SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES/Erosional Sedimentary Structures 587
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SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES
Contents
Erosional Sedimentary Structures
Depositional Sedimentary Structures
Post-Depositional Sedimentary Structures
Aeolian Processes
Catastrophic Floods
Deep Water Processes and Deposits
Fluvial Geomorphology
Glaciers
Karst and Palaeokarst
Landslides
Particle-Driven Subaqueous Gravity Processes
Deposition from Suspension
Fluxes and Budgets
Erosional Sedimentary
Structures
J Collinson, John Collinson Consulting,
Beech, UK
ß 2005, Elsevier Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
The accumulation of sediments into the rock record
is not a process of continuous deposition, but rather
Swift DJP and Niedoroda AW (1985) Fluid and sedi-
ment dynamics on continental shelves. In: Tillman R,
Swift DJP, and Walker RG (eds.) Shelf Sands and Sand-
stone Reservoirs, pp. 47–133. Society of Economic
Paleontologists Mineralogists Short Course Notes 13.
Albuquerque: Society of Economic Paleontologists
Mineralogists.
Walker RG (1984) Shelf and shallow marine sands. In:
Walker RG (ed.) Facies Models, 2nd edn., pp. 141–170.
Reprint Series 1. Toronto: Geoscience Canada.
Walker RG (1985) Fluid and sediment dynamics on
continental shelves. In: Tillman RW, Swift DJP, and
Walker RG (eds.) Shelf Sands and Sandstone Reservoirs,
pp. 243–295. Society of Economic Paleontologists Min-
eralogists Short Course Notes 13. Albuquerque: Society
of Economic Paleontologists Mineralogists.
the net result of interaction between episodes of de-
position, non-deposition, and erosion. The erosional
episodes are commonly recorded by distinctive sedi-
mentary structures whose recognition and interpret-
ation enhance the overall understanding of the
sedimentary record. This article deals with some of
the processes involved in sediment erosion and also
reviews the range of distinctive structures that are pro-
duced both on present-day sediment surfaces and in the
rock record. It deals solely with features that are pre-
sent where overall accumulation has occurred or could
occur. It does not deal with erosional features that form
in subaerial landscapes undergoing long-term erosion.
588 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES/Erosional Sedimentary Structures
Erosive Processes
Critical Erosion Velocity
When water or air flows over a bed of loose particles,
the boundary shear stress caused by the moving fluid
tends to initiate particle movement. There is a critical
boundary shear stress (sometimes expressed as a crit-
ical erosion velocity) above which particle movement
occurs. For sediment of rather uniform grain size, the
critical shear stress will increase as the grain size
increases. However, for small grain sizes (silt and
mud), the situation is less straightforward, as the
combined effect of increased cohesive strength and
lower surface roughness means that higher velocities
are needed to initiate movement. This relationship is
illustrated for water in the Hjulström–Sundborg dia-
gram (Figure 1), which operates ideally for well-
sorted sediments. A poorly sorted substrate may be
winnowed as the critical shear stress of the finer
particles is exceeded, leading to the development of
an armoured lag on the surface that inhibits further
erosion.
Sediment Cohesion
The cohesive strength of damp or wet, fine-grained
sediment results from the increasing importance of
intergranular electrochemical forces as the surface
area to volume ratio of the grains increases and as
clay minerals make up an increasing proportion of
the sediment. The cohesive strength of fine-grained
sediments increases with the time following depos-
ition and is augmented by shallow burial. As well as
influencing the critical shear stress of fine-grained
sediment, the cohesive strength also complicates the
way in which fine-grained sediments are eroded. The
Figure 1 Plot of grain size against stream power showing the
velocity at which sediment is set in motion or eroded. Note the
different behaviour of fine-grained sediment depending on
whether it has had time to develop cohesive strength.
particle-by-particle erosion that characterizes non-
cohesive sediment is replaced by the erosion of grain
aggregates of cohesive sediment. These range from
small rip-up clasts to larger blocks of eroded mud
(Figure 2). A cohesive substrate is also able to retain
detailed erosional relief and to stand at steep, even
overhanging, angles. This is critical to the preservation
of the many erosional structures discussed below.
Role of Abrasion
The relationships between the critical boundary shear
stress and particle size, as expressed in the Hjulström–
Sundborg diagram, are complicated further by the
fact that natural currents capable of erosion are likely
to be carrying material in suspension. Sand and silt
particles within this suspended load will enhance
the erosive capability of the current by providing an
abrasive supplement to the boundary shear stress.
