SEDIMENTOLOGI (GL2151)

STRUKTUR SEDIMEN 1 (MINGGU KE 5)

PROGRAM STUDI TEKNIK GEOLOGI
JURUSAN TEKNOLOGI INDUSTRI
INSTITUT TEKNOLOGI SUMATERA

DOSEN PENGAMPU :
Dr. Dwiharso Nugroho
Hendra Saputra, M. T.
Dicko Rizky Febriansanu, M. Eng.
 Sedimentary Structures

A key to the interpretation of the

“Depositional Setting” of sedimentary
rocks
 Classification of Sedimentary Structures
It's not easy to classify sedimentary structures, because both their origins and their
geometries are so highly varied. Two reasonable ways of classifying them are on
the basis of: kind of mechanism that produces them (physical sedimentary
structures, chemical sedimentary structures, and biogenic sedimentary structures)
and time of development relative to time of deposition (primary sedimentary
structures and secondary sedimentary structures).
 Transportation & Deposition
Physical primary structures are certainly the most common and widespread. Most
are related to transportation and deposition of sediment particles at a
fluid/sediment interface. Such structures can be classified further on the basis of
their relationship to transportation (the movement of sediment past a point on a
sediment bed by currents) and deposition (the increase in bed elevation at a point
with time).
Stratification
Stratification can be defined simply as layering brought about by
deposition, the term layering being more generally used for any
arrangement of rocks in bodies with approximately planar-tabular shape.
Stratification apparent to the eye:
• grain size.
• composition.
• color/shade differences.
• differential weathering
• zones of larger or smaller concentration of individual components,
• preferred orientation of nonspherical components
 Terminology
Stratification is officially subdivided into bedding and lamination, depending upon
the thickness of the strata, and bedding and lamination are in turn subdivided
according to thickness.
 Terminology for Parting Units
Keep clearly in mind the distinction between stratification and parting. Parting is
the tendency for stratified rocks to split evenly along certain stratification planes.
Flow Regime
Primary Sedimentary Structures
• Plane Bedding
• Bedforms generated by Unidirectional Currents
• Bedforms generated by Multidirectional flow
• Currents
• Waves
• Graded & Imbricate Bedding
• Bedding Plane Structures (biogenic, chemical &
physical)
Planar Beds
• Often called “planar laminae” or “planar
laminations”
• Separated by variations in color, composition, grain
size, and bedding plane surfaces parallel to bedding.
• Products of sediment supply, sediment
composition, etc., and either:
• Deposition from high flow velocity, e.g.: swash zone of a
beach
• Settling from standing body of water with very low flow
velocity, etc. e.g.; lake varves, or pelagic rhythms
Beach Face - South Carolina Foreshore

Note High Energy Planar Beds

Photo: G. Voulgaris
Pleistocene Beach Face - Bahamas
Plane Bedding
Primary Sedimentary Structures
• Plane Bedding
• Bedforms generated by Unidirectional Currents
• Bedforms generated by Multidirectional flow
• Currents
• Waves
• Graded & Imbricate Bedding
• Bedding Plane Structures (biogenic, chemical &
physical)
Unidirectional Current Ripples Wave Generated Ripples
Cross Stratification

Cross stratification
• small-scale cross stratification is on scales of up to
several centimeters,
• medium-scale cross stratification is on scales from
several centimeters to several decimeters, and
• large-scale cross stratification is on scales from
several decimeters to several meters.
Bed forms
Flow Regimes
Bedforms & Unidirectional Currents

Internal character of ripples. Note dominance of forset over

single bottom set laminae and a stoss side laminae
Bedforms & Downslope Accumulation
Current Ripple

Effect of slope of forset on downslope coarsening of grains

 Cross Stratification
• Cross stratification is stratification that is locally
at some angle to the overall stratification as a
consequence of changes in the geometry of the
depositional surface during deposition.

• Usually one or more beds in some part of a

section show cross stratification.

• The vertical scale of cross stratification varies

from millimeters to several meters, and the
geometry is infinitely varied.

• Cross stratification varies enormously in

geometry.

• Cross stratification is probably the single most

useful tool in interpreting the physical aspects of
loose-sediment depositional environments.

• Cross stratification can be classified as either

cross bedding or cross lamination.
Small-Scale Cross Stratification in Unidirectional Flow
Cross Beds – the inside of Ripple Marks
Bedforms & Cross-Stratification
Ripple Marks – modern beach
Ripple Marks in Sandstone – Rock was formed on an
ancient beach
Primary Sedimentary Structures
• Plane Bedding
• Bedforms generated by Unidirectional Currents
• Bedforms generated by Multidirectional flow
• Currents
• Waves
• Graded & Imbricate Bedding
• Bedding Plane Structures (biogenic, chemical &
physical)
Allen’s Classification of Ripples
Based on plan view shape, with increasing complexity tied to
shallower water & higher velocities:
• Straight
• Sinuous
• Catenary
• Linguoid
• Lunate
 Current Ripples

• Ripple marks are small waves of sand that develop on

the surface of a sediment layer by the action of moving
water.

• The ridges form at right angles to the direction of

motion.

• If the ripple marks were formed by water moving in

essentially one direction, their form will be
asymmetrical.

• These current ripple markswill have steeper sides in the

downcurrent direction and more gradual slopes on the
upcurrent side.

• Ripple marks produced by a stream flowing across a

sandy channel is an example of current ripples.

• When viewed from above current ripples show a variety

of forms .

