Cross bedding forms on a sloping surface such as ripple marks and dunes, and allows

us to interpret that the depositional environment was water or wind. Examples of

these are ripples, dunes, sand waves, hummocks, bars, and deltas. Cross-bedding is
widespread in three common sedimentary environments: rivers, tide-dominated coastal
and marine settings.

Example-
In the Jacobsville Sandstone at Hungarian Falls we interpret a river. Rivers travel
across the surface in quite variable styles. The river carries its heaviest and
coarsest sediments in floods. Finer sediment will be carried and then laid down as
the energy of the water drops below its capacity to carry the weight of heavier
grains. These grains are deposited on the river bed and more are added on top over
time.

During the deposition of the Jacobsville Sandstone the rivers were filling a rift
valley from highlands and the deposition came in channels flowing towards the
center of the rift valley (low). With rain the energy of the water running steeply
downhill could be large and could carry large amounts of material! Look at the
cartoon on the next page to get the whole history and placement and also try the
link below to a little animation.

How do cross-bedded layers relate to currents?

- The sandstone displays cross-bedding where the layers are inclined to the
horizontal. Cross beds indicate the presence of currents, such as the flow of a
river across a delta or the ebb and flow of strong tidak currents. Mounds of sand
in shallow water were moved forward, inch by inch, as the sand grains trickled down
the frontal incline.
- The pattern of beds also allow you to figure out the direction that the water was
moving and therefore which part of a shoreline was sea and which was land or the
direction the river was moving.

Cross-bedding forms during deposition on the inclined surfaces of bedforms such as

ripples and dunes; it indicates that the depositional environment contained a
flowing medium (typically water or wind). Examples of these bedforms are ripples,
dunes, anti-dunes, sand waves, hummocks, bars, and delta slopes.[1] Environments in
which water movement is fast enough and deep enough to develop large-scale bed
forms fall into three natural groupings: rivers, tide-dominated coastal and marine
settings.

Cross-bedding is formed by the downstream migration of bedforms such as ripples or

dunes[3] in a flowing fluid. The fluid flow causes sand grains to saltate up the
stoss (upstream) side of the bedform and collect at the peak until the angle of
repose is reached. At this point, the crest of granular material has grown too
large and will be overcome by the force of the moving water, falling down the
lee(downstream) side of the dune. Repeated avalanches will eventually form the
sedimentary structure known as cross-bedding, with the structure dipping in the
direction of the paleocurrent.

The sediment that goes on to form cross-stratification is generally sorted before

and during deposition on the "lee" side of the dune, allowing cross-strata to be
recognized in rocks and sediment deposits.[4]

The angle and direction of cross-beds are generally fairly consistent. Individual
cross-beds can range in thickness from just a few tens of centimeters, up to
hundreds of feet or more depending upon the depositional environment and the size
of the bedform.[5] Cross-bedding can form in any environment in which a fluid flows
over a bed with mobile material. It is most common in stream deposits (consisting
of sand and gravel), tidal areas, and in aeolian dunes.

When a depositional environment has sand in it and water or air moves the sand
grains around, those grains can build up into piles of sediment. When the sediment
piles reach a height where they are unstable - called the angle of repose - the
grains will avalanche down the side of the pile and make a thin depositional layer
of the grains that moved. Over time, multiple avalanching episodes will result in
many thin parallel layers next to one another. These are called cross bedded
laminae, because they form at an angle to the horizontal nature of the main bed.
See the graphic below for an idea of how these cross-beds form over time.

When cross beds form, the grains avalanche down the face of the form as previously
mentioned. As with any item that falls downhill, there is a zone of "run out" at
the bottom - the grains do not just roll to the base of the bed and stop
immediately. The grains will fall down the side and roll a little distance along
the surface until they lose momentum. This makes a sort of "tail" to the cross
bedded laminae that lays on top of the bottom bedding surface which we can use to
determine stratigraphic up. On the other hand, the top of cross beds are not
typically preserved because subsequent movement of grains erodes this part. The
result is a rock that has a base portion which shows the "run out" of the
avalanching grains and a top that is truncated by the next bedding plane.