sedimentary structures

N. Madhavan
942 872 9914
• Sedimentary structures are commonly formed as a result of erosion, deposition, or
because of postdepositional deformation of sediments.
• Understanding the mechanisms by which sedimentary structures form is an important
tool for petroleum geologists to understand the evolving depositional record.
Physical sedimentary structures: Sedimentary structures are the larger, generally three-
dimensional physical features of sedimentary rocks; they are best seen in outcrop or in large hand specimens
rather than through a microscope.
Sedimentary structures include features like bedding, ripple marks, fossil tracks and trails, and mud cracks.
Graded Bedding
ripple marks
ripple marks
ripple
marks
 Sedimentary Structures
1. bedding
2. graded bedding
3. imbricated clasts
4. flute casts
5. current ripple marks
6. oscillation ripple marks
7. cross beds
8. herringbone cross beds
9. mudcracks in rocks

https://web.cortland.edu/darlingr/class/petrology/sed_structures.pdf
Cross-bedding CHAPTER 4: SEDIMENTARY
STRUCTURES
4.2 Types of Sedimentary
Structures
• Dunes and Ripple Marks
• Cross-Bedding
• Graded Bedding
• Mudcracks
• Raindrop Impressions
• Sole Marks
4.3 Sedimentary Structures
and Paleoenvironments
4.4 Trace Fossils and
Bioturbation
https
://uhlibraries.pressbooks.pub/histori
calgeologylab/chapter/chapter4-sedi
mentary-structures
fossil tracks and trails
mud cracks

Carbonate mudcracks in cross-section

(Tonoloway Formation) - Mountain Beltway
Chemical sedimentary structures are the product of chemical precipitation of minerals
that occurs within a sediment before it lithifies.
Concretions are the most common of these structures.
Concretions form by precipitation of a mineral from solutions traveling through the sediment.
 Generalized
conditions of
spherical
carbonate
concretion
formation
around
decaying
organic
matter in
early
diagenesis

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-24205-5
• Often, a sand grain or a shell fragment will act as a nucleus onto which such precipitation
will proceed.
• The result is a concretion or series of concretions within the sedimentary bed.
• Concretions are very important in log analysis, because often they are composed of the
mineral siderite, which is an iron-rich carbonate.
• Because the density of this mineral is greater than that of the surrounding sandstone, the
concretion can provide erroneous or misleading well-log responses.
Also, concretions can form a layer within a sedimentary rock sequence; if the layer contains
enough concretions, it can act as a baffle or permeability barrier to fluid flow.
Concretions are easily seen in core or on borehole-image logs.
Sedimentary sequences are the fundamental
low-frequency stratal units of sequence
stratigraphy
sequence stratigraphy
What is diagenesis process?
• The multifarious processes that come under the term diagenesis are chemical, physical,
and biological.
• They include compaction, deformation, dissolution, cementation, authigenesis,
replacement, recrystallization, hydration, bacterial action, and development of
concretions.
• The topic of sediment diagenesis is of fundamental importance to industry in the
evaluation of hydrocarbon and water reservoir rocks.
• Detailed knowledge of the diagenetic textures, fabrics, and minerals, and a prediction of
the regional diagenetic response, partly controls hydrocarbon recovery programmes.
diagenesis process
 sediment
diagenesis

https://
www.sciencedirect.c
om/science/article/
abs/pii/S136481521
400142X
sediment
diagenesis
Early Diagenesis of Deep-Sea Sediments

https://www.sciencedirect.co
m/science/article/abs/pii/B97
80444530004000093
sediment
diagenesis
Chapter 3 SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES 5.4: Sedimentary Structures
1. INTRODUCTION Bedding Planes
2. CLASSIFICATION Graded Bedding
3. STRATIFICATION Plane Beds
4. CROSS STRATIFICATION Ripples
5. PLANAR STRATIFICATION Dunes
6. SOLE MARKS Antidunes
7. SOFT-SEDIMENT DEFORMATION Bioturbation
8. OTHER SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES Mudcracks
https://
ocw.mit.edu/courses/earth-atmospheric-and-planetary- Sole Marks
sciences/12-110-sedimentary-geology-spring-2007/lect Raindrop Impressions
ure-notes/ch3.pdf
Imbrication
Geopetal Structures
Microbially induced sedimentary structures https://geo.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Geology/Book%3
A_An_Introduction_to_Geology_(Johnson_Affolter_Inke
nbrandt_and_Mosher)/05%3A_Weathering_Erosion_an
d_Sedimentary_Rocks/5.04%3A_Sedimentary_Structure
s
Microbially induced sedimentary structures
• A category of primary sedimentary structures named ‘‘Microbially Induced Sedimentary
Structures (MISS)’’ formed by the interaction of microbes with sediments.
• The structures form when microbial mats are preserved in the sedimentary geological
records.
A) Diagrammatic sketch showing leveling of ripple marks on a tidal surface by a
cyanobacterial mat. The biomass grows preferentially in deeper parts of the rippled
relief. Further growth of the biomass forms a planar mat surface over time.
B) Wrinkle structure atop a Lower Arenigian fine sandstone bed. The structure represents
a fossil mat that formerly leveled its underlying substrate.

https://
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/jsedres/article-abstract/71/5/
649/330061/Microbially-Induced-Sedimentary-Structures-A-Ne
w?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Microbially
induced
sedimentary
structures
Depositional environment (e.g., certain channel forms could be interpreted as fluvial) and
even paleocurrent (e.g., bimodal directions from drag marks).
Depositional environment
Depositional environment
Most sedimentary structures formed due to deposition give a clear indication of depositional
process, for example, asymmetrical ripples suggest a unidirectional flow.
Some depositional structures are even indicative of very specific processes, for example,
herringbone cross stratification indicates a tidally-dominated environment.
Soft sediment deformation, for example, can lead to slumping, load and flame structures, or
clastic dykes.
An understanding of the combination
of processes that lead to erosional,
depositional, and postdepositional
structures in a sediment can lead to
sound paleoenvironment
reconstructions.
The nature of a sedimentary body has numerous applications, for example, oil
reservoirs are found, are formed by the deposition of sediments carried down by
rivers and settled under bodies of water.