~Introduction~

Sediments form the most common rocks exposed at the earth's surface. In
contrast basalt is the most common rock found on the ocean
floor. Sedimentary rocks owe their origins to the breakdown, erosion and
transport of materials of preexisting sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic
rocks. Though sedimentary rocks are little more than a surface veneer over
the earth, and make up only 8% of the earths crust, they are for important for
agricultural lands, are a resource for building materials, mineral reserves and
fresh water. Sedimentary rocks also sequester energy resources
including coal, oil and natural gas. Studies of sedimentary rock stra ta are
used to unravel the Earth's history. A common geological principle states:

Minerals and rocks are stable only under the conditions at which they
form. If the conditions are change, the rocks will change to adapt to the
new conditions.

The principle is obvious if we raise the temperature a couple of thousand

degrees; rocks melt and form magma (liquid rock), which then cools and
crystallizes to form igneous rocks. These and other processes of diagenesis
or transformation are the rationale for the Rock Cycle, that proves that all
rocks can be transformed into other rocks (Rock Cycle Discussion).

For instance, Granite (pictured right) is an

igneous rock that crystallizes from magma
between 1000 and 500 degrees F in
large Batholiths below ground. Granite is
seemingly very durable, and a preferred
building stone for these reasons. Yet, when
exposed at the earth's surface, granite will decompose (weather) into
something new to reach a stable state under it's new conditions on the earth's
surface. After a few tens or hundreds of thousands of years, the Granite will
break down into minerals in equilibrium with it's new environment.
Link here to see details on the weathering of a granite.
~The Simple Ideal Model For Understanding Sedimentary Rocks~

The key to understanding sedimentary rocks is to realize that all sedimentary

processes of weathering, transportation, and deposition are aimed to achieve
one goal - reaching the three final end products of all sedimentary processes.
These three end products include 1)Quartz sand, 2) Shale (Clay), and
3) Limestone(CaCO3). The central idea is summarized in the SIMPLE,
IDEAL MODEL. (Full Page Html Version; Pdf Version for printing)

Quartz Sandstone Shelf Shale Limestone with fossils

Note: A source of confusion is the difference from mineral names to rock

names.
Clay is a mineral that forms from the weathering of feldspars. Clay is very
fine grained; it is the mud on your shoes, or the mud (suspended Clay) in
a river or pond. When Clay is deposited it becomes shale.

Calcite is a mineral with rhombohedral cleavage that reacts with dilute

hydrochloric acid. As a sedimentary mineral it exists either
as Micrite ("lime mud", that is as fine grained as Clay) or as larger pieces
such as sea organism skeletons (i.e., foraminifera). Together they form
the rock Limestone.

Quartz sand is released as grains from the parent rock by

weathering. quartz is very resistant so it changes very little after that. It
remains quartz.

Imagine an average continental igneous rock

such as a granodiorite (pictured right). It
contains Quartz, feldspar, and mafic minerals: a
representative sampling of the Eight Rock
Forming Minerals in an igneous rock.

If this rock undergoes all sedimentary

processes of 1) weathering, 2) transportation, 3) sorting and 4) deposition, the
result would always be the same and it would become Quartz
Sandstone, Shale, and Limestone separated from each other in different
depositional environments: the beach, near shelf, and far self.

~Model Processes~

Sedimentary systems work this way because of two processes.

Weathering
The breakdown of one mineral/rock into another. Of the Eight Igneous Rock
Forming Minerals all are subject to degradation (weathering into something
else), exceptQuartz. Quartz does not weather and will survive in the system
relatively unchanged.
The remaining seven rock forming minerals all dissolve to make the sea salty,
or decompose to form new minerals stable at the earth's surface. Orthoclase,
for example, breaks down to form Clay, and the calcium in Ca
Plagioclase goes into solution to form CaCO3. The simple, ideal model
predicts three end products, Quartzsand, Shale, and Limestone, which
together compose the vast majority of sedimentary rocks.

Transportation and Sorting

The second process is sorting during
transportation. The sand and Clay are
increasingly separated and sorted as
they travel downstream away from the
source (i.e., mountains or
uplands).Quartz sand, which rolls and
bounces along the bottom, does not
transport as easily as Clay, which
travels in suspension. The CaCO3 is in a
dissolved state and therefore just travels with the water.

These three weathering products do not transport equally well, and so

become separated. The final separation takes place at the
ocean Shoreline (image to right). Here we see river transported sediment
entering the ocean. Waves crashing on the beach keep the sediment
continuously stirred up. Quartz, being relatively heavy, settles quickly to the
bottom, the Clay remains in suspension until it drifts to the quieter near shelf,
where if finally settles to the bottom to form Shale.

Finally, the dissolved CaCO3 precipitates out of suspension in the far shelf,
beyond the range of sand and Clay to form Limestone. The Calcite is
deposited because plants and animals extract it from sea water and use it to
build their skeletons. After death their Calcite skeletons form
the Limestone sediment.

~Sedimentary Attractors and Sandstone Maturity~

Note: An attractor is any state toward which a system naturally evolves

In the sedimentary model, Quartz Sandstone, Shale, and Limestone can be
thought of as "attractors." All the processes in the sedimentary system are
"attracted" to these three end products.

The simple, ideal model begins with a granodiorite, but any source rock has
the same three attractors, and this is true even if the components to make one
of the attractors is not present in the source rock.
Sandstones are particularly important, not only because they are common, but
also because they contain a lot of information regarding how far a rock has
traveled. Near the sourceland sandstone contain lots of incompletely
weathered minerals and rock fragments. The more the sand transports the
more these weatherable components transform into Clay and dissolved
minerals (e.g. Calcite), leaving behind more and more Quartz as the only
remaining, unweathered sand grains. At the end, then, all the rock forming
minerals transform into other sedimentary minerals, except Quartz.

Sandstone composition is thus a measure of how close a sandstone has

gotten to the Quartz attractor - the end product of the simple ideal model. This
leads to the concept of maturity.

MATURITY - a relative measure of how extensively and thoroughly a

sediment (sand size and larger) has been weathered, transported and
reworked toward its ultimate end product, Quartz sand.

The definition of maturity makes it clear that our interest in sedimentary rocks
is in their evolution, and ultimately we want a classification that allows us to
explore that evolution. The simple ideal model can be achieved, however, only
in a region that is tectonically stable (tectonics has to do with earth movement,
and the structures that result). For example, Stage A and Stage I of the
Wilson Cycle. The simple ideal model is what tectonic stability gives you, and
is about the only place that Limestones are deposited. Most clastic
sedimentary rocks (i.e. sandstones andShales), begin their history in an area
of tectonic instability, a region of mountain building, such as Stage E or Stage
F of the Wilson Cycle. Thus, achieving the three sedimentary attractors of the
simple ideal model is not easy, and completely mature sandstones are not
common.

Contributed by Lynn Fichter