Cla Stic Hierarchies

Clastic Hierarchies and Eustasy
Spring 2005
Professor Christopher G. St. C. Kendall

kendall@sc.edu
777.2410
“Clastic Hierarchies”
Christopher G. St. C. Kendall
Clastic Depositional Systems
Their Response
to
Base Level Change
Based, in part, on classroom lectures
by David Barbeau & Chris Kendall
Lecture Series Overview
 Sequence stratigraphy & stratigraphic surfaces
 Basics: Ideal ‘sequence’ of Vail et al 1977 &
associated terminology
 Clastic system response to changing sea level and
rates of sedimentation - with movie
 Carbonate systems response to changing sea
level and rates of sedimentation - with movie
 Exercises – Sequence stratigraphy of carbonates
and clastics from chronostratigraphy, seismic,
outcrop and well log character
Sedimentary rocks are the
product of the generation,
transport, deposition, and
diagenesis of detritus and solutes
derived from pre-existing rocks.
Sedimentary rocks are the
product of the creation, transport,
deposition, and diagenesis of
detritus and solutes derived from
pre-existing rocks.
After Press & Siever, 98
Depositional Systems
 depositional system: assemblage of multiple process-related
sedimentary facies assemblages, commonly identified by the
geography in which deposition occurs.
EX: nearshore depositional system, deep marine depositional system,
glacial depositional system, fluvial depositional system
 NB depositional systems are:

modern features
used to interpret ancient sedimentary successions
Types of Depositional Systems
marine  ocean, sea
transitional  part land, part ocean
terrestrial  land
Terr
estr
ia l
Tran
sitio
n al
Mari
ne
Terr
estr
ia l
Tran
sitio
n al
Mari
ne
Terr
estr
ia l
Tran
sitio
n al
Mari
ne
Characteristics of Clastic System
 Critical stratigraphic signals of
system?
 Geomorphologic & tectonic setting
 Dominant sedimentary processes
 Facies
Subdividing surfaces
Lithology
Sedimentary structures
Geometries – Confined versus open
Fauna & flora
Marine Depositional Systems
 shallow/nearshore
tide-dominated
wave-dominated
reef
 shelf/platform
carbonate
clastic
 deep marine
deep sea fans
pelagic
 wave-dominated coasts
 tide-dominated coasts
 fluvial-dominated coasts (deltas)
 carbonate reefs
 clastic shelves & platforms
 carbonate shelves & platforms
 deepwater fans
 pelagic abyssal plains
Coastal Depositional Systems
 Form proximal to shorelines
 Geographically narrow, geologically important
 Fluid flow transport and deposition
Surface waves
Tidal waves (not tsunami!)
Fluvial input
 Grain-size decreases with deeper water
 Onshore, offshore & longshore sediment transport
important
 Net sediment input (often from rivers) often leads to
progradational geometries
 Important for tracking sea-level changes
Coast Types
Dalrymple et al, 1992
Coast Types
“Clastic Hierarchies” Dalrymple et al, 1992

Tidal Range and Coastal Morphology
Hayes, 1979
Coast
Types
 carbonate reefs
 deepwater fans
Waves & Wave Periods
Characteristics of Beach Systems
 Sediments coarsen upward from marine shales
 Linear sand bodies parallel to basin margin, serrated margins landward
 Formed by a mix of waves and tidal currents
 Facies
Subdivided erosion surfaces formed during
– Dropping in base level
 Local channels
– Rising in base level
Wells sorted and rounded pure quartz arenites common
– Offshore hummocky wavy bedding
– Nearshore cut and fill
– Gently seaward dipping thin parallel beds
Geometries
– Confined incised channels
– Open linear sheets parallel to shore
Fauna & flora
– Marine fauna at base of units
– Terrestrial flora at crest of units
Vertical stacking of shore line sediments
Coast
Types
Beach Face - South Carolina Foreshore
Note High Energy Planar Beds
Photo: G. Voulgaris
Trough Cross-bed Current Ripples
Ordovician – Near Winchester

Kentucky
Offshore Coastal Profile - Hummocky
Coastal Profile
Geomorphology
of Coast
Coastal Morphology
Coastal Profile and Lithofacies
Coastal Lithofacies & Architecture
Aigner & Reineck, 1982

