general terms COPY Flashcards
3D QFL diagram
%mud: <5%= arenites, 5>%mud<50%=wackes, %mud>50%=mudstones QFL: %qtz: %qtz>90%=qtz arenite, 75-90%=sublithic, sub-arkosic, <75%-arkosic or lithic
A-Horizon
Zone of oxidation, leaching, organic reactions, humus, solutes, fine clay percolating. Approximately 5% rocks.
Actualism
The present processes approximate the past but it must be interpreted with a grain of salt.
Alfisols
Soils that are developped in moist, temperate climates. There is alot of insoluble cations (Fe + Al) in the alfisols. Examples include Georgia’s red clay or African soils.
Are physical, biological, and chemical weathering discrete things?
They are not. Salt crystallization is an example of both chemical and physical weathering. Root wedging and fungal breakdown are biophysical and biophysiochemical.
Arenites NEED PIC
Sandstones that are composed of distinct grains and cement with a maximum of 5% mud.
Aridsols
Soils that form in deserts. They are poorly developed, solutes are relatively static because evaporation offsets any percolation. Many evaporites and dust.
Authegenic minerals
Minerals produced at the surface. Minerals precipitated through biologic, supersaturation, oxidation, or other processes.
B-Horizon
Zone of accumulation (illuvial). Clay and solutes. Dark colors. ~80% mineral
Bed Shear Stress
tau0=SW*h*S
SW=specific weight
h=flow depth
S=slope (gradient)
This represents the shear stress a flow exerts onto a bed it is flowing over.
Bedforms
Mounds or troughs of loose sediment on a mobile bed forming @ sediment and fluid interface. They describe the relation of strata.
Bernoulli’s Principle
Derived from the conservation of energy and the principle of continuity where:
KE+PE+P(aka work)=Constant
If the path is obstructed by a grain and therefore V(flow) increases (see principle of continuity) and over a dx the PE is constant/~0 then the KE increases when traversing over the grain and therefore P (pressure) decreases. This forms hydraulic lift.
Biological Weathering
The influence of plant life of the weathering process. Examples include root wedging and bioturbation. It creates a significant part of the weathering scheme.
Biological Weathering Examples
Chelation: The Bonding of metals with organic compounds with the effect of increasing their solubility.
C-Horizon
Chunky Bedrock, regolith. 100% rock
Cataclastic Breccia
Refers to breccias formed due to land movement.
Landslide/Slump breccias form due to the tension of sliding material
Tectonic Breccias form from gouge
Collapse breccias are from cave-ins and other forms of ground failure
Chelation
Biogenic weathering through organic compounds. It forms a metal compund that increases the solubility of the metal.
Chemical Weathering
Break down of rock due to being at disequilibrium on Earth’s surface. Characterized by shifts in the chemical and/or mineralogic components of a rock.
7 Chemical Weathering Mechanisms
Carbonation because of rain being slightly acidic
Simple Solution: dissolution without precipitation
Hydrolysis: dissolution and precipitation of new minerals. Incurs a permanent composition/mineralogic shift.
REDOX: The oxidation of Mn and Fe to form hydro/oxides.
Hydration/dehydration: clays, hematite->goethite, and gypsum->anhydrite. Characterized by reversibility and impermanence.
Ion Exchange: shifting ions within clays/zeolites and solution
Chelation
Clay series
Clays constitute a significant potion of all grains in sedimentary rocks that host large metallic cations, strong, and stable structures.
illite alters to smectite (montmorillonite: expandable upon hydration)
kaolinite is a T-Oct Al-rich clay with the potential for bauxite (Al(OH)3) . It is the ultimate Alumino-silicate weathering product.
Climbing Ripples
During the de-escalation of flow ripples will stop migrating and start “mounding” Therefore downward flow will be up-dip. They form non-tangential and tabular cross-bredding.
Competence ADD FBD
The maximum particle size that a flow can move.
Determines by if the flow can exert a force that is greater than tauc
Conglomerates/Breccias:
Rocks that are primarily composed of lithic fragments over 2mm (>30%). If they are angular then it is considered a breccia. If they are more mature and rounded then they are conglomerates. Clast supported refers to if the individual clasts are touching and create the structure. Matrix supported refers to the concept of the clasts being suspended in the fine grained matrix material.
Continental Block Provenance
Typical exhumed continental material. It has a wide variety but primarily consists of quartzose, K-spar, sometimes volcanics.
Debris flow deposits
Unsorted, chaotic, matrix supported, lacks cross-stratification and occasionally shows reverse grading
Debris flows
A type of flow that is dominated by a high viscosity, like a bingham plastic, that forms an internal structure and develops matrix supported rocks. The base of the flow has a relatively low velocity and thus is non-erosive on the base. It is characterized by “freezing” when shear at the base is less than the critical shear.
