Chapter 06 Vocab

Question 1

Bed

Answer 1

Layering or stratification in sedimentary rocks.

Question 2

Biochemical sedimentary rock

Answer 2

Sedimentary rock formed from material (such as shells) produced by living organisms.

Question 3

Breccia

Answer 3

Coarse sedimentary rock consisting of angular fragments; or rock broken into angular fragments by faulting.

Question 4

Cementation

Answer 4

The phase of lithification in which cement, consisting of minerals that precipitate from groundwater, partially or completely fills the spaces between clasts and attaches each grain to its neighbor.

Question 5

Chemical Sedimentary Rock

Answer 5

Sedimentary rocks made up of minerals that precipitate directly from water solution.

Question 6

Clastic Sedimentary Rock

Answer 6

Sedimentary rock consisting of cemented-together detritus derived from the weathering of preexisting rock.

Question 7

Coal

Answer 7

A black, organic rock consisting of greater than 50% carbon; it forms from the buried and altered remains of plant material.

Question 8

Compaction

Answer 8

The phase of lithification in which the pressure of the overburden on the buried rock squeezes out water and air that was trapped between clasts, and the clasts press tightly together.

Question 9

Conglomerate

Answer 9

Very coarse-grained sedimentary rock consisting of rounded clasts.

Question 10

Delta

Answer 10

A wedge of sediment formed at a river mouth when the running water of the stream enters standing water, the current slows, the stream loses competence, and sediment settles out.

Question 11

Deposition

Answer 11

The process by which sediment settles out of a transporting medium.

Question 12

Depositional environment

Answer 12

A setting in which sediments accumulate; its character (fluvial, deltaic, reef, glacial, etc.) reflects local conditions.

Question 13

Detritus

Answer 13

The chunks and smaller grains of rock broken off outcrops by physical weathering.

Question 14

Erosion

Answer 14

The grinding away and removal of Earth’s surface materials by moving water, air, or ice.

Question 15

Geologic map

Answer 15

A map showing the distribution of rock units and structures across a region.

Question 16

Limestone

Answer 16

Sedimentary rock composed of calcite.

Question 17

Lithification

Answer 17

The transformation of loose sediment into solid rock through compaction and cementation.

Question 18

Mudstone

Answer 18

Very fine-grained sedimentary rock that will not easily split into sheets.

Question 19

Organic Sedimentary Rock

Answer 19

Sedimentary rock (such as coal) formed from carbon-rich relicts of organisms.

Question 20

Regression

Answer 20

The seaward migration of a shoreline caused by a lowering of sea level.

Question 21

Sandstone

Answer 21

Coarse-grained sedimentary rock consisting almost entirely of quartz.

Question 22

Sedimentary basin

Answer 22

A depression, created as a consequence of subsidence, that fills with sediment.

Question 23

Sedimentary rock

Answer 23

Rock that forms either by the cementing together of fragments broken off preexisting rock or by the precipitation of mineral crystals out of water solutions at or near the Earth’s surface.

Question 24

Siltstone

Answer 24

Fine-grained sedimentary rock generally composed of very small quartz grains.

Question 25

Sorting

Answer 25

(1) The range of clast sizes in a collection of sediment; (2) the degree to which sediment has been separated by flowing currents into different-size fractions.

Question 26

Stratigraphic formation

Answer 26

A recognizable layer of a specific sedimentary rock type or set of rock types, deposited during a certain time interval, that can be traced over a broad region.

Question 27

Subsidence

Answer 27

The vertical sinking of the Earth’s surface in a region, relative to a reference plane.

Question 28

Transgression

Answer 28

The inland migration of shoreline resulting from a rise in sea level.

Question 29

Turbidity current

Answer 29

A submarine avalanche of sediment and water that speeds down a submarine slope.