Coastal
Lithofacies
“Clastic Hierarchies” Reineck & Singh, 1980

Coastal Lithofacies
Walker, 1984
Progradation Transgression Inlet
Hayes, 1979
Tide Versus Wave Domination
Hubbard et al., 1979
Coastal Morphology
Wave Dominated - Texan Coast
Note Storm Washover

Serrated Back Barrier
v er
s ho ier
Wa Barr
or m ck
St Ba
ote ted
N rra
Se “Clastic Hierarchies”
ver
sho ier
Wa Barr
or m ck
St Ba
ote ted
N rra
Se
Note Storm Washover

Serrated Back Barrier
Note Storm Washover
On a Back Barrier
Pennsylvanian
Wave Dominated Coast
Coast
Types
Chenier Coast – Gulf of Carpentaria
Note Channels Reworking

Chenier Plain
Note Channels Reworking
Barrier Islands
Delta Mouth Bar - Kentucky
Note Incised Surface Of Reworked Bar
Tidal, Storm or Tsunami Channel
Note Incised Surface Beneath Channel

Characteristics of Sequence Boundary
(SB) from well logs, core & outcrop
 Defined by erosion or incision of underlying flooding
surfaces (mfs and TS)
 Inferred from interruption in the lateral continuity of
these surfaces
Characteristics of Sequence Boundary
(SB) from well logs, core & outcrop
 Defined by erosion or incision of underlying flooding
surfaces (mfs and TS)
 Inferred from interruption in the lateral continuity of
these surfaces
Beach Ridges: St. Phillips Island, SC
Progradation & Transgressive Architectures
“Clastic Hierarchies” Kraft & John, 1979

Sea-Level Changes
Christopher G. St. C. Kendall Reading, 1986
Tidal Bundles
“Clastic Hierarchies” Visser, 1980

Bedforms
Sa n
Sa n
Sa n
Current Ripples
dp
d in
d&
red
mu
Mu
om
dm
d5
in a
0/ 5
a tr
tes
ix
Asymmetric Current Ripples
Upper Mississippian – Pennington Formation