Erosional Sole Marks
Erosional sole marks are relatively small-scale struc-
tures preserved as casts on the bases (‘soles’) of sand-
stone or, more rarely, limestone beds usually in
interbedded sandstone/mudstone sequences. They
vary in style and are valuable indicators of erosional
and depositional processes. They also provide palaeo-
current information and act as ‘way-up’ indicators in
deformed successions. Their common occurrence on
the bases of sandstone beds in interbedded sequences
suggests that the sands were deposited as episodic,
high-energy events in settings in which quiet condi-
tions normally prevailed, with background sedimen-
tation being from suspension. The fact that erosional
sole marks occur on the bases of the sandstones sug-
gests that the high-energy events were erosional in
their initial stages, prior to the onset of sand depos-
ition. Such surges, which decelerated through time,
typically occur as turbidity currents in deep water, as
Figure 2 Blocks of cohesive mud occurring as clasts in the
base of a channel. Recent terrace deposits, Tana Valley, Norway.
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES/Erosional Sedimentary Structures 589
Figure 3 Schematic diagram to show the main stages in the development and preservation of erosional sole marks in an
interbedded succession of cohesive sediment and coarser, high-energy event beds.
storm surges in shelf settings, and as flood events in
deltaic and alluvial settings.
The erosive initial stages of such flows are likely to
be highly charged with suspended sediment, which
may include coarse particles and, consequently, ero-
sion may result from a combination of both fluid
shear and grain abrasion. If the transported clasts
are sand and silt, abrasion will augment and acceler-
ate fluid scour. If, on the other hand, the clasts are
quite large, their interaction with the bed may create
distinctive structures that relate directly to that inter-
action. Such structures are ‘tool marks’. Erosional
forms created by both types of process occur initially
as negative relief on the bed, and their preservation
and later recognition depend on that surface being
rapidly overlain by coarser sediment, giving a positive
cast of the relief (Figure 3). The survival of the sur-
face relief through the transition from erosion to
deposition depends on the cohesive strength of the
substrate, which typically preserves steep and detailed
features.
Sole Marks due to Fluid Turbulence
These structures relate to the pattern of fluid turbu-
lence close to the bed and are essentially smooth
features related to fluid scour, probably augmented
by abrasion. They may be classified into three main
groups: obstacle scours, flute marks, and longitudinal
furrows.
‘Obstacle scours’ occur around an object lodged on
the bed. This is most often a pebble or a shell fragment
and the scour is preserved as a horseshoe-shaped ridge
that wraps around the upstream side of the obstacle
(Figure 4). The ridge was a trough during erosion and
its form results from the locally enhanced boundary
shear stress as flow was forced to accelerate around
the object. Spiral eddies which are shed off either side
Figure 4 Obstacle scour around a pebble on the base of a
sandstone bed. The horseshoe-shaped ridge is the cast of
a scour trough eroded around the upstream side of the pebble
as the flow accelerated past the obstacle. Eocene, Ainsa, Spanish
Pyrenees.
of the obstacle give the tails that gradually die out
downstream.
‘Flute marks’ occur in isolation and in groups,
sometimes in linear arrays parallel to flow. They are
characterized by a rounded nose at the deepest part of
the scour from which the structure flares away in a V-
shaped form (Figure 5). The nose points upstream and
the shape of the flute reflects the action of a local eddy
at the bed, enhanced by the growing flute. Their shape
in plan ranges from very sharp V-forms to features
with a straighter transverse upstream edge. Flutes
may have been initiated at some initial irregularity
on the bed surface that caused flow separation and
heightened bed shear stress. The irregularity respon-
sible may sometimes be apparent, but in most cases is
not. The separation eddy, in turn, led to local scour,
enhancing the relief, so that, once initiated, a positive
feedback loop was set up between the turbulence and
the bed topography. The downstream flaring of the
flute away from the nose reflects the mixing of
the eddy back into the body of the flow. At the head
590 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES/Erosional Sedimentary Structures
Figure 5 Flute casts on the base of a turbidite sandstone bed
showing the noses pointing in the upstream direction. Eocene,
San Sebastian, Spain.
of the flute, the axis of the separation eddy would have
been transverse to flow and the axes would have ro-
tated parallel to flow along the downstream flaring
margins.
‘Longitudinal furrows’ occur on the bases of sand-
stone beds as patterns of broadly parallel ridges that
have a rounded profile and are separated by narrower
grooves. This reflects an erosional morphology of
rounded parallel furrows separated by cuspate ridges.
