SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

ROCKS FROM SEDIMENTS

 SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

How sediments are formed to sedimentary rocks

Sedimentary processes have portions that are largely
dependent on climatic events (e.g. precipitation and
wind) powered by the sun.
As rocks are exposed to these surface conditions,
their mineral constituents adapt to the change in
conditions (temperature, pressure, etc.) which
causes significant physical and chemical changes
 SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Sediments are broken down rocks (physically or

chemically) that constitute sedimentary rocks
Processes of weathering, erosion, transport and
deposition transform pre-existing rocks into
sediments before they finally lithified to form
sedimentary rocks
SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

ARE PROCESSES LEADING TO THE

BREAKDOWN OF ROCKS
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

Processes that take place before the sediments are transformed to

sedimentary rocks
 Weathering - Transport
 Erosion - Deposition
Process that will finally lithify or make the sediments into a
sedimentary rock
- Diagenesis
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

Weathering
is the process of breaking down rocks physically or
chemically.
Physical weathering is simply the breakdown of rocks
into smaller units
Chemical weathering is when the original minerals are
transformed to more stable phases due to the
difference in prevalent conditions (e.g. temperature
and pressure) with the original conditions where the
rock was formed
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

Chemical weathering take mostly on exposed surfaces

of rocks
If rocks are broken down into smaller pieces, it will be
more vulnerable to attacks of chemical weathering
Chemical weathering processed result to the ‘decay’ of
minerals present in the rock
With greater difference in the conditions of mineral
formation and surface conditions, minerals are more
susceptible to weathering attacks
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

 Erosion
Means to ‘eat away’
Is the process of eating away rocks from their source.
With physical and chemical weathering already weakening the
stability of rocks, erosion takes place with the help of gravity and
medium such as water, wind or organisms
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

Transport
Is the movement of sediments from one place to another
It enhances the effects of weathering making the sediments
smaller in size and more spherical in shape
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

Competence is the property of medium (e.g. water, air,

etc) to bring bigger sediments
Capacity is the property of medium to bring more
sediments
Sorting is the property that happens smaller
sediments are delivered farther away while the larger
ones are left behind because of the continuous
transport
As a summary: with greater distance of transport,
sediments tend to become smaller, rounder,
spherical in shape, and well-sorted.
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

Deposition
The settling of the sediments in an area before they are
finally lithified to form sedimentary rocks
It occurs when the energy of the medium/agent is no
longer capable of transporting the sediments
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

Diagenesis
Is the group of processes responsible for the
transformation of sediments into sedimentary rocks
Processes include: Compaction, Cementation,
Recrystallization and Bioturbation
The main goal: to end up with the sediments together
as an individual sedimentary rock
It progresses as soon as the sediments are deposited
and successive batches of sediments overlay previous
ones
 SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

Diagenetic processes are important in the formation of

sedimentary rocks. Without them, your sediments
will remain unconsolidated
CLASSIFYING SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS

THE END PRODUCT OF PHYSICAL WEATHERING

WOULD BE SMALLER UNITS OF SEDIMENTS, WHILE
CHEMICAL WEATHERING WOULD BE CHEMICALLY-
DISSOLVED MINERAL COMPONENTS AND RESISTANT
MINERALS.

BECAUSE OF THIS DISTINCTION OF END PRODUCTS,

THE CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
BECOMES EASIER
 CLASSIFYING SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

 Detrital sedimentary rocks

Are sedimentary rocks that is dominated by the
resistant minerals and rock fragments
Are usually dominated by quartz and clay materials
because they are the ones left behind when all forces
of weathering has ceased
Rock fragments and unstable minerals from
incomplete weathering is still part in this group
 DETRITAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Udden-Wentworth scale
(classification is based on size not on composition)
 DETRITAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Conglomerates and Breccias

Are detrital sedimentary rocks composed of gravel-
sized (>2mm in size) elements
Conglomerates are composed of rounded (smooth)
rock fragments
Breccias are composed of angular ones
For rounded grains, the sediments came from a source
farther away from the area where the sediments are
deposited
For angular grains, the source of the sediments must
be nearby
 DETRITAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Conglomerates and Breccias

 DETRITAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

 Sandstones
Are detrital sedimentary rocks composed of hand-sized (1/16mm –
2mm in size) sediments
Because of their smaller sediment size, the roundness of grains may
be difficult to determine
Sand is deposited at much lower energies compared to
conglomerates and breccias
 DETRITAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

 Siltstones
Are detrital sedimentary rocks composed of silt-sized (1/256 – 1/16
mm in size) sediments
Because of its smaller size, they may be easily mistaken for fine
sandstones or claystones
 DETRITAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Claystones
Are very fine in terms of sediment size (less than 1/256
mm)
The size difference between claystones and siltstones is
often not possible to measure with the naked eye
Mudrock is used for detrital sedimentary rocks in which
sediments size falls below 1/16 mm
 CLASSIFYING SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

 Chemical Sedimentary Rocks

Are rocks derived from the precipitation of solutions
rich in mineral components
Material come from dissolved minerals which
precipitated after some time
Composition is more important than sediment size
It may be organically- or inorganically-induced
 CHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Carbonate-based (CO3) chemical sedimentary rocks

Limestone is the most abundant chemical sedimentary
rock
It composed primarily of the mineral Calcite
Because calcite readily reacts with water to form solid
calcium compounds, it is used as a primary ingredient for
making cement Calcite
 CHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Majority of limestones occuring in nature is dominated by

organism-based calcite dissolved in seawater (from coral,
algae, and other shell-secreting organisms)
Limestones occur in a variety of forms depending on the
material that contributed the carbonate.
 CHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Coquina is a limestone that has shell fragments that are loosely-

cemented
Chalk is a limestone made from carbonate shells of microscopic
organisms
Travertine is the limestone you see in caves that look like wafers
stacked on top of each other

Coquina Chalk Travertine

 CHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

 Silica-based (SiO4) chemical sedimentary rocks

Silica (e.g. Quartz) can be easily dissolved in water and precipitate
back when the conditions are favourable.
Silica is one of the most common minerals to form the base of
chemical sedimentary rocks next to calcite.
Just like carbonates, these chemical sedimentary rocks can have
organic or inorganic origin of materials
 CHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

 Microcrystalline quartz (precipitates of silica) can also occur in a

number of forms like chert (light color), flint (dark color), jasper
(red) or agate (layered, banded)
Jasper
Flint

Chert Agate
 CHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Other chemical sedimentary rocks

Evaporites are minerals that form after letting
seawater (or any medium) evaporate under the sun
Halite (NaCl) is the most common evaporite. It is
more commonly known as rock salt.
 CHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Coal is an organic-rich sedimentary rock from mostly

plant remains that were deposited as sediments
Coal grade is simply a measure of how much
combustible carbon is present in coal. With
increasing grade of coal, it will burn more efficiently
because it has no impurities
 CHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Peat is the term used for partially modified

(diagenesis) plant remains.
Lignite is a coal that peat transforms into after
increasing the magnitude of diagenetic processes.
It is still soft with a lot of impurities
Bituminous coal is achieved with further ‘cooking’ of
lignite.
Bituminous coal can then transform into a
metamorphic rock called anthracite.
Anthracite is a hard, black coal with a very high grade
 METAMORPHIC ROCKS:
TRANSFORMED ROCKS

METAMORPHISM IS THE TRANSFORMATION OF ONE

ROCK (IGNEOUS, SEDIMENTARY OR
METAMORPHIC) TO A METAMORPHIC ROCK

IN METAMORHPIC ROCKS, PROCESSES TAKE PLACE

IN THE SOLID STATE. THUS, NO MELTING,
DISSOLUTION, OR BREAKING HAPPEN.
 WHAT HAPPENS DURING METAMORPHISM?

