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Lecture 5 Sedimentary Rocks
 What are sedimentary rocks?
 Sedimentary environments -- where are
sedimentary rocks formed?
 How do sediments turn into rocks?
 Types of sedimentary rocks
Clastic sedimentary rocks
Chemical sedimentary rocks
 Features of sedimentary rocks
 What are sedimentary rocks?
 Sedimentary rocks are rock particles and mineral grains
(sediments) deposited in a fluid (water or air) and
subsequently transformed to rocks ("lithified"). They
typically occur in layers (strata) separated by bedding
planes or different composition.
 Sedimentary rocks consist of 75% of all rocks exposed at
Earth's surface. Many of you will work more with
sedimentary rocks than with the other rock types.
Grand Canyon
Limestone strata, Grenoble, France
 Sedimentary environments -- where are
sedimentary rocks formed?
 Sedimentary rocks are formed in a variety of environment
where sediment accumulates. Sedimentary environments
typically are in the areas of low elevation at the surface,
which can be divided into continental, shoreline, and
marine environments. Each environment is characterized
by certain physical, chemical, and biological conditions,
thus sedimentary rocks hold clues to ancient environments
and Earth history.
Desert sand forms sandstone. (Right), Native Americans
built a village under this ledge at Mesa Verde, Colorado,
from sandstone blocks. (Stephen Marshak)
Mud forms shale. This shale bed has split into thin sheets.
(Stephen Marshak)
 Lithification -- How do sediments turn into
rocks?
 The main processes of lithification are compaction, cementation, and
crystallization.
 compaction: the pore space is reduced by pressure.
 cementation: the filling of the pore space by binding agents (calcite,
quartz, iron oxide)
 crystallization: particularly in chemical sedimentary rocks.
 Types of sedimentary rocks
 Sedimentary rocks can be divided into two major types:
clastic and chemical.
 The term clastic (Greek: "broken") describes the broken
and worn particles of rock and minerals that were carried
to the sites of deposition by streams, wind, glaciers, and
marine currents.
 The sediments of chemical sedimentary rocks are soluble
material produced largely by chemical weathering and are
precipitated by inorganic or organic processes.
 Classification of sedimentary rocks
 The main criterion for subdividing the clastic group is
particle size, and the main basis for subdividing the
chemical group is mineral composition.
 The texture of sedimentary rocks is described either as
clastic or nonclastic. A clastic texture displays discrete
fragments that are cemented and compacted together. A
nonclastic texture displays a pattern of interlocking crystals.
 Relative abundance
 The principal types of sedimentary rocks are
shale (46% of the total),
sandstone (32%), and
limestone (22%).
 Clastic sedimentary rocks
 The sediments of clastic rocks are chiefly clay minerals
and quartz. The main criterion for subdividing the clastic
group is particle size. In order of increasing particle size,
common clastic sedimentary rocks are
 shale,
 sandstone, and
 conglomerate or breccia.
 Shale: composed of fine grained silt and clay. A prominent feature
of a shale is closely spaced bedding planes along which the rock will
break (called "fissility").
 Sandstone: sand-sized grains predominate. Because of the
durability of quartz, quartz sandstones are very common. They are
highly permeable (able to transmit fluids) making them good reservoir
rocks for water, petroleum, and nature gas. This can also a problem for
tunnels below the underground water table.
 Conglomerate and Breccia: composed of consolidated
deposits of gravel (fragments larger than 2 mm in diameter). A
conglomerate contains rounded grains; a breccia contains angular
grains.
 Chemical sedimentary rocks
 The main basis for subdividing the chemical group is mineral
composition. Nonclastic rocks are formed from chemical precipitation
and from biological activity.
 limestone: composed mostly of calcite (CaCO3), the most abundant
chemical sedimentary rocks, originates by both chemical and
biological processes..
 rock salt: composed of halite (NaCl), formed by evaporation
(evaporites).
 Rock gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O) is also an evaporite. Gypsum is the basic
ingredient of plaster of Paris and is most extensively used in the
construction industry for interior plaster.
 limestone: composed mostly of calcite (CaCO3), the most abundant


chemical sedimentary rocks.
Chemical precipitation: A considerable amount of calcium carbonate is known
to precipitate directly in open warm ocean and quiet water.
Organic activity: In their life processes, many plants extract calcium carbonate
from water, and invertebrate animals use it to construct their shells or hard
parts. Corals are one important example of organisms that are capable of
creating large quantities of marine limestone. The simple invertebrate animals
secrete calcite-rich skeletons to create massive reefs, such as the best-known
Great-Barrier Reef in Australia.
 The Great Barrier Reef, Australia
(a)
(b)
Shells of calcite produced by corals form limestone. (b) A
limestone quarry face in Vermont. The thin layers are lime
mud; the white mounds are relicts of small reefs. (c)The
fossiliferous limestone consists of small fossil shells.
(c)
W. W. Norton
 Features of sedimentary rocks
 Sedimentary rocks commonly show layering and other features that
form as sediment is transported. These features provide key
information about the environment in which they were formed.
 Stratification (bedding): is the most prominent feature of sedimentary
rocks. Bedding provides extreme differences in directional properties
(anisotropy) in strength, permeability, electrical conductivity, and
seismic velocity,which have engineering importance.
 Principle of original horizontal bedding: bedding planes for most
sedimentary rocks were originally oriented in essentially horizontally.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Bedding forms as a result of changes in the
environment. (a) During a normal river flow, a layer of
silt is deposited. (b) During flood, turbulent water
brings in a layer of sand and gravel.
Stratigraphic formations (a sequence of beds) of the Grand
Canyon. (S. Marshak)
cross-bedding: under some environment,
sediments do not accumulate as horizontal layers, such as
sand dunes, river deltas, and some stream channels.
Cross beds formed on the leeward side of a sand dune (top) and on the
downstream side of river-deposited sediment (middle). (W.W. Norton)
Formation of Cross Beds
 When blowing sand builds into sand dunes in a
desert, the sand tumbles up the windward side of
the dune, and settles in quieter air on the leeward
side. This animation shows how cross beds
develop during the deposition of sediment. [by
Stephen Marshak]
 Play Animation Windows version >>
 Play Animation Macintosh version >>
 graded beds: sedimentary layers change gradually from coarse at
the bottom to fine at the top, often associated with turbidity (muddy)
current sweeping down steep slopes in an ocean or large lake.
 Other sedimentary features:
 ripple marks: small waves of sand developed on the
surface of a sediment layer by shallow water waves or
winds.
 mud cracks: indicate that the sediment was alternately wet
and dry, found in shallow lakes and desert basins.
Ripples (such as left) can be preserved (right, a layer of
quartzite that’s over 800 million years old).
Mud cracks (left) can be preserved (right, mudstone of 280
million years old, viewed in cross-section). (S. Marshak)
Engineering considerations of
sedimnetary rocks
 Bedding planes are zones of weakness in sedimentary rock masses and
may fail if parallel to downslope.
 For tunneling and underground mining, limestones and evaporites
present problems because they are soluble in flowing groundwater,
creating cavities.
 Alkali-silica reation: Silica in certain minerals/rocks react with alkalis
(Na2O, K2O) in cement paste, causing expansions and creating map
(pattern) cracking in concrete. Constituents that react with alkalis
include opal and chalcedony (hydrated fine crystalline silica) and chert
(as nodules in sedimentary rocks) and volcanic glass.