Sedimentology and Stratigraphy

(book review, Nichols)

TERRIGENOUS CLASTIC SEDIMENTS: GRAVEL, SAND & MUD

INTRODUCTION
Terrigenous clastic sediments and sedimentary rocks
are composed of fragments that result from the
weathering and erosion of older rocks. They are
classified according to the sizes of clasts present and
the composition of the material.

INTRODUCTION
The proportions of different clast sizes and the
textures of terrigenous clastic sediments and
sedimentary rocks can provide information about
the history of transport of the material and the
environment of deposition.
Terrigenous clastic is material that is made up of
particles or clasts derived from pre-existing rocks.
The clasts are principally detritus eroded from
bedrock and are commonly made up largely of
silicate minerals: the terms detrital sediments and
siliciclastic sediments are also used for this material.

CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTS AND SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

A distinction can be drawn between
sediments (generally loose material) and
sedimentary rocks which are lithified
sediment: lithification is the process of
turning into rock (18.2). Mud, silt and
sand are all loose aggregates; the
addition of the suffix -stone (mudstone,
siltstone, sandstone) indicates that the
material has been lithified and is now a
solid rock.

Coarser, loose gravel material is named

according to its size as granule, pebble,
cobble and boulder aggregates, which
become lithified into conglomerate
(sometimes with the size range added as
a prefix, e.g. pebble conglomerate).

CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTS AND SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

A threefold division on the basis of grain size is
used as the starting point to classify and name
terrigenous clastic sediments and sedimentary
rocks:

gravel and conglomerate consist of clasts

greater than 2mm in diameter;
sand-sized grains are between 2mm and
1/16mm (63 microns) across;
mud (including clay and silt) is made up
of particles less than 63 mm in diameter.
There are variants on this scheme and there are
a number of ways of providing subdivisions
within these categories, but sedimentologists
generally use the Wentworth Scale to define
and name terrigenous clastic deposits.

THE UDDENWENTWORTH GRAIN-SIZE SCALE

Four basic divisions are recognised:
- clay (<4 um)
- silt (4 mm to 63um)
- sand (63 mm or 0.063um to 2.0 um)
- gravel/aggregates (>2.0 mm)

The phi scale is a numerical representation

of the Wentworth Scale. The Greek letter
M (phi) is often used as the unit for this
scale. Using the logarithm base two, the
grain size can be denoted on the phi scale as
M = - log2 (grain diameter in mm)
Using this formula, a grain diameter of 1mm
is 0M: increasing the grain size, 2mm is 1M, 4mm is -2M, and so on; decreasing the
grain size, 0.5mm is +1M, 0.25mm is 2M,
etc.

Conglomerates &
Breccias

Sandstones

Mudstones

Nomenclature used for

mixtures of gravel, sand and
mud in sediments and
sedimentary rock.

Histogram, frequency distribution and cumulative frequency curves

of grain size distribution data. Note that the grain size decreases
from left to right.

GRAVEL AND CONGLOMERATE

Clasts over 2mm in diameter are
divided into granules, pebbles,
cobbles and boulders. Consolidated
gravel is called conglomerate and
when described will normally be
named according to the dominant
clast size:

if most of the clasts are between

64mm and 256mm in diameter the
rock would be called a cobble
conglomerate.
The term breccia is commonly used
for conglomerate made up of clasts
that are angular in shape.

Composition of gravel and conglomerate

If all the clasts are of the same material (all
of granite, for example), the conglomerate
is considered to be monomict. A polymict
conglomerate is one that contains clasts of
many different lithologies, and sometimes
the term oligomict is used where there are
just two or three clast types present.

Texture of conglomerate
Conglomerate beds are rarely composed
entirely of gravel-sized material. Between
the granules, pebbles, cobbles and
boulders, finer sand and/or mud will often
be present: this finer material between the
large clasts is referred to as the matrix of
the deposit.

A clast-supported conglomerate: the pebbles

are all in contact with each other.

- sandy conglomerate
- Muddy conglomerate
- intraformational conglomerate
- clast-supported (orthoconglomerate)
- matrix-supported (paraconglomerate)

A matrix-supported conglomerate: each

pebble is surrounded by matrix.

Shapes of clasts
The shapes of clasts in gravel and
conglomerate are determined by the
fracture properties of the bedrock they
are derived from and the history of
transport.

- cubic or equant
- oblate or discoid
-Rod-shaped or prolate
When discoid clasts are moved in a
flow of water they are preferentially
oriented and may stack up in a form
known as imbrication.

Shapes of clasts
When discoid clasts are moved in a
flow of water they are preferentially
oriented and may stack up in a form
known as imbrication.

SAND AND SANDSTONE

Sand grains are formed by the breakdown
of preexisting rocks by weathering and
erosion, and from material that forms
within the depositional environment. The
breakdown products fall into two
categories: detrital mineral grains,
eroded from pre-existing rocks, and
sand-sized pieces of rock, or lithic
fragments.
Grains that form within the depositional
environment are principally biogenic in
origin, that is, they are pieces of plant or
animal, but there are some which are
formed by chemical reactions.

