Sedimentary texture

S.M. Sengupta p 61-82

Udden-Wentworth size scale
 Phi Scale

Ø = −𝑙𝑜𝑔2 𝑑
 Roundness (4.8)
It is defined as
the ratio of the
average radius
of curvature of
the edges and
corners of a
grain to the
curvature of
the maximum
inscribed
sphere.
Roundness (4.9)
 Shape (Fig 4.11)

a= length,
b= breadth,
c = thickness
 Packing
• Packing refers to the distribution of grains and intergranular
spaces (either empty or filled with cement or fine-grained
matrix) in a sedimentary rock.
Grain to grain relationship (Fig 4.31)
Packing (Fig 4.14)
 Sorting
• Sorting is a term
usually applied to
sediments or
sedimentary rock, and
describes the degree of
uniformity of grain size.
The degree of sorting
depends upon how
much transport the
sediment has
undergone.
Sorting
 Porosity
The percentage
of pore volume
or void space, or
that volume
within rock that
can contain
fluids.
 Classification of Porosity
• Primary porosity: Porosity can be a relic of
deposition (such as space between grains that
were not compacted together completely).
• Secondary porosity: Can develop through
alteration of the rock.
• Fractured porosity: Porosity can be generated
by the development of fractures.
 Permeability
• The ability, or measurement of a rock's
ability, to transmit fluids, typically measured
in darcies or millidarcies.
– Effective permeability is preferential flow or
transmit a particular fluid when other immiscible
fluids are present in the reservoir (e.g., effective
permeability of gas in a gas-water reservoir).
– Absolute permeability is the measurement of
the permeability conducted when a single fluid
or phase is present in the rock.
 Maturity
• Maturity refers to the degree to which clastic
sediment has been modified by physical and
chemical processes at Earth's surface.
– Textural maturity refers to the degree to which
physical characteristics of grains and populations of
grains approach the "ultimate end product".
– Compositional maturity (stability) refers to the
degree to which chemical characteristics approach the
"ultimate end product," so that grains are more in
equilibrium with Earth's surface conditions.