Sedimentary Rocks Flashcards
Sedimentary rocks are formed from _____
sediment
What is sediment?
any broken-down crustal rock
Any rock that has been broken down into smaller pieces is called?
sediment
Where does sediment form?
at the surface where rock down
Can sediments be carried away?
yes
Sediments are carried away by the process of…
Erosion
What can carry away a sediment?
a river
A river can ____ ____ sediment
carried away
Once the rock is carried away it may be _____
deposited
_____ is the when a rock is deposited
deposition
What is deposition?
the process of sediment being deposited
When the sediment forms into solid rock again it can be called a ______ rock
sedimentary
The process of sediment being reconstituted into rock is..
lithification
______ is the process that takes deposited sediment and produces a whole rock
Lithification
Lithification reconstitutes _____ into ______
sediment, rock
When we say that rocks are lithified we mean that they are…
solidified
What are the three forms of sedimentary rocks?
- Clastic
- Chemical
- Biogenic
What are clastic rocks made of?
Clastic rocks are made up of broken-down fragments of rocks
How do we categorize clastic rocks?
according to the size of the sediments that they are made of
We categorize clastic rocks according to the size of their sediments or _____
clasts
_____ are the constituent fragments of clastic rocks
clasts
What are clasts?
The sediment of the clastic rock
A rock made up of gravel size sediment (chunks of rock) is called either a _____ or _____
Conglomerate, Breccia
If the grave-sized pieces of a clastic rock are rounded then it is…
Conglomerate
What is a Conglomerate rock?
a clastic rock that is made up of rounded gravel-size sediment
If the gravel-sized pieces of a clastic rock are angular then it is…
Breccia
Does Breccia have angular or rounded, gravel-sized sediment?
angular
If a rock is made up of sand-sized pieces we call it…
sandstone
Are Breccia and Conglomerate made up of gravel-sized or sand-sized pieces?
gravel-sized
If it is made up of silt-sized particles it is called a…
siltstone
If it is made up of clay or very fine particles it is called…
Shale
Siltstone is made up of ___- sized sediment
silt
Is Shale made up of silt-sized particles, clay, or sand-sized particles?
clay
Which is made up of the smallest particles, Sandstone, siltstone, or shale?
shale
Which is made up of smaller particles, Sandstone or siltstone?
Siltstone
Is sandstone made up of clay?
No
Siltstone is made up of _____ mud
silty
Shale is made up of ____ mud
clayey
What are the three processes that convert loose clasts or sediments into a sedimentary rock?
- Compaction
- Cementation
- Re-crystallization
_____ is the process by which sediments are squeezed together to form a rock
Compaction
What is compaction?
the process by which class or sediments are squeezed together to form a rock
Compaction ______ sediment into a rock
pressurizes
_____ is the processes by which a mineral, usually a carbonate mineral, forms a glue or a cement in between the clasts that are squeezed together
Cementation
What is cementation?
the process by which a mineral forms a glue or cement int between the clasts that are squeezed together by compaction
Does cementation accompany compaction?
Yes
_______ happens when the mineral crystals realign into a different shape and therefore a different mineral
Re-crystallization
How do chemical sedimentary rocks form?
when water soluble-chemicals become undissolved out of the water
A chemical is _____ if it is able to be dissolved
soluble
When water-soluble chemicals become undissolved out of the water, they are said to _____ out of the water
precipitate
What can cause water-soluble chemicals to precipite?
An environmental change
What is the process by which
Precipiation
What is the process by which minerals or rocks crystallize out of some body of water holding water- soluble chemicals.
Precipitation
Once these sediments precipitate, they undergo _______ just like clastic sediments
lithification
When sediment is squeezed or pressurized into a rock, it is said to be….
lithified, or compacted
What are three types of chemical sedimentary rock?
- a banded iron formation
- limestone
- salt deposits
When the Earths oceans were very rich in iron there were iron minerals that precipitated out of the ocean. This formed what we call today a ________
banded iron formation
______ is formed form calcium carbonate that precipitates out of water
Limestone
_____ deposits are minerals that become precipitated out of water, usually as water evaporates.
Salt
What are biogenic rocks made from?
plant and animal remains
Biogenic rocks are made from _____ and _____ remains
plant and animal
What are the two main types of biogenic rocks?
- bioplastic limestone
- coal
Biplastic limestone is made of what?
Shells and other hard parts of marine animals
What is the most abundant biogenic sedimentary rock?
Bioplastic limestone
Bioplastic limestone is formed from ______ remains of marine animals
lithified
Coal is formed from _____ remains that accumulate and get pressurized over time.
plant
When sediments are deposited in water they create layered ____ that give us a really good historical account of the nature of that environment.
bed
What is bedding?
the sequential settling of sediment that leads to a layered arrangement of sedimentary rock
When sediment is deposited and settles leaving a layered arrangement of sedimentary rock, once lithified, this is called…
bedding
The boundary between two bedding layers is called…
the bedding surface
What are the only type of rocks that exhibit bedding?
sedimentary rocks
Bedding is when sediment is _____ over time
deposited
What do ripple marks in a sedimentary rock indicate about the environment?
that they were formed in shallow water
What do mud crack in a sedimentary rock indicate about the environment?
that the rock was formed in an environment that was intermittently wet or dry.
What do sedimentary rocks have that no other rocks have?
fossils
