Sedimentary Environments

• A goal of Earth history is to reconstruct the

evolution of climates and environments
through time: i. e., paleogeography
• Clues to ancient climates and environments
are preserved in sedimentary rocks
– Through uniformitarianism, ancient
conditions can be inferred by analogy to
modern sedimentary environments

Earth History, Ch. 5 1

 Sedimentary Environments
• Useful clues in ancient sedimentary rocks include
– Rock type (composition)
– Sedimentary textures and internal features
– Presence and type of fossils
– Relationship to underlying or overlying rocks
of known origin

Earth History, Ch. 5 2

 Terrestrial sedimentary
environments
• Soils
• Desert deposits
• Lake deposits
• Glacial deposits
• River deposits
• Delta deposits (transitional between
terrestrial and marine realm)
Earth History, Ch. 5 3
 Soils
• Soil is a mixture of
minerals and organic
matter
• Soils form as a result
of chemical and
mechanical weathering
of bedrock, along with
the decay of plant
matter
Earth History, Ch. 5 4
 Ancient soils
• Ancient soils can be recognized by
– “Fossil” soil horizons
– Fossil roots and root structures
– Blocky texture and red or green color
• Recognition of ancient soils is important because
“fossil” soils usually are associated with
unconformities
– Signify an interruption or gap in the sedimentary
record
Earth History, Ch. 5 5
 Desert deposits—evidence of
arid climate
• Soils with little or no organic component
• Playa lakes—ephemeral lakes that
evaporate periodically
– Evaporite minerals (halite, gypsum, anhydrite)
• Alluvial fans—with poorly sorted mixtures
of sediment ranging from boulders to silt
• Sand dunes—wind-blown sand deposits
Earth History, Ch. 5 6
Earth History, Ch. 5 7
Death Valley alluvial fan

Earth History, Ch. 5 8

 Lake deposits
• Varves—alternating fine dark and light layers that
reflect annual sedimentation
– High sedimentation in warm or wet months
– Low sedimentation in dry or cold months
– Minor disruption of layers by burrowing organisms
• If fossils are present, they will be remains of
freshwater organisms
• Association with other terrestrial deposits;
usually not directly above or below marine beds

Earth History, Ch. 5 9

Varves

Earth History, Ch. 5 10

 Glacial deposits
• Till = poorly sorted, chaotic mixtures of sediment
that has been transported and deposited by moving
ice
• Moraine = a ridge of till deposited either at the
sides (lateral) or end (terminal) of a glacier
• Outwash = stratified, better sorted sediments
deposited by glacial meltwater
• Dropstones = glacially transported debris that
drops into marine sediments from an iceberg

Earth History, Ch. 5 11

 Glacial deposits

Earth History, Ch. 5 12

Glacial deposits (cont.)

Dropstone in
marine sediments

Earth History, Ch. 5 13

 River deposits
• Braided rivers flow in mountainous regions or on
alluvial fans where:
– Stream gradient is high
– Sediment supply is high relative to water volume
– Example: Platte River in Colorado and Nebraska
• Meandering rivers flow in low-relief areas where
– Stream gradient is low
– Sediment supply is low relative to water volume
– Example: Brazos River in southeast Texas
Earth History, Ch. 5 14
Braided river

Meandering river

Earth History, Ch. 5 15

Alluvial fans and braided stream

Earth History, Ch. 5 16

 Braided rivers
• Mosaic of bars and
channels
• Mostly coarse-grained
sediment
• Well developed
sedimentary structures
– Cross-bedding from
downstream migration of
bars
Earth History, Ch. 5 17
 Braided rivers (continued)

Aerial view of bar

Cross strata
Earth History, Ch. 5 18
 Meandering rivers
• Stacked sets of channel
and point-bar deposits
– Characteristic fining-
upward sequence
• Mostly medium and
fine-grained sediment
• Well developed
sedimentary structures
– High to low-angle cross
beds from migration of
point bars
Earth History, Ch. 5 19
Meandering rivers (continued)

Fining-upward
sequence as a
consequence of
lateral migration
of point bar

Earth History, Ch. 5 20

 Walther’s Law
• “In an undisturbed vertical sequence of
sedimentary deposits, facies that are
adjacent vertically must at one time have
been adjacent laterally”
– “Facies” = sediment or sedimentary rock that is
deposited in a particular environment
• e.g., shoreline facies, open shelf facies, deep sea
facies

Earth History, Ch. 5 21

 Walther’s Law (continued)
Lagoon facies Lagoon facies

Barrier island facies

Southward Barrier island facies
migration Barrier island facies
of facies Shelf facies Shelf facies

Map view Map view Map view

Time 1 Time 2 Time 3

Time 3: Lagoon facies

Vertical profile
Time 2: Barrier island facies
at location
Time 1: Shelf facies

Earth History, Ch. 5 22

Walther’s law (cont.)

