Essentials of Geology 13th Edition

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Chapter 7
Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary Rocks opens with the formation of sedimentary rocks by describing the detrital and
chemical sediments and how these are turned into rock by diagenesis. This is followed by a
discussion of the classification scheme for the major sedimentary rock types. Then, a discussion of
sedimentary rock types and structures reveals the importance of these rocks in determining past
environments on Earth. Following a presentation of how building materials and industrial minerals
that we rely upon are related to sedimentary rocks, the chapter concludes with discussion of the
carbon cycle and the importance of sedimentary rocks and processes in this cycle.

CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. An Introduction to Sedimentary Rocks
a. Importance
b. Origins
2. Detrital Sedimentary Rocks
a. Shale
i. How Does Shale Form?
ii. Thin Layers
iii. Shale, Mudstone, or Siltstone?
iv. Gentle Slopes
b. Sandstone
i. Sorting
ii. Particle Shape
iii. Transport Affects Mineral Composition
iv. Varieties of Sandstone
c. Conglomerate and Breccia
3. Chemical Sedimentary Rocks
a. Limestone
i. Carbonate Reefs
ii. Coquina and Chalk
iii. Inorganic Limestones
b. Dolostone
c. Chert
d. Evaporites
4. Coal: An Organic Sedimentary Rock
5. Turning Sediment into Sedimentary Rock: Diagenesis & Lithification
a. Diagenesis
b. Lithification
i. Compaction
ii. Cementation

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 6. Classification of Sedimentary Rocks
a. Detrital Sedimentary Rocks
b. Chemical and Organic Sedimentary Rocks
7. Sedimentary Rocks Represent Past Environments
a. Importance of Sedimentary Environments
b. Sedimentary Facies
c. Sedimentary Structures
8. Resources from Sedimentary Rocks
a. Nonmetallic Mineral Resources
i. Building Materials
ii. Industrial Minerals
b. Energy Resources
i. Coal
ii. Oil and Natural Gas
iii. Hydraulic Fracturing
9. The Carbon Cycle and Sedimentary Rocks

FOCUS ON CONCEPTS
7.1 Explain the importance of sedimentary rocks and summarize the part of the rock cycle that
pertains to sediments and sedimentary rocks. List the three categories of sedimentary rocks.

7.2 Describe the primary basis for distinguishing among detrital rocks and discuss how the origin and
history of such rocks might be determined.

7.3 Explain the processes involved in the formation of chemical sedimentary rocks and list several
examples.

7.4 Outline the successive stages in the formation of coal.

7.5 Describe the processes that convert sediment into sedimentary rock and other changes
associated with burial.

7.6 Summarize the criteria used to classify sedimentary rocks.

7.7 Distinguish among three broad categories of sedimentary environments and provide an example
of each. List several sedimentary structures and explain why these features are useful to
geologists.

7.8 Distinguish between the two broad groups of nonmetallic mineral resources. Discuss the three
important fossil fuels associated with sedimentary rocks.

7.9 Relate weathering processes and sedimentary rocks to the carbon cycle.

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TEACHING STRATEGIES
“Muddiest Points” – “Points for Clarification”
 Students deal better with sedimentary rock compositions, textures, and classification if they are
introduced to all of the diverse terminology after having seen hand samples. Before diving into all of
the terms, students should have samples to examine and discuss in groups or as a class. Be prepared
with plenty of hand samples to pass around the classroom. If possible, have igneous rock sample
that may have been used during Chapter 4 discussions so students can observe the differences.

Teaching Tips
7.1 Since 75 percent of the land is covered by sediments or sedimentary rocks, most students can
relate well because they can have a frame of reference for what has been seen, either in person
or in the media. However, for all sections of this chapter make use of as many opportunities as
possible to improve the students’ visual inventory and enhance the understanding of such
features even if those features are not visible in their geographical frame of experiences—see
section on “Web Resources.”

7.2 Utilize as many hands-on opportunities as possible to introduce sedimentary textures and
& compositions. Have enough hand samples for each student, or small groups of students, to
7.3 handle and make observations about general descriptive properties that reflect the composition
prior to any lecture about the terms used for naming and classification. Prior to class discussion
on rock compositions, have students complete some preparatory work such as SmartFigure 7.2.
For class discussion on sedimentary rock naming and classification, have students complete some
preparatory work such as SmartFigure 7.7 and SmartFigure 7.17.

