in the
world.
 Ripples in beach sand , such as
DIAGENESIS & those in the upper photograph
(A) may someday become a rock
LITHIFICATION like the sandstone in the lower
photograph (B). This sandstone
was part of a beach over 200
million years ago in the Triassic
period. Images courtesy of Windows
to the Universe,
http://www.windows.ucar.edu

DIAGENESIS = all the chemical, physical and

biological changes that affect sediments after
deposition; occurs near/at surface at low
temperatures (<150°-200°C)
Sediment (A) may someday become a recrystallization
clastic rock (B) if compacted and lithification: compaction, cementation
cemented together. Images courtesy of
Windows to the Universe,
http://www.windows.ucar.edu
 TYPES of
SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
DETRITAL
consolidation of solid particles

CHEMICAL
precipitation of dissolved substances
inorganic (evaporation)
organic (biochemical)
 DETRITAL
SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
 DETRITAL
SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
 DETRITAL
SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
 CHEMICAL Inorganic (evaporation)
SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS travertine limestone

oolitic limestone

chert

rock salt
rock gypsum
 CHEMICAL
SEDIMENTARY organic (biochemical)
ROCKS
fossiliferous limestone
chert coquina limestone

bituminous coal

chalk
 CHEMICAL
SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
Two Groups:
Inorganic
limestone
chert
rock salt
rock gypsum

organic (biochemical)
limestone
chert
coal
 Continental

SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENTS Transitional

Marine
SEDIMENTARY FACIES

Deposits of sediment that have distinctive physical,

chemical, or biological attributes
Coarse-grained deposits in a high-energy depositional
environment are adjacent to finer-grained sediments that
are deposited in quieter water
SEDIMENTARY FACIES
Transgression
Rise in sea level relative to
land, results in offshore
facies being deposited
over nearshore facies
Regressions
Fall in sea level relative to
land, results in
nearshore facies being
deposited over offshore
facies.
SEDIMENTARY Strata or beds
Graded bedding
STRUCTURES
Cross-bedding
Ripple marks
current vs. wave
Mudcracks
Fossils

Strata or beds
layers of sedimentary
rocks distinguished
based on composition,
texture (grain size), color

reflect changes in source

material, flow velocity,
cementation
SEDIMENTARY Strata or beds
Graded bedding
STRUCTURES
Cross-bedding
Ripple marks
current vs. wave
Mudcracks
Fossils

Cross bedding
layers of sediment
deposited at an angle

reflects current flow in

dunes, stream channels,
deltas
Origin of CROSS BEDDING
 CROSS BEDDING

Cross bedding
Layers are arranged at an angle to the deposition surface
can interpret flow direction (wind, water)
Sand dunes in deserts and along shorelines, stream channels, shallow
marine environments
 GRADED BEDDING

Single bed shows an upward decrease in grain size

form by turbidity currents (underwater landslides)
deposit called a turbidite
RIPPLE MARKS

Small ridges with intervening troughs

Current ripples are asymmetric (stream channels,
dunes)
Wave (oscillation) ripples are symmetric (shallow
marine waves)
 Clay-rich sediment dries, shrinks and cracks
MUD CRACKS
Periodic drying (river floodplain, lakeshore, tidal
flats)
 Remains or traces of prehistoric life
FOSSILS Most organisms are uniquely adapted to their
habitat and lived at specific times during the
geologic past

trilobite T. rex
RESOURCES

Petroleum and Natural

Gas
Hydrocarbons that
originate from the
microscopic
remains of marine
organisms
They migrate upward
through porous
rock until they
encounter a
structural or
stratigraphic trap
RESOURCES

Source rock = organic rich shale, generates oil or gas

Reservoir rock = porous and permeable, store petroleum
(sandstone)
Cap rock or seal = impermeable to allow oil or gas to collect
(shale)
Trap = structure to prevent oil or gas from leaking away
(anticline)
RESOURCES

Uranium
Most uranium used in North
American nuclear reactors
comes from carnotite, a
mineral found in
sedimentary rocks
K2(UO2)2(VO4)2- 1-3H2O
Hydrated Potassium Uranyl
Vanadate.
An important ore of
uranium and vanadium and
as mineral specimens.
RESOURCES

Banded Iron Formation

Layers of chert with iron oxide
(hematite)
All over ~2 b.y.