This can commonly occur in arid regions and with volcaniclastic deposits and include mud flows (~50% mud), muddy debris flows, and debris flows (0% mud)
Density Flows
A fluid flow that is formed due to a non-homogenous density.
Diagenesis
The final step of lithification of sedimentary rocks that alters the rock due to pressure.
Name two forms of deformation
Plastic and Ductile Deformation: Characterized by the expansion of clays into adjacent quartz
Flexible Grain Deformation: Characterized by minerals restructuring and reducing the volume of other grains. Ex: mica forming a planar surface where a quartz grain once existed.
Dimensionless numbers
Numbers that describe a state change for the participants of the system.
E-Horizon
Zone of intense remove of cations (eluviation) and chelation. The soil is a light color and depleted of metallic cations. ~50% mineral
Entrainment
The process of grains losing contact with the bed below and is determined by the critical shear threshold.
Epiclastic Breccia/Conglomerate
FIND EXAMPLE
Epiclastic conglomerate/breccia: An extraformational/intraformational rock that formed from a non-specific weathering and transport process.
Example of hydrolysis
Alumino-silicate+ “acidified” water + water yields alkalai metal in solution + phyllosilicate + SiO2 (aq)
Ex: 2KAlSiO6(s) +H2CO3 + H2O-> K2CO3(aq) + Al2SiO5(OH)4 (s) + 8SiO2 (aq)
Orthoclase + carbonated rain + water -> Potassium carbonate + kaolinite + aqueous silica
Example of REDOX
2FeS2+15/2O2 + 4H2O -> Fe2O3 + 4SO4 2- + 8H+
Ferrous iron (soluble) forms ferric iron (3+) upon being exposed to the atmosphere and forms the hydrated Fe(OH)3 This then dehydrates to form hematite (above).
Factors of Weathering
Climate and Rock
Weathering in wet climates is dominated by chemical mechanisms. Low slope, higher grain size surface area, and warm climates all promote water retention and higher weathering.
Feature of immature clasts
Poor sorting, angular grains composed on relatively unstable minerals.
Features of mature clasts
homogenous composition, well rounded, well sorted
Feldspathic Arenite AKA Arkose
Less than 75% of the clasts are qtz and there is more spar than lith. They are generally immature and form clay-rich arenites. They often form on stable continental shelves/alluvial fans or in-situ when granite decays. They are promoted by arid/cold environments and were more common from Paleozoic and Mesozoic times.
Froude Number
A dimensionless unit that describes how a surface wave passes through a liquid. The denominator describes the velocity of a surface wave through water and the numerator is the velocity of flow. Therefore a Fr<1 means that the wave’s velocity is greater than the flow’s.
Fr=V/(gD).5 D=water depth
Grain flow deposits
Kinetic sieving causes reverse grading. Generally well sorted, and form wedge shapes with the upper surface = angle of repose
Grain Flows
These are relatively dry flows of individual grains that are induced when the weight exceeds the internal frictional cohesion. The dispersive pressure is derived from the collision of grains. Commonly is the “Avalanching” of grains on the lee-side of dunes.
tau/P=tan(a) where: a=angle of internal friction
P=dispersive pressure
Gravity Flows
Characterized by a mass of sediment forming a flow with or without significant fluid composition and is propelled by the particle mass.
MOR weathering
A form of submarine chemical weathering where basalt reacts with seawater to form glaucanite (clay), phillipsite (zeolite), and palagamite.
Hjulstrom Diagram
A diagram that describes the maximum diameter of a particle that be entrained within a flow based on flow velocity. At small diameter the erosion potential decreases because the fine particle’s develop stronger van-der-waals cohesive forces. The curve is calibrated for h=1 m and SiO2 particles.
Hydraulic Lift
Derived from the principle of continuity which says that the flux within a pipe is constant.
Flux 1=Q1*A1=Flux 2=Q2*A2
where Q=velocity.
Therefore if A21 then Q2>Q1
Intraformational Conglomerates
These are conglomerates that form within a basin so the clasts are not from an external formation. Flat pebble conglomerates. Precontemporeneous clast formation includes the drying of mud, grain flows, and/or tides.
K-Horizon
A special form of the B-horizon for CaCO3 accumulation (caliche). It is a distinctly hard zone because of the cementing.
7 Key geothermometers
Color alteration
Vitrinite reflectance
graphitization of kerogen
clay mineralogy
zeolite assemblages
fluid inclusions
oxygen isotope ratios
Laminar flow
Particles move relatively parallel to each other and the overall flow vector. It is supported by a low reynolds number.
Liquified flow deposits
Dish structures (concave up “dishes”)
Convolute laminae (“mushroom” shapes)
Flame structures (similar to convolute but not yet wider at the peak)
Mounds and vertical structures: “mud volcanoes” where the water was escaping the sediment