MasteringGeology and LearningCatalytics resources/ideas/activities

MasteringGeology activities that utilize video, interactive animations, and gigapans (high-resolution
panoramic images) are effective in giving students preparatory opportunities that are directly
correlated with the chapter content. Have students complete MasteringGeology activities in
advance of class time to help them learn the material.
 All of the end-of-section Concept Check type items from the MasteringGeology item library are
excellent preparatory questions. In addition, especially focus on the following additional items
for this chapter:
Section Item Type Title
7.1 Coaching Activities Give It Some Thought: Sedimentary Processes
Coaching Activities SmartFigure: Depositional Environments
7.2 Coaching Activities SmartFigure: Sorting and Rounding
7.3 Coaching Activities SmartFigure: Bonneville Salt Flats
7.4 Coaching Activities SmartFigure: Coal
7.7 Coaching Activities Gigapan Activity: Identification and Characterization of
Sedimentary Rocks
7.7 Coaching Activities Gigapan Activity: Sedimentary Structures and the Origin of
Graded Bedding
Coaching Activities Mobile Field Trip Video Quiz—The Sedimentary Rocks of
Capitol Reef National Park
7.8 Coaching Activities SmartFigure: Oil Traps

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LearningCatalytics activities can provide an assessment of students’ understanding in real-time to allow
opportunities for review or discussion (either in small groups or the entire class).
 Using images similar to those in the text, assess students’ identification of sedimentary
structures. In the LearningCatalytics activity shown below, students match the image to the
correct sedimentary structure name (ripples, mud cracks, graded beds, and cross-bedding) and
enter the answer on their mobile device, tablet, or laptop and the real-time results are shown in
the matrix in the upper right—more green in the diagonal relates to more students with 100%
correct matching answers. In this result, the student responses for image C and D are less green
indicating less understanding, possibly a confusion between graded bedding and cross-bedding.
This provides an indication that more discussion may be needed to clear up confusion between
the two sedimentary structures.

TEACHER RESOURCES
Web Resources:
 Keys to the Identification of Sedimentary Rocks:
http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/fichter/SedRx/Sedalphab.html
 Sedimentary Environments Activity:
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/intro/activities/23573.html
 Overview and extensive details regarding sedimentary rocks and their formation. Excellent
identification keys and classification tables:
http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/fichter/SedRx/index.html
 Sedimentary Rocks Tutorial: http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/sedimentary-rocks#
 Sedimentary Structures and Bedforms From UC Davis:
http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/sumner/gel109/SedStructures/SedPhotos.html
 SEPM Sedimentary Image Gallery: http://www.sepmstrata.org/page.aspx?&pageid=85&4

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  U. S. Geological Survey Bedforms and Cross-Bedding in Animation:
http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/seds/bedforms/index.html
 Sedimentary Rock Gallery From Univ. WI, Milwaukee:
http://www4.uwm.edu/course/geosci-100/Mineral_Rocks/sedimentary.html

CONCEPT CHECKS
7.1 The Importance of Sedimentary Rocks
1. The bulk of Earth’s crust is composed of igneous and metamorphic rocks; therefore, only
about 5 to 10 percent of the outer 10 miles of crust consists of sedimentary rocks. However,
at Earth’s surface, sediments and sedimentary rocks make up 75 percent of the rocks we see
on the continents.
2. Sedimentary rocks are important because they record many characteristics of the surface
environment when they formed and allow us to understand and reconstruct Earth’s history
through the study of layers and formations that represent past conditions. Fossils aid in this
study, allowing us to understand the environmental history of an area as well as the life
present in the geologic past and how it has changed through geologic time. Sediments and
sedimentary rocks are also important reserves for many resources used by humans,
including coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium for energy production and many useful
construction materials such as metals, aggregates, and cement ingredients as well as
phosphates for fertilizers. Sediments and sedimentary rocks also contain important
groundwater resources.
3. An exposure of granite in the mountains would be mechanically weathered from frost
wedging and sheeting (producing solid particles of quartz and perhaps some feldspar), and
chemically weathered through hydrolysis (producing clay minerals and ions in solution). This
material would move downslope through running water, gravity, and perhaps glacial ice or
wind, and be deposited in some other location. Burial, compaction, and diagenesis would
create detrital sedimentary rocks from the solid particles, and chemical sedimentary rocks
from the dissolved ions.
4. Detrital sedimentary rocks are formed from solid sediments derived from both chemical and
mechanical weathering (mud, sand, and gravel, for example). Chemical sedimentary rocks
are formed from ions in solution that precipitate by inorganic or biological processes (silica
and calcite, for example). Organic sedimentary rocks form from the diagenesis (compaction
and lithification) of the carbon-rich remains of organisms.

