Diagenesis & Lithification

Diagenesis
 Diagenesis is used to describe all the chemical, physical, and biological changes,
including cementation, undergone by a sediment after its initial deposition, exclusive of surface
weathering.
 Some of these processes cause the sediment to consolidate: a compact, solid substance forms out
of loose material.
 As sediment deposition builds up, the overburden (or lithostatic) pressure rises, and a process
known as lithification takes place.
 Sedimentary rocks are often saturated with seawater or groundwater, in which minerals can
dissolve or from which minerals can precipitate.
 Precipitating minerals reduce the pore space in a rock, a process called cementation. Due to the
decrease in pore space, the original connate fluids are expelled.
 The precipitated minerals form a cement and make the rock more compact and competent. In this
way, loose clasts in a sedimentary rock can become "glued" together.
Turning sediment into rock
Diagenesis includes:
 Recrystallization – growth of stable minerals from less stable
ones.
 Lithification – loose sediment is transformed into solid rock by
compaction and cementation.
 Compaction: As more sediments are piled on top, compaction
drives out the excess water.
 Cementation: Precipitation of chemicals dissolved in water binds
grains of a sediment together.
 Natural cements: calcite, silica, and iron oxide. Formed from ions
in solution in water.
Compaction
1.Where sediments are deposited, layer upon
layer builds up. Pressure from the upper
layers pushes down on the lower layers.
2. If the sediments are small, they can stick
together and form solid rock. This process
is called compaction.
Cementation
1. Large sediments, like sand and pebbles,
cannot form rock from pressure alone. Large
sediments have to be cemented together.
2. As water moves through soil and rock, it
picks up materials released from minerals
during weathering.
3.The resulting solution of water and dissolved
materials moves through open spaces
between sediments.
Cementation
4. Cementation occurs when minerals such as
quartz, calcite, and hematite are deposited
between the pieces of sediment.
5. These minerals, acting as natural cements,
hold the sediment together like glue, forming
a detrital sedimentary rock.
•Cementation:
• Cementing material is usually secondary Silica
(Siliceous cement), Calcium carbonate
(Carbonate cement), Iron rich (ferruginous
cement)

• Cement itself to some extent is the source of

weakness in the sedimentary rocks

• Because cementing material and the clastic

sediments are usually of different
composition, leading to heterogeneity in their
physical characteristics.
• Hence such rock will not behave homogeneously under stress,
resulting into development of cracks or fissures which
develops in cementing material.

• If the cement is Calcium Carbonate- it is undesirable, because

it is susceptible to dissolve in Carbon-dioxide in water

• However, if cementation process continuous for longer span of

time cementation will become more complete, which reduce
the porosity and permeability in the rock mass and increase
competence.

• Shape of grains: i.e. if coarser grains, rounded or sub-rounded

are cemented material, will not have firm grip=such rocks
behave as incompetent rocks.
 Authigenesis
 Authigenesis is the process whereby a mineral or sedimentary rock deposit is generated where
it is found or observed. Such deposits are described as authigenic.
 Authigenic sedimentary minerals form during sedimentation by precipitation
or recrystallization instead of being transported from elsewhere (allogenic) by water or wind. 
 Authigenic sediments are the main constituents of deep sea sedimentation.
Authigenic clays tend to reduce the porosity of sediments, thus reducing permeability.
 In metamorphic petrology an authigenic mineral is one formed in situ during metamorphism,
again by precipitation from fluids or recrystallization.
 For any mineral to be precipitated, the water must be oversaturated with respect to that mineral.
 For calcite, this means that the area of deposition must be above the carbonate compensation
depth, or that the pore waters are sufficiently saturated due to dissolution of other grains that
precipitation can begin. The alkalinity can also be reduced by microbial sulphate reduction.
Common Authigenic Minerals in Sedimentary
Rocks
 Calcium carbonate
 Apatite
 Clays
 Hematite
 Limonite
 Chamosite
 Siderite
 Silica
 Glauconite
 Pyrite
Neomorphism
 Neomorphism refers to the wet metamorphic process in which diagenetic alterations
systematically transform minerals into either polymorphs or crystalline structures that are
structurally identical to the rock(s) from which they developed.
 Neomorphism encompasses the functions of both recrystallization and inversion, which are
geological processes that deal primarily with rock reformation.
 The neomorphic process, as it relates to geology and petrography, is one of the many major
processes that sustain both carbonate minerals and limestone.
 Neomorphism is largely held accountable for the metastability of aragonite and
magnesium-rich calcite, and when conditions permit, neomorphic reactions and
interactions can result in texture loss and/or feature deformation of affected rock
formations.
Types of Neomorphism

 Recrystallization
 The term "recrystallization" broadly refers to the many metamorphic
processes that change the size and/or shape of crystal formations and
preserve the chemical composition and mineralogy of the original mineral.
 Since recrystallization accounts for the majority of all visible changes
produced by neomorphism, the terms "neomorphism" and
"recrystallization" implicitly allude to each other and can therefore be used
interchangeably under most circumstances.
 In petrology, there are two forms of recrystallization: recrystallization
by inversion and recrystallization by replacement.
 Replacement
 Replacement is a complex form of neomorphism in which the recrystallization process involves the
dissolution of one mineral and the immediate "precipitation" of another in its place.
 The resultant mineral differs from its predecessor in terms of its chemical composition.
 Replacement occurs without any substantial changes in volume between the original and the
reformed mineral.
 The process is often characterized as being either fabric-destructive or fabric-preserving, which refer
to texture loss and texture retention, respectively.
 The replacement of fossils with chert, for example, is often fabric-preserving, while the replacement
of aragonite and calcite with dolomite is fabric-destructive.
 On a side note, this particular process (the replacement of aragonite and calcite with dolomite) is the
most common form of recrystallization by replacement.
 Recrystallization by replacement occurs on a variety of minerals, including
chert, pyrite, hematite, apatite, anhydrite, and dolomite, among others.
 Inversion
 Inversion is a complex form of neomorphism in which the recrystallization process transforms
polymorphs into different polymorphs.
 Polymorphs, are minerals that differ from one another in their crystalline structures but are
otherwise composed of identical quantities and types of elements.
 As with any change in mineral structure, the alteration of polymorphs occurs most often in
environments characterized by certain optimal temperatures and pressure levels.
 Optimal temperature and pressure levels vary in accordance to the type of mineral(s) under
consideration.
 Specifically, an increase in temperature incites an increase in atomic vibrations, which
instigates atoms to distance themselves from each other.
 The excited atoms continue expanding until the increase in temperature can no longer provide
the energy necessary for further expansion.
 Affected crystals and/or minerals are forced to adapt to the aforementioned atomic changes by
expanding their skeletal structures, which results in visible changes of the aforementioned
crystals and minerals.
 Inversion (Cont’)
 All the while, pressure continuously compresses the altered crystals and minerals into dense
structures; the final product is a collection of chemically-identical crystals that differs
structurally and visibly from its predecessor.
 Perhaps the most pervasive example of inversion occurs on carbon.
 The inversion of carbon, depending on the temperature and pressure of the environment, results
in one of two very distinct polymorphs: Under low temperature and low pressure,
recrystallization by inversion will result in coal, and under high pressure and high temperature,
recrystallization by inversion will result in diamond.
 Both coal and diamond are derived from carbon and are chemically identical, but they differ
remarkably from each other in terms of physical appearance.