Along the furrows, it is quite common to find
rounded noses that all point in the same direction,
similar to small flutes. Indeed, there is a continuous
series of erosional forms between clear flutes at one
end and smooth parallel furrows at the other. The
furrows are thought to result from the erosive effects
of paired spiral eddies with their axes parallel to flow
and with opposed senses of rotation. The furrows
correspond to divergence zones where eddies direct
flow down on to the bed, whilst the cuspate ridges
lie beneath the convergence zones where flow
components lift off from the bed.
‘Gutter casts’ are features that seem to occur prefer-
entially in shallow marine settings where storm cur-
rents are typically the agent responsible. They differ
from longitudinal furrows in being larger and separ-
ated from one another by areas of flat bedding surface
rather than cuspate ridges (Figure 6). They are typic-
ally many centimetres wide and a few centimetres deep
and they may be separated by flat sectors up to metres
in width. Their fills sometimes carry a coarse lag in the
base, often made up of fossil fragments. In plan view,
they tend to be rather continuous, may be somewhat
sinuous, and may split and rejoin, suggesting an anas-
tomosing pattern. They probably result from rather
sustained currents, possibly driven by wind or storm
effects.
All the scours related to fluid scour have a strong
orientation parallel to the current, which can be used
Figure 6 Lower bedding surface of a limestone bed from within
a shallow marine interbedded limestone–mudstone succession
showing gutter casts. Ordovician, north-west Greenland.
to infer palaeoflow direction. With longitudinal
scours without clear noses, it may be impossible to
infer the sense of movement.
Tool Marks
These constitute a diverse suite of structures that are
produced by the interaction of objects (‘tools’) carried
by the flow with a soft cohesive substrate. The shape
and scale of such structures vary with the nature of
the tools and the way in which they impinge on the
bed (Figure 7). Tools marks can generally be distin-
guished from structures produced by fluid scour by
the fact that they tend to have sharp, often angular
relief, reflecting the shape of the tool, compared with
the much smoother shapes of fluid scour marks. The
tools themselves are seldom seen associated with
the tool marks that they created, and one can only
imagine or infer what they may have been. They are
most likely to have been pebbles, mud rip-up clasts,
fossils, or wood fragments. In some cases, delicate
relief on the marks can be related to features of the
tool, such as ribbing on a shell.
Tools may interact with the bed in a variety of ways,
and a loose terminology is applied to the results.
Where tools remain in contact with the bed for some
distance, they gouge ‘grooves’, usually with sharp
margins and sometimes changing in form as the tool
rotates slowly. Where the tools are in intermittent
contact with the bed, a string of similar impact marks
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES/Erosional Sedimentary Structures 591
Figure 7 A variety of tool marks on the base of a thin turbidite
sandstone bed showing prod marks and bounce marks. The
series of distinctive bounce marks towards the top of the slab is
thought to have been made by a fish vertebra, unlike most tool
marks where the nature of the tool is unknown. Oligocene, Polish
Carpathians.
Figure 8 Chevron cast on the base of a turbidite sandstone.
Ordovician, Kirkudbrightshire, Scotland.
with more or less regular spacing may form ‘bounce
marks’. These may be symmetrical or may have an
asymmetry reflecting the differing angles of impact
and rebound. Where tools make isolated impact with
the bed, single impressions occur. These ‘prod marks’
commonly have a clear asymmetry, gently inclined on
the upstream side, recording the low-angle approach
trajectory, and steeper on the downstream end where
the tool was lifted back into the flow.
Less common are ‘chevron marks’ where the tool
appears to have been dragged across a rather vis-
cous muddy substrate so that the sediment has been
rucked into a series of chevron-like folds that face in a
downstream direction (Figure 8).
Most tool marks are good palaeocurrent indicators
and, in most cases, both direction and sense of move-
ment can be deduced. Highly elongate forms, such as
grooves and bounce mark sequences, give the best
directional measure, whilst the asymmetry of prod
marks provides the most reliable indication of sense
of movement. It is often the case that a variety of
forms occur together on the same surface and it is
not uncommon for a range of directions to be pre-
sent, suggesting that the current responsible changed
direction whilst in the erosive mode.
Erosional Surface Forms
On present-day subaerial sediment surfaces, e.g., tidal
flats, beaches, river beds, and desert flats, it is pos-
sible to find structures that record erosion by recent
currents, both water and wind. Examples of these
features also occur in the rock record, but they are
less common than erosional sole marks because
many are developed in sand, which is likely to be
reworked by subsequent currents. Erosional forms
are also detected and mapped on the seafloor by
remote sensing techniques on both sandy and muddy
substrates. Ancient small examples are seen in the rock
record at outcrop, but some larger examples probably
go undetected.