Pound Gap
Base Level Change on Coast
Tidal Geomorphology
Kraft et al, 1987

Transitional Depositional
Systems
 Estuaries
 Deltas
Characteristics of Estuary Systems
 Sand bodies perpendicular to basin margin, narrow landward
 Formed by a mix of tidal currents and occasional storm waves
 Facies
 Local channels
Wells sorted and rounded pure quartz arenites common
– Offshore hummocky wavy bedding
Geometries
– Open linear sheets perpendicular and occasionally parallel to shore
Fauna & flora
Estuarine Lithofacies
Horne et al, 1978
 Wave-dominated coasts
 Tide-dominated coasts
 Fluvial-dominated coasts (deltas)
 Carbonate reefs
 Clastic shelves & platforms
 Carbonate shelves & platforms
 Deepwater fans
 Pelagic abyssal plains
Deltaic Depositional Systems
 Form where rivers with large drainages meet standing
water bodies (~basins)
 Very large sediment flux
 Fluid & gravity flow transport and deposition
Surface waves
Fluvial input
Turbidity currents & sub-aqueous debris flows
 Net sediment input often leads to progradational
geometries
 Delta types depend on tidal range, wave climate, and
composition and depths of water in river and basin
Characteristics of Deltaic Systems
 Sand bodies form tongues perpendicular to basin margin
 Formed by a mix of fluvial input, tidal currents and storm waves
 Facies
 Local channels
Poorly sorted and irregular litharenites common
– Offshore laminated to hummocky wavy bedding
Geometries
– Open linear sheets perpendicular and occasionally parallel to shore
Fauna & flora
Coast Types
Dalrymple et al, 1992
Coast
Types
Lena River Delta - Russia
Shatt
al Arab
Delta
Atachafalya Delta - USA
Amazon Delta - Brazil
Nile Delta - Egypt
Delta Types
 River-dominated
Small tidal range, weak storms and large
sediment flux build delta out into basin
 Tide-dominated
Large tidal ranges dominate transport,
deposition & geomorphology
 Wave-dominated
Strong and repeated storms rework delta
sediment
Delta Processes
 Depositional patterns and geomorphology
depend on the relative dominance of three
competing processes at river mouths:
Inertia
– River water
– Basin water
Friction
– Water vs. substrate
– Water vs. water
Buoyancy
Delta Processes
Relative influence of inertia, friction & buoyancy is a
function of:
 Density contrasts
Homopycnal flow – equal density water bodies mix
Hyperpycnal flow – higher density sinks below ocean (Yellow)
Hypopycnal flow – lower density floats on ocean (Mississippi)
 Concentration, grain size and suspended vs. bedload
ratio
Water depths
Mouth
Basin
 Water discharge
 Water inflow velocity
Delta Processes
 Inertia-dominated deltas
deep water, steep slopes, high river flow velocity
moderate sediment transport, large flow expansion
 Friction-dominated deltas
shallow water, low slopes,
proximal sediment transport, large bars, limited flow
expansion
hyperpycnal flow possible
 Buoyancy-dominated deltas
deep water, hypopycnal flow, large suspended load
distant sediment transport, flow rafting  plumes
Delta Morphology
River-Dominated Deltas
Lobe-Switching
Inter-distributary bays
Mahakam River-Dominated Delta
Wave-dominated Grijalva Delta
Bramaputra Delta - India
Tide-Dominated Niger Delta
Tide-Dominated Niger Delta
Delta
Successions
Delta Succession
Wave-Dominated
Delta Succession
Delta Collapse
Delta Collapse
Fan-Deltas
Deltaic Succession
Deltaic Succession
Deltaic Succession
 carbonate reefs
 deepwater fans
Deep Sea
Depositional
Systems
Deep Sea Depositional Systems
Characteristics of Deepwater Systems
 Sediments fine upward from marine fans
 Sand bodies form lobes perpendicular to basin margin
 Formed by a mix of fluvial input, and turbidite currents
 Facies
– Migrating fan lobe fill
 Local channels
Poor to well sorted litharenites common
– Fining upward cycles that coarsen up as depo-center of lobes migrate
– Up dip channel cut and fill
– Gently seaward dipping thin parallel lobate sheets
Geometries
– Open lobate sheets perpendicular and occasionally parallel to shore
Fauna & flora “Clastic Hierarchies”
– Restricted Marine fauna often in over bank shales
Deep Sea Fan Depositional Systems
 Form in the moderate to deep ocean, down-dip of
submarine canyons and often deltas
 Large sediment flux, high sedimentation rate, large
area
 Gravity flow transport and deposition
turbidity currents
subaqueous debris flows
suspension fall-out
 Lobes and lobe-switching important
 Both coarse and fine grained sediment
 Often well-sorted and normally graded
Bengal Fan & Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta
Submarine Canyons and Deep Sea
Fans
After Press & Siever, 98
Submarine Canyons
USGS: Redondo Submarine Canyon,

Southern Santa Monica Bay
USGS Image
Submarine Canyons & Deep Sea Fans
Offshore Los Angeles
USGS Image
Submarine Fan Morphology
Submarine
Fan Types
Turbidity Currents  Turbidites
Gravity Flows: Turbidity Currents
Turbidity Currents & Hemipelagic Sediment
Deep Water Fan Deposits
Deep Water Fan Deposits
Turbidites
Coarse-grained Turbidites
Coarse-grained Turbidites
Turbidites
Proximal Turbidites
Distal Turbidites
Soft-Sediment Deformation
Submarine Channels
Delaware Mountains – Basin Fans
Deepwater Channel
C han
nel S
a n ds
Christopher G. St. C. Kendall Kendall Photo
Brushy Canyon Group - Base of Slope
Permian Basin
Channel Fill
Turbidites
Christopher G. St. C. Kendall Kendall Photo
Brushy Canyon Group - Base of Slope -
Permian Basin
Margin of submarine fan channel incised

into "overbank". Channel fill with
amalgamation as well as flowage & injection
of sand into the surrounding strata of the
channel walls.
Kendall Photo U.S. Highway 62-180 south of Guadalupe Pass

