Understanding Sedimentary Rocks and Environments

This set of flashcards focuses on key vocabulary terms and concepts related to sedimentary rocks and their formation processes.

Sedimentary Rocks

Rocks formed from pieces of pre-existing rocks through processes like weathering, transport, and deposition.

Weathering

The chemical and mechanical processes that decompose and disintegrate rock.

Transport

The movement of solid particles via gravity, wind, glaciers, running water, and groundwater.

Sedimentation (Deposition)

The process of depositing solid particles that create features like glacial ridges and deltas.

Lithification

The process where older layers of sediment are covered and gradually cemented into rock.

Detrital Sediments

Physical pieces of rocks that are transported and deposited, including clastic and bioclastic sediments.

Chemical Sediments

Sediments produced from dissolved materials that precipitate out of solution.

Biological Sediments

Sediments formed from the actions of organisms that cause precipitation.

Sedimentary Structures

Features that provide clues about the environment of deposition and are formed during the deposition of sediments.

Ripples

Small undulations formed on the upper surfaces of moving sediments due to water or wind currents.

Cross-beds

Layers within sediments that indicate movement patterns in the depositional environment.

Graded Beds

Layers of sediment where there is a gradual change in particle size from coarse to fine.

Turbidity Currents

Downslope movements of dense, sediment-laden water that erode and deposit sediment.

Mudcracks

Cracks that form in sediment as water evaporates in a closed environment.

Oolites

Small, rounded sediments formed by wave action in warm, shallow ocean waters.

Sedimentary Facies

Assemblages of sediments or rocks that form in the same environment, reflecting energy conditions.

Diagenesis

The process of altering sediments through heat, pressure, or chemical agents, often leading to lithification.

Detrital Sedimentary Rocks

Rocks classified based on the size and types of grains (clasts) they contain.

Chemical Sedimentary Rocks

Rocks classified based on their composition, including rock salt and coquina.

Geological Maps

Maps that physically represent the contacts and boundaries between different sedimentary units.

Rift Basins

Basins formed when tectonic plates pull apart and sediment collects in the low areas.

Flexural Basins

Basins formed by the compression of tectonic plates, resulting in folds where sediment accumulates.