Rocks (and the minerals in them) were mostly formed

at conditions that may differ from where they are
emplaced.
The following conditions induce metamorphism of
rocks:
Heat
Pressure
Chemically-active fluids
 CONDITIONS THAT INDUCE METAMORPHISM

Heat
Most chemical processes (including crystal growth)
require energy. Because of this, crystal/mineral
growth is most favourable under a certain raise of
temperature
Rocks exposed to an increase in temperature (e.g.
when an intruding magma is nearby; without
melting) will undergo recrystallization in order to
form large crystals.
 HEAT

Contact Metamorphism is a type of metamorphism

in which the presence of magma heats up
surrounding rocks forming metamorphic rocks
 CONDITIONS THAT INDUCE METAMORPHISM

Pressure
Is the amount of force acted on a body over a unit area
Confining pressure is the
type of pressure that is
uniform or constant around
a body
Differential pressure is the
dominance of a particular
direction with respect to
pressure
 PRESSURE

 Rocks undergoing confining pressure

The deformation will most likely proceed to make the rock smaller
in size (like compacting) because of the uniformity of pressure
 Rocks undergoing differential pressure
The pressure will have a certain direction thus the rock will adjust
accordingly to where there is less stress. Hence, the rock may
appear elongated or shortened
Differential pressure causes the alignment of elongated minerals in
a rock. This alignment is what we call foliation.
 CONDITIONS THAT INDUCE METAMORPHISM

Chemically-active fluids
Water, or any fluid, when under pressure and increased
temperature will be able to dissolve minerals but not
completely dissolving the rock.
Thus, allowing ions changing the minerals in terms of
composition while still being in the solid state.
An example: Imagine cooking poached eggs. The water,
near its boiling point, is able to change the components
of the egg while the egg is still intact.
In the case of metamorphism, the fluids act as the boiling
water that ‘cooks the rocks’ by adding or removing
certain mineral components while still remaining solid.
 THE RESULT OF METAMORPHISM IN ROCKS

Metamorphic rocks are more or less isochemical

with the protolith (parent rock)
This means, the metamorphic rock will have almost
the same composition as its parent rock regardless of
what factor induced its change
Because of this restriction, we can trace back its
lineage back to its parent just by knowing its
composition
 CLASSIFYING
METAMORPHIC ROCKS

SEPARATING THE EFFECT OF PRESSURE

FROM HEAT WILL HELP US CATEGORIZE THE
TWO MAJOR GROUPS OF METAMORPHIC
ROCKS; FOLIATED AND NON-FOLIATED
 CLASSIFYING METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Foliated Metamorphic Rocks were subjected to differential

pressure which becomes evident in the rock as alignment
of minerals, rock fragments, and structures
We have four major foliated metamorphic rock
descriptions:
Slate
Phyllite
Schist
Gneiss
 SLATE

Is a fine-grained foliated metamorphic rock with a

distinct planar rock cleavage
It is used as natural tiles for roofing or flooring
The rock cleavage is caused by the alignment and
concentration of minute mica (e.g. muscovite, biotite)
flakes along a plane which becomes a weak zone in the
rock
 PHYLLITE

With increasing magnitude of metamorphic agents, the

mica flakes recrystallizes along planar regions in the rock
forming a continuous sheet
The sheet appears as shiny, gloss-like surface diagnostic
for phyllites
Phyllites are fine- to medium-grained foliated rocks
 SCHIST

Are coarse-grained foliated metamorphic rocks

The foliation in schists may not be as visible as in
phyllites and slates because of the minerals already
interlocking with each other
 GNEISS

Gneisses mark the boundary of foliated metamorphic

rocks before it melts because of the very high
temperature and pressure experienced by the protolith
Is defined by its diagnostic compositional banding
Compositional banding is the segregation of minerals
from one another that is observable even in the
macroscopic scale (naked eye)
 CLASSIFYING METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Non-foliated Metamorphic Rocks

Are difficult to distinguish from igneous rocks because
both will exhibit interlocking texture of minerals
They may be classified according to composition
Metamorphic grade for these types may be impossible
to measure
Two most common examples:
Marble
Quartzite
 MARBLE

Is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized

calcite.
Its protolith could be anything carbonate-rich which
includes limestones
Appears to be of pure white to buff or cream in color
with sugary appearance from recrystallization
Stylolites may be present in marble as thin, zigzag-
looking black residue which are actually impurities
removed and concentrated during metamorphism
Marble is one of the prized medium for sculpture
and construction because of its purity and low
hardness
MARBLE
 QUARTZITE

Composed of recrystallized silica

Its protolith can vary from igneous to sedimentary
rocks as long as it is quartz- or silica-rich