Sediments and sedimentary rocks form a thin veneer enveloping the earth, and reveal a wealth of information about modern and ancient tectonic, climatic, and oceanographic processes. Sediments as old as 3.7 billion years provide a record, albeit a discontinuous one, of conditions and events throughout much of earth's history. Study of the principles of sedimentology, and observations and interpretations of modern sediments, allow geologists to decipher and model ancient depositional environments and controls on sediment accumulation.
This course will address the two major types of sediments, siliciclastics and carbonates, and the similarities and differences between them. Topics covered will include rock description and classification, water and wind as transport agents, provenance and biogenic sources of sediment, and statistical analysis of grain parameters, such as size, sorting, and roundness. The identification and interpretation of sedimentary structures as clues to depositional environments will be an integral part of the course. We will also consider what happens to sediment after it is deposited, by studying diagenesis - the complex processes by which unconsolidated sediments are transformed into rock. Study of sediments and sedimentary rocks in hand sample and thin section will be supplemented by field trips during the labs to examine rocks in their natural setting.
Sedimentology is a prelude to Geology 36, Stratigraphy, in which sedimentologic principles and data will be applied to unraveling the dynamics of environments and how these environments are expressed in the thick sedimentary rock sequences exposed at the earth's surface.