Pelagic Depositional Systems
 Form in the open ocean or open (large) lakes and seas
 Small sediment flux, very low sedimentation rate
 Suspended load current transport
Surface waves
Fluvial input
Turbidity currents & sub-aqueous debris flows
 Suspension fall-out deposition
 Fine-grained (clay, mud and silt) deposition
Carbonates
Siliciclastic mudstones
Pelagic Sediments
Deep Marine Sedimentation
Pelagic Sediments
Calcareous Microfossils
CCD
Abyssal Plains
Siliceous Microfossils
Siliceous Microfossils  Chert
Siliceous Microfossils  Chert
Aeolian Dust
Aeolian Dust
Aeolian Dust
Dropstones
Terrestrial Depositional Systems
 Alluvial Fan
 Fluvial
 Glacial
 Eolian
 Lacustrine
 Playa
 Alluvial Fan
 Fluvial
 Glacial
 Eolian
 Lacustrine
 Playa
Alluvial Fan System Characteristics
 Sediments fine upward within fan lobes
 Sand bodies form lobes perpendicular to basin margin
 Formed by a mix of fluvial input, and mass sediment movement
 Facies
– Migrating fan lobe fill
 Local channels
Poor to well sorted litharenite boulders, gravels and sands common
– Fining upward cycles that coarsen up as depo-center of lobes progrdes
– Gently seaward dipping thin parallel lobate sheets
Geometries
– Open lobate sheets perpendicular and occasionally parallel to Mt front
– Terrestrial flora can be common in over bank lobes
Alluvial Fan Depositional Systems
 Form upon exit of drainage basin from a mountain front
 Mix of sediment gravity flow & fluid flow depositional
processes
Debris flows
Hyperconcentrated flows
Fluvial channels
Sheetfloods
 Lobe-switching processes produce cone
 Radial sediment dispersal
 Decreasing grain size downslope
exit gorge
active lobes
Drainage & Depositional Basins
Alluvial Fan Architecture
Spearing, 1974
Alluvial Fans
Blair & McPherson. 1994
Kelly & Olson, 1993
Alluvial and Fluvial Fans
 ‘Stream-dominated’ Alluvial Fans D = ~10 Km; S = 5-15º
 ‘Gravity-flow’ Alluvial Fans D = ~10 Km; S = 5-15º
 Talus Cones D < 1 Km; S = 10-30º
 Fluvial Megafans D = 50 -100s Km; S < 1º
Alluvial Fan Stratigraphy
Nemec & Steel, 1984
Stream-dominated AF Stratigraphy
Boothroyd, 1972
Gravity-Flow AF Stratigraphy
Blair, 1987
Gloppen & Steel, 1980

 Alluvial Fan
 Fluvial
 Glacial
 Eolian
 Lacustrine
 Playa
Fluvial System Characteristics
 Sediments fine upward within channel fill
 Sand bodies fine distally from channels
 Formed by a mix of fluvial bedload, and fine suspended sediment
 Facies
– Migrating channel fill
 Local channels
Poor to well sorted litharenite gravels, sands and shales common
– Fining upward cycles that fill channels
– Gently dipping thin parallel lobate sheets perpendicular to channels
Geometries
– Open lobate sheets perpendicular and occasionally parallel to channels
– Terrestrial flora can be common in over bank sediments
Fluvial Depositional Systems
 Dominant conduit from regions of sediment
production (mountains) to sediment storage
(oceans, basins)
 Characterized by channel pattern
Meandering
Braided
Anastomozing
 Characterized by sediment load
Bedload
Suspended load
Mixed load
 Unidirectional sediment dispersal
Fluvial Channel Patterns
Schumm & Khan, 1972
Meandering Streams
Meandering Fluvial System
Allen, 1964
Thalwegs
Avulsion
Cross et al., 1989

Meandering Fluvial Architecture
Braided Fluvial Architecture
“Clastic Hierarchies” Nemec, 1992

Fluvial Channels
Hirst, 1991
Maturity
Fluvial Characterization
“Clastic Hierarchies” Schumm, 1981

