Exploring Geology – What-To-Know

Page 1

What-To-Know List

Chapter 7: Sedimentary Environments

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Describe the most important kinds of sedimentary rocks and explain how they form.
2. Interpret depositional environments based on sedimentary
3. Explain why sedimentary rocks are important.

7.1 What Sedimentary Environments Occur on Land?

 Sketch or describe the main sedimentary environments on land, and describe some
characteristics of each.
7.2 What Sedimentary Environments Are Near Shorelines and in Oceans
 Sketch and describe the main sedimentary environments in oceanic and near-shore
environments.
7.3 Where Do Clasts Come From?
 Describe the main processes of physical and chemical weathering.
 Describe how the type of material and degree of fracturing influence the type of
sediment that results.
 Describe how rocks change during transport.
7.4 What Are the Characteristics of Clastic Sediments?
 Sketch and describe how sediments are classified according to size, sorting, and
shape of clasts.
 Describe how clast transport affects the size, shape, and sorting of clasts.
 Explain four factors that influence the type of sediment that is transported.
7.5 What Type of Rocks Do Clastic Sediments Form?
 Describe or diagram the classification of common sedimentary rocks.
 Describe how clastic sediment becomes converted into rock.
7.6 What Are Nonclastic Sedimentary Rocks and How Do They Form?
 Describe how some sedimentary rocks form through evaporation, precipitation, or
other chemical reactions.
 Describe how limestone forms.
 Describe how some sedimentary rocks form from the accumulation of plant
materials.
7.7 Why Do Sedimentary Rocks Have Layers?
 Sketch or describe the types of layers that sedimentary rocks contain, including how
their thickness varies, what defines the layers, and whether their boundaries are
sharp or gradational.
 Describe how layers, including graded beds and cross beds, form.
7.12 How Do Changing Environments Create a Sequence of Different Kinds of
Sediments?
 Sketch or describe what happens during a transgression and during a regression,
including which way sedimentary facies shift.
 Sketch an example of a sequence of rocks formed during a transgression and
contrast it with a sequence formed during a regression.
 Exploring Geology – What-To-Know
Page 2
7.13 How Do We Study Sedimentary Sequences?
 Describe the attributes that we observe in sedimentary rocks and how each indicates
something about the rock’s origin and environment.
 Given a sequence of rocks and a list of key attributes, interpret the environment of
each rock and how the environment changed.
7.14 Why Are Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks Important to Our Society?
 Describe or sketch some of the main resources that occur in sedimentary rocks.
 Describe how sedimentary rocks help us understand modern and ancient
environments, events, and life.
 Describe sand and gravel as a resource and how we use these important materials.