7.2 Detrital Sedimentary Rocks

1. Quartz and clay are the most abundant minerals found in detrital sedimentary rocks. Quartz
is predominantly found in the sandstones and to a lesser degree in siltstones. Clay minerals
are the main component of the shales and mudstones.
2. The primary basis for distinguishing among detrital rocks is the size of the constituent
particles. Shales and mudstones/siltstones are composed of silt- and clay-sized grains, 1/256
to 1/16 millimeter in size. Sandstones are composed of sand-sized grains, 1/16 to 2 millimeter
in size. Conglomerates and breccias are composed of gravel-sized grains, >2 millimeter in size.

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 3. Detrital sediments become sorted based on their transport with different transport agents
sorting sediments differently. Wind-blown sand is generally very well sorted because wind
can only transport the smallest sizes for any distance. Sediment transported by waves is
better sorted than that carried by streams. Glaciers and turbulent streams generally deposit
poorly sorted sediments. Sorting can also indicate length of transport with large grain sizes
being deposited near the source of the rock fragments, and fine grain sizes having more
time to be transported far from the source.
4. Conglomerate and breccia are both sedimentary rocks composed of particles of gravel size,
generally within a mud or sand matrix and sometimes cemented with calcite or silica
cement. Conglomerates are characterized by rounded grains, indicating significant transport
by water, while breccia is characterized by sharp, angular grains, indicating little or no
transport by water.

7.3 Chemical Sedimentary Rocks

1. Chemical sedimentary rocks that are biochemical form when water-dwelling plants and
animals extract dissolved ions from the water to build shells or other skeletal parts. When
the organisms die, their mineral-based skeletal material collect on the floor of a lake or an
ocean. An example of a biochemical sedimentary rock is chalk, which is created from the
calcite shells of tiny organisms, mostly plankton. Inorganic chemical sedimentary rocks form
when chemical activity or evaporation causes a water body to precipitate minerals.
Evaporites, sediments formed when seawater evaporates and precipitates minerals, are an
important example of inorganic chemical sediment formation.
2. Limestone is a chemical sedimentary rock composed essentially of calcium carbonate
(CaCO3) either by inorganic means or as the result of biochemical processes. Dolostone is
closely related to limestone but composed primarily of the mineral dolomite—CaMg(CO3)2.
Chert is a general name for a number of rocks made from microcrystalline quartz, including
jasper, flint, petrified wood, and agate.
3. Given warm, tropical to subtropical latitudes and a shallow arm of a sea that only has
limited connection to the open ocean, seawater continually moves into the bay to replace
the water lost by evaporation. Eventually the water of the bay becomes saturated with
respect to certain chemicals and mineral precipitation begins. The minerals that will
commonly precipitate in the largest volume include halite and gypsum. On a small scale,
examples can be seen in places such as Death Valley, California.

7.4 Coal: An Organic Sedimentary Rock

1. The raw material for coal is the accumulation of large quantities of plant remains. It must
accumulate under oxygen-poor conditions to prevent the rapid decomposition of the
material prior to burial; these conditions (abundant plant material and oxygen-poor water)
are best accommodated in a swamp environment.
2. Dead plant matter accumulates in an oxygen-poor environment, such as a swamp, where it
is attacked by bacteria and partially decomposes, liberating oxygen and hydrogen and
concentrating carbon. This partial decomposition forms peat, a soft brown material that
represents partially altered plant material. As the peat is buried under more sediment, it will
slowly change to lignite, a soft, brown coal. Continued burial increases the temperature of

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 the material, and brings about chemical reactions that produce water and organic acids.
Continued burial presses out this water and volatiles, and the amount of fixed carbon
increases. The coal becomes increasingly compact with burial, and may eventually
transform into the hard, black rock bituminous coal. If continued burial and deformation
add more heat and pressure to the coal, it may become anthracite, metamorphosed coal.

7.5 Turning Sediment into Sedimentary Rocks: Diagenesis and Lithification

1. Diagenesis is all the chemical, physical, and biological changes that take place after
sediments are deposited, and during and after lithification, but prior to metamorphism.
2. Coarser sediments are less compressible than clay-based sediments. Therefore, compaction
is most important as a lithification process in fine-grained sediments.
3. The three most common cementing agents are calcite, silica, and iron oxides. Calcite can be
identified by its reaction to dilute hydrochloric acid, silica is hard cement and does not react
with acid, and iron oxide cements can be identified by yellow, red, and orange colors in the
sedimentary rock.