Orton & Reading, 1993
 fluvial
 alluvial fan
 glacial
 eolian
 lacustrine
 playa
GLACIERS
AND
GLACIATION
Past Glacial Periods
 Pre-Cambrian at end of Neoproterozoic eon
 End of the Ordovician
 Late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian]
through Permian
 Pleistocene
Glacial Periods
The Snowball Earth
 During last ice age max, 21,000 years ago, North
America & Europe covered by glaciers over 2
kilometers thick, sea level dropped 120 meters.
Global chill : land & sea ice covered 30 %t of Earth,
more than at other times in last 500 million years
 Near end of Neoproterozoic eon (1000-543 million
years ago), glaciation immediately preceded first
appearance of recognizable animal life some 600
million years ago
Paul Hoffman & Daniel Schrag - Snowball Earth
 Sun abruptly cooled or Earth tilted on its axis or
experienced an orbital blip that reduced solar
warmth or carbon dioxide increased?
 ice sheets covered continents & seas froze
almost to equator, events that occurred at least
twice between 800 million & 550 million years
ago
 Each glacial period lasted millions of years &
ended under extreme greenhouse conditions.
Climate shocks triggered evolution of
multicellular animal life, & challenge long-held
assumptions regarding the limits of global
change
Snowball
Earth
-
Rocky cliffs
along
Namibia's
Skeleton
Coast.
Snowball
Earth
-
Drop
Stones
Glacial System Characteristics
 Signal extremes in local climate & sea level position
 Stratigraphic markers of glacial events
 Source of tillite (pebbles & larger fragments supported in
fine-grained matrix ) deposited from glaciers.
Massive tillite inferred deposited below ice sheets or dropping
from marine supported ice in submarine setting
Banded tillite may be deposited by ice sheets
 Laminites common in lakes (Varve), Loess dust on land
 Supraglacial & pro-glacial deposits with stratified
conglomerates & sandstone
 U Shaped valleys & glacial striae
 Mountain glaciation could be source of much downslope
fluvial sediment “Clastic Hierarchies”
Simplified Glacial Systems signals
 Sediment signal a mix of:
Glacial carried & dumped in moraines
Water born fluvial sediment
Lacustrian varves
Aeolian loess
 Erosion:
U-shaped valleys
Eroded rock surface
– Grooved
– Plucked
– Striated
 Base level: changes in sea level.
Glacial Setting
Currently forms 10% of earths’s surface, Pleistocene
reached 30%, but in Pre Cambrian could have
reached 100%
Develop where all of annual snow doesn’t melt away
in warm seasons
Polar regions
Heavy winter snowfall e.g. Washington State
High elevations e.g. even equator
85% in Antarctica
10% in Greenland “Clastic Hierarchies”
Adelie Penguins Taking a Dive
Glacial Erosion
 Under glacier
Abrasion & plucking
Bedrock polished & striated
Rock flour washes out of glacier
Polishing and rounding
– “Sheep Rocks”
Striations- scratches & grooves on rock
 Above glacier
Frost wedging takes place
Erosion by glaciers steepens slopes
Roche Moutone – Ice Sheet Plucking
Glacial Scarring
Of Bedrock
-
Findelen
Glacier
Switzerland
-
Matterhorn
In
Background
Glacial Sediments
 Facies of continental glacial settings
Grounded Ice Facies
Glaciofluvial facies
Glacial lacustrine facies
– Facies of proglacial lakes
– Facies of periglacial lakes
Cold-climate periglacial facies
 Facies of marine glacial settings

Proximal facies
Continental Shelf facies
Deepwater facies
Glacial Deposition
 Till
Unsorted debris in fine matrix
 Erratic
 Moraine- body of till
Lateral Moraine
Medial Moraine- where tributaries join
End moraine-
– Terminal
– Recessional
Ground moraine
Drumlin
Twenty Mile Medial Moraine
Robinson Tumbling Glacier Brit. Columbia
Ground and End Moraines
Glacial
Lakes
-
Ireland
Glacial Sediments
Varves
Glaciation Subdividing Surfaces
Glacial Sediments
 Facies of continental glacial settings
Grounded Ice Facies
Glaciofluvial facies
Glacial lacustrine facies
– Facies of proglacial lakes
– Facies of periglacial lakes
Cold-climate periglacial facies
 Facies of marine glacial settings

