Day 2 Sedimentary Petrology Flashcards
Physical destruction of the original rock
Mechanical weathering
Loose deposits are converted into rocks through the processes of:
Diagenesis and Lithification
Solid fragments and mineral particles from mechanical weathering
Detritus or clastic material
Sediments with clastic textures
Terrigenous sediments
Decomposes minerals in the rocks
Chemical weathering
Greek, meaning correct or true. Truly chemical sediments which are products of chemical decomposition
Orthochemical sediments
Greek, meaning different. Organisms have caused the precipitation of the major sedimentary mineral components, or the precipitated minerals have undergone substantial movement (and redeposition) after crystallization
Allochemical sediments
Consists of detrital grains, which forms the framework of the rock, joined together by cement.
Terrigenous sedimentary rocks.
Consists of large clasts (boulders, cobbles, pebbles, granules) with or without a sandy matrix
Conglomerates and breccias
Show more pronounced rounding of clasts
Conglomerates
Contain more angular clasts
Breccia
Coarse-grained pyroclastics (volcanic debris) with a grain size over 32mm
Agglomerate or volcanic breccia
Finer-grained (2 and 0.062 mm grain size) and most easily classified by determining the amounts of clastic (framework) grains composed of quartz (and chert), feldspar, and lithic fragments
Sandstones
When the sandstone matrix contitutes more than 10 volume percent of the rock
Wacke
Mostly dark gray sandstones with abundant matrix
Greywacke
Sandstones made up of chiefly volcanic fragments, volcanic glass, and crystals. Tend to be green because of chlorite.
Volcaniclastics
General term for sediments composed mainly of silt-sized (0.062 - 0.004 mm) and clay-sized (<0.004mm) particles
Mudstone
Silt-particle size
Siltstones
Clay particle size; nonfissile, commonly with a massive or blocky texture
Claystones
Characterized by its fissility (ability to split into thin sheets), generally parallel to bedding
Shale
With a well-developed cleavage, which may or may not be parallel to the bedding, and is commonly the result of metamorphism
Slate
Emphasizes the depositional texture
Dunham’s Classification of Limestones
Consists more than 10% grains in a microcrystalline ooze (micrite)
Wackestones
Grain-supported limestone with micrite matrix and sparry calcite cement
Packstone