Chapter7

Chapter7
SedimentaryEnvironments

moorlandschool.co.uk/earth/earth_science/utah_sandstone.jpg

Sedimentaryenvironments

www.eas.purdue.edu/mesozoic/lab_03/Sedi_Environments.jpg

N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Sedimentaryenvironments

Sedimentary facies
A mass of sedimentary rock which can be defined and
distinguished from others by its geometry, lithology, sedimentary
structures,
structures paleocurrent pattern and fossils (Selley 1970).
1970)

www.thisoldearth.net/Images/transreg.gif

N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Sedimentaryenvironments

Methods of environmental diagnosis

Geometry
Lithology
Sedimentary structures
Fossils

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Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

moorlandschool.co.uk/earth/earth_science/utah_sandstone.jpg
Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Streams
river, creek, tributary, runnel, lick, rill, river, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, gill
(occasionally ghyll), gully; beck, bourne, brook, burn, nant, stream, syke, allt
(UK); kill, run, branch, fork, prong, falls, crick (USA)

3.bp.blogspot.com/_1BZgZVkngwU/TBzOqaN_L4I/AAAAAAAAAEM/bFeRtsCk9Ac/s1600/STREAM+%282%29.jpg
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments

Stream load

www.sci.uidaho.edu/scripter/geog100/lect/11-rivers/11-09-fluvial-transport.jpg

Competence
biggest size of grain that a stream can move
Capacity
maximum amount of debris that a stream can move
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments

Stream flow
laminar flow

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turbulent flow

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments

River channels
bedrock channel and alluvial channel

scioly.org/w/images/6/6a/Alluvial_stream.jpg
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Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments

Knickpoint
a sharp change in channel slope, such as a waterfall or lake, resulting from
differential rates of erosion above and below the knickpoint

www.wou.edu/las/physci/taylor/eisi/photos_2006/DSC00029.JPG
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments:Alluvialchannels

Straight
- have a low sinuosity index
- generally lack the typical features of meandering rivers, e.g. point bars
Waal River, Netherlands

www.geo.uu.nl/fg/palaeogeography/pictures/results_fluvialstyle/03_Waal.jpg
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments:Alluvialchannels

Meandering
the most stable and efficient channel geometry, formed and maintained by
erosion of banks and deposition on point bars
Williams River, Alaska

deep, narrow channels

single sinuous channels

single,

few channel islands

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wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/oxbow-lakes1.png
Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments:Alluvialchannels

Meander parameters

Sinuosity index
quantitative measurement of
the style of meandering

hydrotopics.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/meandergeometry1.jpg
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Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments:Alluvialchannels

Helical flow pattern

- develops from the outside of the meander bend towards the inside of the bend
- erodes sediment from the outside bend and deposits point bars on the inside
bend

Huggett, 2011
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments:Alluvialchannels

Incised meanders
occur when a meandering river on alluvium eats down into the
underlying bedrock
Goosenecks at San Juan River, USA (UT)

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N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments:Alluvialchannels

Braided
multiple superimposed meandering channels as discharge and sediment load
vary seasonally and diurnally, e.g. semiarid and proglacial streams
Slims River, Canada

wide, shallow channels

multiple, low sinuosity
multiple
channels

numerous islands
www.geo.uu.nl/fg/palaeogeography/pictures/results_fluvialstyle/01_Slims-River.jpg
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments

Drainage network or pattern

Arrangement of streams in a drainage, which often reflects structural
and/or lithologic control of underlying rocks
Analysis enables interpretation and identification of geologic structures
and rock types in an area

Howard, 1967
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www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/wacademy/acad2000/stream/s28.jpg
Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments:Drainagenetwork