Proximal facies
Continental Shelf facies
Deepwater facies
Glacial Systems - Conclusions
 Signal extremes in local climate & sea level position
 Stratigraphic markers of glacial events
 Source of tillite (pebbles & larger fragments supported in
fine-grained matrix ) deposited from glaciers.
Massive tillite inferred deposited below ice sheets or dropping
from marine supported ice in submarine setting
Banded tillite may be deposited by ice sheets
 Laminites common in lakes (Varve), Loess dust on land
 Supraglacial & pro-glacial deposits with stratified
conglomerates & sandstone
 U Shaped valleys & glacial striae
 Mountain glaciation could be source of much downslope
fluvial sediment “Clastic Hierarchies”
Simplified Conclusions Glacial Systems
Glacial carried & dumped moraines
Water born fluvial sediment
Lacustrian varves
Aeolian loess
 Erosion:
U-shaped valleys
Eroded rock surface
– Grooved
– Plucked
– Striated
 Base level: changes in sea level.
AEOLIAN
AND
DESERTS
Sandy Desert – N. Africa – Going
Aeolian System – Desert & Coast
 Distribution of Aeolian systems – Holocene &
Ancient
 Deserts: Transport & Depositional Sytems
Wind & Fluvial Action
 Deposits of Modern Deserts
Dunes
Interdunes
Sheet Sands
 Aeolian Systems
 Bounding Surfaces
 Ancient Deposits
Simplified Desert Systems signals
Aeolian sediment – dunes and sheets
Water born intermittent fluvial sediment
Playas and lakes
Aeolian loess
 Erosion:
Water table “Stokes Surfaces” marks limit
Incised valleys
Gravel remnants
Rock pavements
Ventifacts
 Base level: changes in ground
“Clastic Hierarchies” water level.
Desert
 Region with low precipitation
Usually less than 25 cm rain per year
 Distribution
Most related to descending air
Belts at 30 degrees North & South latitude
Rain shadow of mountains
Great distance from oceans
Tropical coasts beside cold ocean currents
Polar desserts
Earth's
General
Circulation
Rain Shadow Deserts
Deserts – Dune Factories
Common characteristics:-
 Lack of through-flowing streams
 Internal drainage
 Local base levels
 Desert thunderstorms
Flash floods
– Mudflows
Dominated by water transportation
Deserts – Depositional Systems
Dunes fed by water transported
sediment
 Margin rimmed by incised seasonal streams
(Wadiis or Arroyo)
 In turn flanked by alluvial fans and rock
pavements or bajada
 Intermittent drainage supplying sediment
 Dunes
 Playas
Bajada
“Pediment”
&
Alluvial
Fans
-
Namibia
Alluvial fans – Death Valley
Salt Pan & Alluvial Fans – Death Valley
Sediment Source - Deserts & Coasts
 Abundant sediment supply (sand, silt)
 Favorable wind regimes
 Grain transport in wind
 Transport populations & resultant deposits
i. Traction (deflation pavements)
ii. Saltation (sand dunes)
iii. Suspension (loess)
III. Subenvironments of eolian dune systems
Dominated by water transportation

Wind Erosion and Transportation
 Sand
Moves along ground- saltation
Sandstorms
Sandblasting up to 1 meter
– Ventifact
 Deflation
Blowout
 Dust storms
Sand Movement
Brice Canyon - Utah
Arches National Park – Utah
 Dust storms
 Sand
Sandstorms
– Ventifact
 Deflation
Blowout
Wind Action
 Strong in desert because:
Low humidity
Great temperature ranges
More effective because of lack of
vegetation
 Effective erosion in deserts because
sediment is dry
 Sand
Sandstorms
– Ventifact
 Deflation
Blowout
 Dust storms
 Sand
Sandstorms
– Ventifact
 Deflation
Blowout
 Dust storms
Red Sea Dust Storm
RedSeaDustStorm
North Africa - Sea Dust Storm
 Dust storms
Wind-blown dust accumulates in the deep
ocean floor at a rate of 0.6 x 1014 g/year.
Loess
Wind Deposition
 Loess
 Gravel Pavements
Desert varnish & “petroglyphs”
 Sand Dunes
Well-sorted, well-rounded sand grains
Slip face
– Angle of repose
Wind ripples
Desert Pavement Formation
Wind Deposition
 Loess
 Sand Dunes
Slip face
– Angle of repose
Wind ripples
Wind Deposition
 Loess
 Sand Dunes
Slip face
– Angle of repose
Wind ripples
Barchan Dunes - Jordan
Zion National Park - Utah
Wind Deposition
 Loess
 Sand Dunes
Slip face
– Angle of repose
Wind ripples
Dune Evolution
Hierarchies exhibited by aeolian
and associated sediments
 Grains
 Ripples
 Dunes
 Interdune unconfined sheets
 Confined bodies of wadii channel fills
 Playa unconfined sheets of heterogenous
chemical, wind and water transported
clastic sediments
Mechanisms of Aeolian Transportation
 Rolling: 2-4 mm
 Surface creep
 20-25% of sand moves by grains shifted by
impacting saltating grains < 2 mm
 Suspension: fine sand, silt, clay
 Grains 0.1 mm are most easily moved by
wind; mostly > 2 m above the ground
surface
Mice Tracks & Ripples
White Sands, NM
Ripples on Dune
Wind Deposition
 Types of dunes
Barchan
Transverse dune
Parabolic dune
Longitudinal dune
Salt Pan – West Texas, El Capitan
BARCHAN LONGITUDINAL
TRANSVERSE PARABOLIC
BARCHINOID STAR
Star Dunes – Namibia
North Africa - Sea Dust Storm
Sahara – Barchans & Camels
Navajo Sandstone
Cross-bedded Navaho Sandstone
Navajo
Sandstone
Quaternary of UAE – Stokes Surface
Navajo
Sandstone
Base level change