‘Obstacle scours’ occur around pebbles and shells
on sandy river beds and on beaches. They are curved
troughs that wrap around the upstream side of the
obstacle and flare away downstream. They relate to
the local acceleration of the current around the obs-
tacle and the generation of a local eddy system. On
stream beds, the sand may be rippled and the obstacle
scour may, in effect, be a distortion of the ripple
pattern. On beaches, the current responsible is the
backwash of the waves and often they occur on an
otherwise flat sediment surface.
‘Wind ridges’ occur where strong winds blow across
damp sand as on a beach. As the sand dries out differ-
entially, dry sand is set in motion by the wind, whilst
damper patches retain some coherence and resist ero-
sion. These will typically become streamlined as
erosion goes on around them, producing ridges with
blunt noses at their upwind ends and tails that flare
away downwind. Rare examples are known in some
ancient lake deposits where the surface was inundated
and draped with finer sediment.
‘Seafloor flutes and lineations’ have been detected
by remote sensing techniques, particularly side-scan
sonar. They occur on both sandy and muddy seafloors
and can result from both tidal currents and deep-sea
turbidity currents. Lineations eroded in muddy sea-
floors may be many hundreds of metres in length and
form spaced arrays. Large-scale flutes, which are
592 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES/Erosional Sedimentary Structures
known from the surfaces of some submarine fans, are
tens to hundreds of metres in length and seem par-
ticularly to be features of areas where large flows
have spilled over from fan channels.
The recognition of ancient examples of such fea-
tures requires exceptional exposure. The largest forms
would commonly be categorized as channels. With
extensive bedding surface exposure, large, flute-like
forms (megaflutes) occur on the upper surfaces of sand
units in turbidite sequences and are typically overlain
by mud drapes and fills. It may well be the case that,
where erosion was followed by the deposition of sand,
the features usually go undetected.
Channel Forms
Channels occur in a wide range of settings as an
integral part of the depositional process. In some
cases, channels and their fills constitute only a small
part of the succession; in other settings, the succes-
sions may be dominated by channel fills. Given good
outcrop, the recognition of channels is often very
straightforward, as an erosional surface, with signifi-
cant relief, separating two discrete bodies of sediment,
the overlying unit commonly being coarser grained
than that below (Figure 9). The shapes of channel
erosion surfaces are quite varied, ranging from
strongly curved, concave-upwards forms to horizon-
tal surfaces. The observed shape records the inter-
action of the active channel and its behaviour during
its active life. Channels that maintain a stable position
generate a cross-section that is very close to that of the
active channel and the resultant sediment body is
lenticular. Actively migrating channels generate an
erosion surface with an extensive flat sector and
steeper margins, so that the channel sediment body
Figure 9 Part of a channel margin within a turbidite succes-
sion. The stepped nature of the junction in part reflects the
lithological differences in the underlying thin-bedded succes-
sion. The thick beds of sand that make up the channel fill reflect
the stronger currents that flowed through it. Namurian, North
Derbyshire, England.
has a tabular shape. Channel stability reflects the
energy of the flow within the channel and the stability
of the material in the channel banks. With cohesive
bank material, channels are less likely to migrate. For
non-cohesive bank material, the greater tendency for
migration means that channel margins are less likely to
be seen in the rock record, and erosion surfaces have
to be inferred from the concentration of larger clasts,
both exotic and intraformational, in a lag conglomer-
ate directly above the erosion surface. Where channel
margins are cut into dominantly cohesive sediment,
but with some interbedding of lithologies, it is quite
common for the interbedding to be reflected in the
morphology of the erosion surface. Stepped profiles
and even overhangs may occur. These smaller features
are often valuable for the measurement of channel
trend directions, particularly where accompanied by
sole marks, such as flutes.
Other Erosion Surfaces
Many bedding surfaces have an element of erosion in
their genesis, but hardly qualify as ‘sedimentary struc-
tures’ and will not be dealt with in detail. Marine
transgressions may often be erosive in nature, and the
landward advance of a shoreface may produce a hori-
zontal and relatively flat surface (ravinement surface)
recognized by a sharp upwards change from more
nearshore to more offshore facies, possibly associated
with a lag conglomerate. In aeolian settings, major
bounding surfaces (supersurfaces) may be associated
with erosion down to the water table and are recog-
nized in some cases only on the basis of their wide
extent.
Channel-like features may result from processes
other than fluid scour, especially in finer grained sedi-
ments and particularly those deposited on subaqueous
slopes. Instability, often due to rapid deposition, may
give rise to failure and the initiation of slumps and
slides. The surfaces over which such movements take
place may have concave-upwards forms, especially in
the up-slope slump scar area, and these can superfi-
cially resemble channels. Generally, the context and
the associated sediments allow the differences to be
recognized.
