Clasts/ Identifying Sedimentary Rocks Flashcards
Sedimentary Rocks Main components
clasts and matrix
clasts in sed rocks
rounded segments (rounded fro transport) the rounder the longer transported
Matrix
holds togetheer the clasts, matrix,clay, lithified
keeps them together
could also be cement
in sedimentary rocks
grains
in metamorphic rocks
crystals
Quartz in clasts
can endure the most weathering so if you find quartzclasst only: very old, much . weathering endured
old rocks have an abundance of quartz
Orientations of a sample
an lead to understand transport mechanism because that will lead to a sediment structure
ex. flat, round pebble → river bed
clastic rocks
Clastic rocks are classified primarily by grain size, then by mineralogy & percentage of matrix
grain shows
grain unlike crystal shows sign of transport or erosion
conglomerate
round clasta
2 to 256 mm
breccia
angular
63um to 2cm
Sandstone
ugs anything grains is sandstone but actually well defined
grains between 2 mm and 63um, very small but can feel grains!
Siltstones
even finer
3.9 to 63 um
Claystone/ SHale
layering: Shale
< 3.9 um
Toblerone chart
used to also measure matrix content
Arkose
Rocks that still contain Feldspar ( less weathered)
Litharenite
large amount of lithic clasts
“Wacke”
extend to matrix measurement, would then be (arkose) wacke
matrix more than 50%
mudstone or shale
cements not in classification
ehy are daigenetic product, later product, precipitate out of later product
Effective Product
very long transport or repeated transport
Breccia
can be very large clasts, also samller
angular grains: deposited close to source – very short transport
Conglomerate
rounded clasts
rounded grains - long transport
Quartz Arenite
typical sandstone
High percentage of stable mineral grains – long transport
really hard