punctuates the
sandstone with
erosion surfaces!
Navajo
Sandstone
Base level change punctuates the

sandstone with erosion surfaces!
Navajo
Sandstone
Base level change punctuates the

sandstone with erosion surfaces!
Some characteristics of deserts
 Stream channels normally dry
covered with sand & gravel
Narrow canyons with vertical walls
 Resistance of rocks to weathering
Desert topography typically steep and angular
Aeolian Sediment - Critical Character
 Aeolian sediments evidenced by x-bedding with
high angle (30-34 degrees)
 Horizontal thin laminae common locally
 Sand rounded and frosted
 Quartz coated by iron oxide suggests hot arid
and/or seasonally humid climate (exceptions)
 Well Sorted: often unimodal but if bimodal two
populations present
 Silt and clay minimal
Aeolian Sediment - Critical Character
 Small & large scale cross bedding, with multiple
orientations within horizontal bedding
 Grains in laminae well sorted, especially finer sizes, sharp
differences in size between lamina
 Size ranges from silt (60 mu) to coarse & (2mm)
 Max size transported by wind 1 cm but rare grains over 5
mm
 Larger grains (0.5 - 1.mm) often well rounded
 Sands free of clay and clay drapes rare
 Uncemented sands have frosted surfaces
 Mica usually absent
Rules of thumb - Glennie1970

Aeolian sediment interpretation
 Analyse sedimentology & internal architecture with
outcrop, cores and downhole imaging
 Identify & seperate single aggradational units
bounded by regional deflation surfaces (deep-scoured
to flat surfaces)
 Genetic models from cyclic recurrence in facies
 Aggradation characterises near- continuous
accumulation
 Internal facies evolution related to differences in
sediment budget & moving water table
 Palaeosols provide evidence of climate change
Conclusions - Desert Systems - Simplified
Aeolian sediment – dunes and sheets
Water born intermittent fluvial sediment
Playas and lakes
Aeolian loess
 Erosion:
Water table “Stokes Surfaces” marks limit
Incised valleys
Gravel remnants
Rock pavements
Ventifacts
 Base level: changes in ground
“Clastic Hierarchies” water level.
LAKE
AND
ORGANICS
Lakes
Are
Ephemeral
Lacustrian Systems
 Critical characteristics of
system?
 Geomorphologic & tectonic setting
 Dominant sedimentary processes
 Facies
Subdividing surfaces
Lithology
Geometries – Confined versus open
Fauna & flora
Lake Systems – Simplified Signals
Lake Center –sheets and incised & unconfined turbidite cycles
Margins marked by alluvial fans & fluvial sediment
Reducing setting that favors organic preservation
Signal cycles in order from:
– Clastics & organics
– Limestone & organics
– Evaporites & organics
 Base level: changes in ground water level
 Origin of large lakes:
Continental break up
Continental collision
Sags on craton “Clastic Hierarchies”
Significance of Lake Systems
 Signal extremes in local climate & geochemistry
 Stratigraphic markers (Organics trap radioactive minerals)
 Major source of hydrocarbons along Atlantic Margins
 Major source of oil shale & gas in western USA & Canada
 Major source of
Trona (Hydrated Sodium Bicarbonate Carbonate)
Borax (Hydrated Sodium Borate)
Sulfohalite (Na6ClF(SO4)2)
Hanksite (Sodium Potassium Sulfate Carbonate Chloride)
Lake Geomorphologic & Tectonic Setting
Temporary features forming 1% of earths’s land surface, filling:-
 Major rifted, & faulted (Break-up) continental terrains – E. Africa
 Major final fill of foreland basin – Caspian & Aral
 Continental sags – Victoria, Kenya, Uganda, and Eyre
 Glacial features including:
Moraine damming and/or ice scouring – Great Lakes
Ice damming
 Landslides or mass movements
 Volcanic activity including:
Lava damming
Crater explosion and collapse – Crater Lake
 Deflation by wind scour or damming by wind blown sand - Fayum
 Fluvial activity including
Oxbow lakes
Levee lakes,
Delta & barrier island entrapment
Initial
Breakup
Mix of high A Salt
salinity to Filled
fresh Basin
water, May be
organic Created
rich to
evaporitic
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika
 Lake levels have varied historical and earlier
 Fossil and living stromatolites abundant around
the margins of Lake Tanganyika, Africa provides a
source of paleolimnologic and paleoclimatic
information for the late Holocene
 late Holocene carbonates suggests that the
surface elevation of the lake has remained near
the outlet level, with only occasional periods of
closure
 In past the lake draw down encouraged
evaporites
Lakes formed
between
splitting
continents
Is o Restricted
Be atedl
lt o l in Entrances
f
dra inte ear To Sea
in a r io
ge r Regional
Drainage
Away
From Margin
Organic Rich Lake Fill
Arid Tropics Air System