7.6 Classification of Sedimentary Rocks

1. Chemical sedimentary rocks are named mostly based on mineral composition and what
form the particles take (for example, oolites, fossil fragments, and microscopic crystals).
Detrital rocks are named mostly based on the particle size.
2. Clastic texture describes those rocks that consist of broken fragments and particles that are
cemented together. Nonclastic textures consist of interlocking crystals of minerals,
sometimes referred to as a crystalline texture. All detrital rocks are clastic in texture.

7.7 Sedimentary Rocks Represent Past Environments

1. Continental, marine, and transitional (shoreline) are the three broad categories of
sedimentary environments. Examples of each include:
a. Continental: streams and lakes
b. Marine: coral reefs
c. Transitional: beaches and tidal flats
2. A single rock layer may exhibit different types of sedimentary rocks as a representation of
successive changes in environmental conditions in a particular place over time. The different
parts of such a layer are called facies. Facies are sets of sediments that deposit adjacent to
each other at the same time but different characteristics that reflect the condition in a
particular environment.
3. The most characteristic feature of sedimentary rocks is the layering of the sediments. These
layers are called “strata” or “beds.”
4. Cross bedding is a layer of sediment, within a bed, inclined to the horizontal, resulting from
movement of sediment in currents of wind or water. Graded bedding is a layer of sediment
that grade from coarse-grained at the bottom of the layer to fine-grained at the top. Graded
bedding forms from rapid deposition of mixed-size sediment; largest particles drop out first
upon rapid energy loss, and then successively finer grains settle out later.

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 5. Mud cracks and ripple marks both form in specific environmental conditions, and thus can
be used to reconstruct past environments. Mud cracks form in sediment that is alternatively
wet and dry and suggest environments such as tidal flats, shallow lakes, and desert basins.
Ripple marks are small waves of sand formed by the action of moving water or air, and their
symmetry can suggest whether the air or water was moving one direction or back and forth.
Certain ripple-mark structures can be used to determine the direction of movement of
ancient currents.

7.8 Resources from Sedimentary Rocks

1. The two common groups of nonmetallic mineral resources are building materials and
industrial/agricultural minerals. Examples of materials that belong to these two groups are:
a. Building materials: limestone/calcite, gypsum, clay, and sand and gravel
b. Industrial/agricultural minerals: limestone/calcite, quartz, fluorite, apatite, and talc
2. Petroleum, natural gas, and coal are called fossil fuels because when we combust them, we
are using energy from the Sun that was stored by plants millions of years ago. All three take
millions of years to form and are related to the breakdown of organic matter of ancient life
(fossils). The percentage of U.S. energy consumption that each represents is:
a. Petroleum: 36.2%
b. Natural gas: 25.5%
c. Coal: 20.4%
3. Disadvantages of coal use are that surface mining extensively scars the landscape,
underground mining has significant risks to health and life, and coal combustion releases
emissions that can produce acid rain and may contribute to global warming.
4. A geologic environment that allows for economically significant amounts of oil and/or gas to
accumulate is called an “oil trap.” Examples of traps that could be sketched are shown in
Figure 7.32. All oil traps have a porous, permeable reservoir rock and an impermeable cap
rock.
5. Hydraulic fracturing is used where significant reserves of natural gas exist in low
permeability rocks. This process injects fluids at high pressures into the subsurface, breaking
the shale rock, opening up cracks where the natural gas can flow into wells and be brought
to the surface.

7.9 The Carbon Cycle and Sedimentary Rocks

1. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere combines with water to form carbonic acid (H2CO3),
which dissociates and soluble carbonate, (CO3)-2, is formed. This soluble carbonate is carried
to the ocean by streams and groundwater, and organisms living in the ocean convert it to
solid calcium carbonate shells. When these organisms die, their shells settle on the seafloor
and eventually form biochemical sedimentary rock. This effectively takes carbon (as carbon
dioxide) out of the atmosphere, and stores it as rock (biochemical limestone) in the
geosphere.
2. Carbon may move from the geosphere to the atmosphere when chemical weathering of
exposed limestone releases CO2. Additionally, whenever there is combustion at the surface,
whether natural or caused by humans, CO2 is released to the atmosphere.

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CONCEPTS IN REVIEW
7.1 Solar energy is primarily responsible for the formation of sediment and sedimentary rock. This is
due to solar energy driving the surface processes of weathering that is heavily influenced by
climate.

