Sedimentology
Sedimentology is the study of sediment and sedimentary rocks, including how sediment forms, moves, accumulates, and changes after burial.
Weathering: The breakdown and alteration of rocks and minerals at or near Earth’s surface. Weathering supplies mineral grains and dissolved material that can become sediment.
Sediment: Loose particles of mineral, rock, or biological material that can be transported and deposited. It is the material whose origins and behavior sedimentology investigates.
Facies analysis: The interpretation of depositional environments from the characteristics and associations of sedimentary rocks. It converts observed sediment and rock features into environmental interpretations.
Igneous petrology: The study of the origin, composition, and evolution of igneous rocks. It examines rocks formed from magma rather than accumulated sediment.
Sediment transport: The movement of sediment by water, wind, ice, or gravity. Transport sorts and redistributes sediment before it is deposited.
Grain size: A measure of the diameter of individual sediment particles. Grain size helps identify transport energy and distinguish sediment types.
Depositional environment: The physical, chemical, and biological setting in which sediment accumulates. Identifying the setting explains the processes that produced a deposit.
Metamorphic petrology: The study of rocks transformed by heat, pressure, and chemically active fluids. Metamorphism overprints the sedimentary record that sedimentology seeks to interpret.
Sedimentary structures: Features formed within sediment or sedimentary rock, including bedding, ripples, and cross-strata. Their shapes record the conditions and processes present during deposition.
Sediment sorting: The degree to which sediment grains have similar sizes, shapes, or densities. Sorting reveals how transport and deposition selected among grains.