Wide Envelope ofG. St.surrounding
Christopher C. Kendall continents
Lakes flanking Major Mountain Chains
Caspian and the Arral Sea
 Bodies of fresh to saline water trapped on
craton behind major mountain chains
 Tend to act as traps to clastics, carbonates
and evaporitic sediments
 Climatic change is recorded in the record
of the sediment fill
 Water draw down encourages evaporites
Caspian
Aral Sea
Great Lakes
Great Lakes
 Bodies of fresh water trapped on glacially
scoured depressions on craton behind
glacial moraines
 Act as traps to clastic sediments
 Climatic change is recorded in record of
sediment fill
 Water draw down encourages precipitates
Lake Constance - Switzerland
Ice Dammed Lake – Alaska
Lake Response to Stratification
Lake Sedimentary facies
 Sedimentary signal like that of a foreshortened
Marine setting
 Narrow shores with beaches and deltas
 Finer sediments and turbidites fill the lake center
Lake Sedimentary facies
 Presence of freshwater fossils
 Lake sediments commonly better sorted than fluvial and periglacial
sediments
 May (or may not) display a tendency toward fining upward and
inward towards the basin center
 Lake sediments are predominantly fine grained sediments either
siliciclastic muds but may be carbonate sediments and evaporates
 Typical sequence may produced as the lake dries up with a
coarsening upward sequence from laminated shales, marls and
limestones to rippled and cross-bedded sandstone and possibly
conglomerates
 Lake sediment fill often shows cyclic alternation of laminae
 Varves produced by seasonal variations in sediment supply and
lake circulation which changes the chemistry of the lakes
Lacustrian sedimentary geometries
 Shore marked by linear beaches
 Coarse to fine slope
 Deeper water lake laminae and turbidites
 Eclectic clastic and evaporitic sedments
Green
River
Lake
Green River Lake Fill
Green
River
–
Systems
&
Facies
Green River Section
Green River Section
Green River
Section
Green River
Fauna & Flora
East African Lake Margin
Green River Section
Conclusions - Lake Systems
Lake Center –sheets and incised & unconfined turbidite cycles
Margins marked by alluvial fans & fluvial sediment
Reducing setting that favors organic preservation
Signal cycles in order from:
– Clastics & organics
– Limestone & organics
– Evaporites & organics
 Base level: changes in ground water level
 Origin of large lakes:
Continental break up
Continental collision
Sags on craton “Clastic Hierarchies”
Lakes
Are
Ephemeral
End of the Lecture
Lets go for lunch!!!

Cla Stic Hierarchies

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Cla Stic Hierarchies

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Clastic Hierarchies and Eustasy

Professor Christopher G. St. C. Kendall

 NB depositional systems are:

transitional  part land, part ocean

transitional  part land, part ocean

transitional  part land, part ocean

Dalrymple et al, 1992