7.2 Particle C has traveled the farthest from its source. This conclusion is evidenced by the spherical
nature of the particle, farther travel will round the particle more.

7.3 The rock salt is more likely an inorganic origin.

7.4 The ultimate source of energy in the coal is solar energy.

7.6 A limestone made of shell fragments is a chemical/biochemical sedimentary rock, and its texture
would be clastic.

7.7 The broad category of sedimentary environment represented is the transitional category.

7.8 It is not likely that any dinosaur carbon ends up in oil. Most all crude oil is formed from organic
remains of marine plankton and dinosaurs lived on land.

GIVE IT SOME THOUGHT

1. As the igneous rock is exposed to the surface environment, most of the silicate minerals in it will
undergo chemical weathering to produce clay and ions in solution, both of which will enter the
drainages and move downstream. If the bedrock contains quartz, it will be released, becoming
sand in the drainages, and move downstream as well.
If the material is deposited close to the bedrock source within a semi-arid environment, we
would expect to find arkosic sandstone with fragments of feldspar that were not completely
hydrolyzed to clay and quartz sand that is angular and poorly sorted. If the material were
deposited at some distance, we would find cleaner sandstone with more rounded and well-
sorted quartz sand grains. The bedding planes of the sandstone might contain structures such as
ripple marks that tell us about the current type and direction, and the sandstone may contain
cross bedding as well, which reveals information about the sedimentary environment.
2. In the chapter on minerals, the term “clay” described a silicate mineral having a sheet structure.
In Figure 7.3, the term is used to indicate the detrital particle size category with particles less
than 1/256 millimeter in size. The two different usages of the term are related in that clay
minerals are usually clay sized.
3. The angular grains indicate the detrital particles did not travel significantly far from the source
rock. The igneous source was likely granite because of the light-colored feldspars and quartz
that are present. The sediment in the rock did not undergo much chemical weathering because
the feldspar grains are intact rather than being transformed to clay.
4. A limestone at the top of a mountain indicates the area was once covered by water, either
freshwater or seawater, where the limestone was precipitated inorganically or due to
biochemical processes. Since that time, mountain building through some type of tectonic
activity lifted the sedimentary rock higher above the land surface.

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 5. It is not necessary to indicate the texture of detrital sedimentary rocks because all detrital rocks
have a clastic texture.
6. A sedimentary rock rich in quartz will effervesce with acid if its cementing agent is calcite.
Calcite effervesces in dilute acid. This rock is most likely quartz sandstone, in which the sand
grains are cemented with calcite.
7. These layers are graded beds that form when sediment-laden water quickly loses energy, often
as currents of water enter a large quiet basin. When the water loses velocity, large grains settle
out first, followed by smaller and smaller grains. This is likely part of a deep sea fan, where
sediment-laden turbidity currents slowed and deposited sediment as they entered deep ocean
basins.
8. The wavelike ridges on the surface are ripple marks. Because these are asymmetrical, we can
determine that a current moving in one direction created them. Current ripple marks have a
steeper side in the down-current direction; thus, based on the shadow on the steep side of the
marks, the current that produced these ripples was moving from the left to the right in the
photo.
9. The mineral composition of the crystals will reveal whether a rock is igneous or sedimentary.
For the rock to be sedimentary, the intergrown crystals need to be halite, calcite, gypsum, or
fine-grained quartz, which would not be expected in igneous rocks. If the composition reveals
the rock to be sedimentary, we would classify the texture as nonclastic (crystalline).
10. In this chapter, the term mineral has a much broader meaning than the strict definition of a
geologic mineral from earlier chapters. Mineral resources refer to any earth material not used
as a fuel. Mineral resources can include limestone, sands, and gravels, all of which are not true
minerals by the geologic definition.
11. Innumerable answers are possible, but one scenario might be that the carbon atom is erupted
from a volcano as a carbon dioxide molecule. It then combines with water in the atmosphere to
form carbonic acid in the water and rains down and dissolves limestone creating a cave. The
water flows out to a river which ends in a swamp where plants take up the carbon and stores it
in the plant’s tissues until the plant is eaten by a dinosaur which dies and is buried in the swamp
to contribute the carbon to a coal seam. The coal is dug up and burned in a coal-fired power
plant where the carbon is emitted into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide that is absorbed by
the ocean and then taken in by cyanobacteria and secreted as calcite in a coral reef.

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