2.17 Beds and bedding planes

Question 1

What is a bed in a geological context?

Answer 1

a layer of sedimentary rock that has been laid down under a specific set of environmental conditions

Question 2

What is a bed in a geological context?

Answer 2

a layer of sedimentary rock that has been laid down under a specific set of environmental conditions

Question 3

What is the plural term for a group of several beds?

Answer 3

strata

Question 4

What is a bedding plane?

Answer 4

the surface that separates each bed and is parallel to the surface of deposition

Question 5

What is meant by the term dip in a geological context?

Answer 5

beds are often tilted or folded by Earth movements so that they are no longer horizontal - the dip is the maximum inclination of a bed measured from the horizontal

Question 6

What is meant by the term strike?

Answer 6

the horizontal line on a bedding plane, measured as a bearing from north using a compass, it is at right angles to the dip

Question 7

What is meant by the term true dip?

Answer 7

the actual angle of dip measured at right angles to the strike

Question 8

What is meant by the term apparent dip?

Answer 8

a dip that is measured to be less than the maximum inclination

Question 9

What is meant by the term true thickness?

Answer 9

the thickness of the bed measured at right angles to the bedding plane

Question 10

What is meant by the term apparent thickness?

Answer 10

the thickness of the bed measured as seen at the outcrop but not at right angles to the bedding plane