Earth History, Ch. 5 23

 Walther’s Law (continued)
• Progradation = the seaward migration of
facies (results from steady supply of
sediment)

“time lines”
Earth History, Ch. 5 24
 Delta deposits
• Deltas are formed where major rivers empty into the sea
– Overbank and marsh deposits are fine
– Distributary channel deposits are sandy
– Delta front deposits contain silt and clay
– Prodelta deposits contain clay

Earth History, Ch. 5 25

 Delta deposits (continued)

Seaward progradation
of the delta produces
a coarsening-upward
sequence of sediments
capped by marsh deposits

Earth History, Ch. 5 26

Delta deposits (continued)
Coarsening-upward sequence capped by
finer overbank and marsh deposits.

Multiple coarsening-upward cycles can be

produced by superposed delta lobes.

Earth History, Ch. 5 27

 Marine Depositional
Environments

• Shoreline and shelf deposits

• Reefs
• Carbonate platforms
• Deep sea sediments

Earth History, Ch. 5 28

 Shoreline and shelf deposits
• Lagoon—fine grained sediment deposited in quiet
water between mainland and barrier island; low
diversity/high abundance faunal assemblages
• Barrier island—sand deposited by longshore
currents
• Shelf—variably sandy to muddy sediment, with
sediment size decreasing seaward; high diversity/
low abundance faunal assemblages

Earth History, Ch. 5 29

 Shelf and shoreline (cont.)

Progradation of barrier
island complex produces
a coarsening-upward
sedimentary deposit

Earth History, Ch. 5 30

 Reefs
• Reefs are rigid, wave-resistant organic structures
that rise above the adjacent sea floor
• Deposits consist of fossiliferous limestone
• Requirements
– Absence of siliciclastic sediment (clear water)
– Warm water, normal marine salinity
– Good circulation of water for nutrients
• Reefs normally develop on the windward margins of islands
or coastlines

Earth History, Ch. 5 31

 Reef deposits
• Back-reef = quiet water lagoonal deposits
along with small patchreefs
• Reef core = massive skeletal framework
• Fore-reef talus = coarse debris from the
reef core, often steeply inclined as it grades
into deeper water

Earth History, Ch. 5 32

 Reef deposits (continued)
prevailing
winds

open
ocean

land

Earth History, Ch. 5 33

 Reef types
• Patch reef = small, isolated, organic build-up in
lagoon
• Barrier reef = large, elongate reef tracts that
parallel a coastline (separated from land by a
lagoon or bay)
• Fringing reef = reef tract developed along
coastline without a lagoon
• Atoll = circular or horseshoe-shaped reef
developed around volcanic islands

Earth History, Ch. 5 34

Coral reef atoll

Earth History, Ch. 5 35

 Carbonate platforms
• Carbonate platform = large, broad expanse of
carbonate sediment accumulation
• Requirements
– warm, clear water, variable salinity
• Deposits may include a mosaic of skeletal sands,
ooids, lime muds, even stromatolites
• Growth of platform is mainly vertical, by
accretion of sediment

Earth History, Ch. 5 36

Bahama platform

Earth History, Ch. 5 37

 Deep sea sediments
• Turbidity currents are sediment-laden
currents that flow down submarine fans
under the influence of gravity
– Turbidites are the distinctive deposits of
turbidity currents
• Pelagic sediments are very fine grained
sediments that settle to the deep sea floor

Earth History, Ch. 5 38

Turbidity current

Earth History, Ch. 5 39

Turbidity currents

Earth History, Ch. 5 40

 Turbidites
• Turbidity current wanes in
strength as it flows into the
deep sea: deposits coarse
material first, then ~1-2ft
progressively finer
sediments
– Graded bed = a fining-
upward sequence developed
in a single sediment layer

Earth History, Ch. 5 41

 Pelagic sediments
• Consist of:
– Clays, from atmospheric dust
– Calcareous ooze, from the empty shells of
planktonic microorganisms that have settled to
the sea floor
• Deposits are typically very fine grained and
thinly laminated

Earth History, Ch. 5 42

 Pelagic sediments
siliceous ooze

deep sea clay calcareous ooze

Earth History, Ch. 5 43