Dendritic
Branching of stream valleys at acute angles without systematic
arrangement
Determined by random headward erosion homogeneous
underlying material
Common on horizontally bedded sedimentary rocks or massive
igneous/metamorphic rocks

courses.missouristate.edu/emantei/creative/WeathStrem/dendri
tic.jpg

N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

64.19.142.10/home.moravian.edu/users/phys/mejjg01/geology/
geology%20pages/geo_map_folder/geo_map_images/m_dendri
ticA1.jpg
Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments:Drainagenetwork

Trellis
Nearly parallel streams that flow into main trunk streams at high
angles
Subsequent in origin channels are etched out of weaker rock
Common on tilted sedimentary beds

jlmvisuals.com/photoslrwater/GL0025.jpg
64.19.142.12/home.moravian.edu/users/phys/mejjg01/geology/
geology%20pages/geo_map_folder/geo_map_images/m_trellis
1.jpg_hyuncompressed
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments:Drainagenetwork

Rectangular
Tributary streams join trunk streams at right angles as a result of
subsequent streams adjusting to fault or joint systems
Usually formed on jointed/faulted rocks

www.aristo.com.hk/teachers_land/teacher_materials/geography
/new_design/geography/images/PhotoGallery/rectangular_drain
age.jpg

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Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

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Fluvialenvironments:Drainagenetwork

Radial
Consequent streams flowing from a central area in all directions;
Streams converging into a central basin/depression form a
centripetal drainage pattern
Usually developed on high, recently formed land surfaces (e.g.,
volcanic cones or intrusive domes)

earth.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/images/EFS/lowres/STS068/STS068
-253-7.jpg

www.proprofs.com/quizschool/upload/yuiupload/1226500853.jpg

N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments:Drainagenetwork

Annular
Streams that follow circular courses due to the erosion of
alternating weak and resistant sedimentary rocks of domes

www.proprofs.com/quizschool/upload/yuiupload/1561287329.jpg
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Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

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Fluvialenvironments:Drainagenetwork

Parallel
Streams follow nearly parallel directions
Usually controlled by unidirectional regional slope or by parallel to
subparallel topographic features

resweb.llu.edu/rford/courses/ESSC500
/fluvial_slides/cuesta2.jpg
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments

Floodplain
- the surface of low relief adjacent to a stream that becomes the stream bed
during flood
- features include meander scars, levees, and oxbow lakes

www.uwec.edu/jolhm/EH/Disrude/images/floodplain.gif

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www.sci.uidaho.edu/scripter/geog100/lect/11-rivers/11-18-riverfloodplain.jpg

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

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Fluvialenvironments

Alluvial fan
- low, triangular-shaped deposits built from the accumulation of sediments
deposited at the mouth of a valley (i.e., from a mountainous or upland into a
larger mainstream valley or lowland)
- size depends on (1) area of the drainage basin
basin, (2) climate
climate, (3) lithologies in
the source area, (4) tectonic activity, (5) space available for fan growth
Death Valley, USA (CA)

www.windows2universe.org/earth/geology/images/alluvial_fan_lg.jpeg
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments

Delta
- similar morphology to an alluvial fan but deposition results from sharp
reduction in velocity as a stream enters standing water

64.19.142.12/www.pnas.org/content/104/
43/16804/F1.medium.gif

www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/1121DeltaTypes.jpeg
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

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Fluvialenvironments

Delta lobe switching

64.19.142.12/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Mississippi_Delta_Lobes.jpg
N. Ramos | Geology 11 Principles of Geology

Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

Fluvialenvironments

Delta
- similar morphology to an alluvial fan but deposition results from sharp
reduction in velocity as a stream enters standing water
Topset beds - horizontal layers of smaller
sediment size that form as the main channel of
the river shifts elsewhere and the larger particles
of the bed load are no longer deposited

Foreset beds - consist of the bed

load that the river is moving along
which consists of larger
sediments that roll along the main
channel

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Delta_beds.png

Bottomset beds - created from the

suspended sediment that settles out
of the water as the river flows into
the body of water and loses energy
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Lecture Notes: Sedimentary Rocks

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