• They may have relatively continuous straight to sinuous

crests (straight ripples or sinuous ripples) or form a
pattern of unconnected arcuate forms called linguoid
ripples.
Bedforms & Tidal Current Ripples
 Lenticular, Wavy and Flaser Bedding
• Lenticular beds are small lenses of sand in a predominant matrix of
muddy beds
• Wavy beds are subequal mixtures of small lenses of sand and muddy
beds
• Flaser beds are predominantly stacks of small lenses of sand in less than
50% muddy matrix
Asymmetric Ripples – Cross Beds
Asymmetric Current Ripples

Upper Mississippian – Pennington Formation

Pound Gap
 Trough Cross-beds
• Trough cross-beds have lower surfaces which are
curved or scoop shaped and truncate the
underlying beds.

• If the bedform is a ripple the resulting structure is

referred to as cross-lamination.

• Ripples are limited in crest height to about 30mm

so cross-laminated beds do not exceed this
thickness.

• Migration of dune bedforms produces cross-

bedding.

• A single unit of cross-laminated, cross-bedded or

cross-stratified sediment is referred to as a bed-
set.

• Where a bed contains more than one set of the

same type of structure, the stack of sets is called
a co-set.
Trough Cross-bed Current Ripples

Ordovician – Near Winchester Kentucky

Bimodal Current History Herring Bone
Structures

Photo – Peach Tree Rock - SC

Bedforms & Wind Current Ripple
 Wind Ripples

Transverse
Consistent wind
Abundant Sand

Barchan
Consistent wind
Limited Sand

Parabolic
“Blowouts”
Coastal Dunes
 Linear (Seif) Star Dunes
Converging wind. Variable wind directions.
Limited Sand
 Eolian Cross Stratification
The nature of the lamination in eolian cross-sets tends to be different from
that in subaqueous cross-sets. The three basic kinds of laminae in cross-
sets are:
• Grainflow cross-strata, produced by the downslope movement of grain
flows to iron out the over-steepening of the foreset slope caused by
deposition at the brink.
• Grainfall laminae, produced by the rain of sand grains onto the foreset
slope after they are carried across the brink in saltation.
• Climbing translatent strata, produced by the movement and very-low-
angle climb of ripples on sand surfaces that are undergoing net
aggradation.
Eolian Cross stratification

A
A
B

A. Finer-grained grainfall deposits

B. Coarse-grained grainflow cross-strata
Climbing translatent strata

Critically to supercritically climbing, wind-ripple-generated translatent strata,

Entrada Sandstone, showing some topset laminae.
Eolian dunes

Large-scale and small-scale eolian dunes truncated to differing levels

Eolian Cross stratification

(A) Stratification consisting of grainfall deposits. (B) Pseudoripples formed by the broken
edges of low-angle translatent strata. (C) pseudoripples developed on a single translatent
stratum bounding surface. (D) pseudoripples developed by breakage across translatent strata
Wind blown Cross-bed Current
Ripples
Wind Cross Beds in Carbonates
Primary Sedimentary Structures
• Plane Bedding
• Bedforms generated by Unidirectional Currents
• Bedforms generated by Multidirectional flow
• Currents
• Waves
• Graded & Imbricate Bedding
• Bedding Plane Structures (biogenic, chemical &
physical)
 Wave Ripples
• Other ripple marks have a symmetrical form.

• These features, called oscillation ripple marks,

result from the back-and-forth movement of
surface waves in a shallow near shore
environment.

• The oscillatory motion of the top surface of a

water body produced by waves generates a
circular pathway for water molecules in the
top layer .

• In shallow water, the base of the water body

interacts with the waves.

• Friction causes the circular motion at the

surface to become transformed into an
elliptical pathway, which is flattened at the
base into a horizontal oscillation.

• This horizontal oscillation may generate wave

ripples in sediment.
Unidirectional Current Ripples Wave Generated Ripples
Bedforms Wave Ripple Hierarchy
Cross stratification in Oscillatory Flow
 Bedforms – Symmetric Wave Ripples

Symmetric wave ripples with wave rippled cross bedding.

Note irregular bounding surface & well developed
symmetrical shapes on this surface
 Distinguishing wave and current ripples
• Distinguishing between wave and current ripples can be critical to the
interpretation of palaeo-environments.

• Wave ripples are formed only in relatively shallow water in the

absence of strong currents, whereas current ripples may form as a
result of water flow in any depth in any subaqueous environment.

• These distinctions allow deposits from a shallow lake or lagoon to be

distinguished from offshore or deep marine environments, for
example.

• The two different ripple types can be distinguished in the field on the
basis of their shapes and geometries.

• In plan view wave ripples have long, straight to sinuous crests which
may bifurcate (divide) whereas

• Current ripples are commonly very sinuous and broken up into short,
curved crests.

• When viewed from the side wave ripples are symmetrical with cross-
laminae dipping in both directions either side of the crests.

• In contrast, current ripples are asymmetrical with cross-laminae

dipping only in one direction,
Bedforms - Difference of Current versus Wave Ripples
Current Ripples
Wave Ripples
 Hummocky Cross Stratification
Hummocky cross-stratification is a type of sedimentary structure found in
sandstones. It is a form of cross-bedding usually formed by the action of large
storms, such as hurricanes. It takes the form of a series of "smile"-like shapes,
crosscutting each other.
Hummocky Cross Stratification
Bedforms & Wave Generated Currents
Forms of Sedimentary Structures