Other erosional forms result from the dissolution
of lithified sediments, typically limestones, so that
irregular palaeokarstic surfaces may be incorporated
into the rock record.
See Also
Sedimentary Processes: Depositional Sedimentary
Structures; Post-Depositional Sedimentary Structures;
Aeolian Processes; Karst and Palaeokarst; Particle-
Driven Subaqueous Gravity Processes. Sedimentary
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES/Depositional Sedimentary Structures 593
Rocks: Mineralogy and Classification. Unidirectional
Aqueous Flow.
Further Reading
Allen JRL (1982) Sedimentary Structures: Their Character
and Physical Basis. Developments in Sedimentology 30A
& B, pp. 593–663. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Allen JRL (1985) Principles of Physical Sedimentology,
ch. 8. London: Allen & Unwin.
Collinson JD and Thompson DB (1989) Sedimentary Struc-
tures, 2nd edn., ch. 3–4. London: Chapman & Hall.
Depositional Sedimentary Structures
J Collinson, John Collinson Consulting, Beech, UK
ß 2005, Elsevier Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
Depositional sedimentary structures reflect closely
the processes by which sediment was transported
immediately prior to deposition, and therefore pro-
vide an important starting point for environmental
interpretation through facies analysis (see Sediment-
ary Environments: Depositional Systems and Facies).
Their interpretation requires an appreciation of the
hydrodynamics or aerodynamics of fluid–sediment
interactions.
Sediment Transport and Deposition
Excluding highly concentrated sediment–water mix-
tures, sediment is transported by fluid in two distinct
ways. Finer grained material, commonly clay and silt,
but sometimes including sand and coarser material,
is carried along with the fluid in ‘suspension’, when
particles are supported by the upwards component of
turbulence. Coarser grained material tends to move in
intermittent contact with the bed, once its critical
boundary shear stress has been exceeded. This move-
ment, referred to generally as ‘bedload transport’,
takes place through rolling or, more commonly, boun-
cing of grains on the bed, a process called ‘saltation’.
At its most vigorous, saltation grades into suspension.
Sand particles in saltation, on colliding with a bed of
similar sand, set other grains in motion as their kinetic
energy is dissipated, a process especially important in
wind-blown transport.
Bedload Transport
Bedload transport in water results from unidirec-
tional currents, wave action, and combinations of
Dzulynski S and Walton EK (1965) Sedimentary Features of
Flysch and Greywackes. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Leeder MR (1982) Sedimentology; Process and Product, ch.
5, 6, 9. London: Allen & Unwin.
Leeder MR (1999) Sedimentology and Sedimentary Basins,
ch. 5, 6, 10. Oxford: Blackwell Science.
Mutti E (1992) Turbidite Sandstones. Milan: Agip.
Pettijohn FJ and Potter PE (1964) Atlas and Glossary of
Primary Sedimentary Structures. Berlin: Springer.
Ricci-Lucchi F (1970) Sedimentografia. Bologna: Zanichelli.
Selley RC (2000) Applied Sedimentology, 2nd edn., ch. 5.
San Diego: Academic Press.
the two. Clearly, for waves to affect sediment move-
ment, the bed has to be above wave base (i.e., within
the depth range of the waves), and it is important in
many settings to recognize the distinction between
fair weather and storm wave base.
Suspension
Sediment is carried in suspension provided that the
intensity of turbulence within the fluid remains high.
A current that is underloaded with suspended sedi-
ment can take more material into suspension up to a
certain critical capacity. Sediment is deposited when
the level of turbulence can no longer support all the
suspended grains. This usually occurs when the cur-
rent decelerates, often as a result of flow expansion
at a channel mouth, but also through the waning of
a high-energy event, such as a storm or flood. Coarser
particles, with higher settling velocities, fall from
suspension first. Sedimentation is commonly acceler-
ated in river mouth and estuarine settings where a
freshwater suspension meets saline water and par-
ticles coagulate into larger flocs. Deposition from
suspension occurs in many settings and produces a
variety of types of bedding and lamination. ‘Bedding’
is used for units of centimetres or larger thickness,
whilst ‘lamination’ is used for features at the scale of
millimetres.
At coastal delta fronts, a floating plume of turbid
freshwater floats over denser seawater and may
extend many kilometres offshore before it disperses.
In freshwater lakes, the reverse situation may apply,
with denser turbid water hugging the lake floor as a
density underflow. Such relatively sustained under-
flows contrast with more episodic underflow surges,
which are features of deep marine settings. These
turbidity currents carry a wide variety of grain sizes
in suspension and the interaction of density contrast,
down-slope movement, resultant turbulence, and