Detrital mineral grains in sands and sandstones

A very large number of different minerals
may occur in sands and in sandstones, and
only the most common are described here;
- Quartz
- Feldspar
- Mica
- Heavy minerals
- Miscellaneous minerals

Other components of sands and sandstones

- Lithic fragments
- Biogenic particles
- Authigenic minerals
Matrix Fine-grained material occurring
between the sand grains is referred to as
matrix

Sandstone nomenclature and classification

The Pettijohn sandstone classification
combines textural criteria, the
proportion of muddy matrix, with
compositional criteria, the
percentages of the three commonest
components of sandstone: quartz,
feldspar and lithic fragments. The
triangular plot has these three
components as the end members to
form a Q, F, L triangle, which is
commonly used in clastic
sedimentology.

The Pettijohn classification of sandstones,

often referred to as a Toblerone plot
(Pettijohn 1975).

CLAY, SILT AND MUDROCK

Fine-grained terrigenous clastic
sedimentary rocks tend to receive
less attention than any other group
of deposits despite the fact that
they are volumetrically the most
common of all sedimentary rocks
types.

The grain size is generally too small

for optical techniques of mineral
determination and until scanning
electron microscopes and X-ray
diffraction analysis techniques
were developed little was known
about the constituents of these
sediments.

Definitions of terms in mudrocks

Silt is defined as the grain size of material
between 4 and 62 microns in diameter. This
size range is subdivided into coarse, medium,
fine and very fine. The coarser grains of silt
are just visible to the naked eye or with a
hand lens. Finer silt is most readily
distinguished from clay by touch, as it will feel
gritty if a small amount is ground between
teeth, whereas clay feels smooth.
Clay is a textural term to define the finest
grade of clastic sedimentary particles, those
less than 4 microns in diameter. Individual
particles are not discernible to the naked eye
and can only just be resolved with a high
power optical microscope.

Clay minerals
Clay minerals are a group of
phyllosilicate minerals that are the main
constituents of clay-sized particles.

Clay minerals commonly form as

breakdown products of feldspars and other
silicate minerals. They are phyllosilicates
with a layered crystal structure similar to
that of micas and compositionally they are
aluminosilicates. The crystal layers are
made up of silica with aluminium and
magnesium ions, with oxygen atoms linking
the sheets.
-Kaolinite
- montmorillonite
- illite
- Chlorite

TEXTURES AND ANALYSIS OF TERRIGENOUS CLASTIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Histogram, frequency distribution and cumulative frequency curves

of grain size distribution data. Note that the grain size decreases
from left to right.

TEXTURES AND ANALYSIS OF TERRIGENOUS CLASTIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Median = 1.3

TEXTURES AND ANALYSIS OF TERRIGENOUS CLASTIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

The shapes of clasts, their degree of sorting
and the proportions of clasts and matrix are all
aspects of the texture of the material.
The fragments that make up a sedimentary
rock are called clasts. They may range in size
from silt through sand to gravel (granules,
pebbles, cobbles and boulders). A distinction is
usually made between the clasts and the
matrix, the latter being finer-grained material
that lies between the clasts.

Sorting is a description of the distribution of

clast sizes present: a well-sorted sediment is
composed of clasts that mainly fall in one class
on the Wentworth scale (e.g. medium sand); a
poorly sorted deposit contains a wide range of
clast sizes.

TEXTURES AND ANALYSIS OF TERRIGENOUS CLASTIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Kurtosis, a value that indicates

whether the histogram has a sharp
peak or a flat top

Values
from

To

0.41

0.67

very platykurtic

0.67

0.90

platykurtic

0.90

1.11

mesokurtic

1.10

1.50

Leptokurtic

1.50

3.00

very leptokurtic

> 3.00

Equal

extremely leptokurtic

TEXTURES AND ANALYSIS OF TERRIGENOUS CLASTIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Skewness of the distribution, an indicator of whether the grain-size

histogram is symmetrical or is skewed to a higher percentage of coarser
or finer material.

Values
from

To

Mathematically:

Graphically
Skewed to the:

+1.00

+0.30

Strongly positive
skewed

Very Negative phi

values, coarse

+0.30

+0.10

Positive skewed

Negative phi
values

+0.10

- 0.10

Near symmetrical

Symmetrical

- 0.10

- 0.30

Negative skewed

Positive phi values

- 0.30

- 1.00

Strongly negative
skewed

Very Positive phi

values, fine

TEXTURES AND ANALYSIS OF TERRIGENOUS CLASTIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Clast roundness: During sediment transport the
individual clasts will repeatedly come into contact
with each other and stationary objects: sharp edges
tend to be chipped off first, the abrasion smoothing
the surface of the clast.

Clast sphericity: In describing individual clasts, the

dimensions can be considered in terms of closeness
to a sphere.

Roundness and
sphericity estimate
comparison chart
(from Pettijohn et al.
1987).

TEXTURES AND ANALYSIS OF TERRIGENOUS CLASTIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

The grain-size distribution is determined
to some extent by the processes of
transport and distribution.
Glacial sediments are normally very
poorly sorted, river sediments
moderately sorted and both beach and
aeolian deposits are typically well sorted.

Maturity of terrigenous clastic material

The texture of sediment or sedimentary rock can
be used to indicate something about the erosion,
transport and depositional history.
Any sandstone that is classified as a wacke is
considered to be texturally immature.
Arenites can be subdivided on the basis of the
sorting and shape of the grains. If sorting is
moderate to poor the sediment is considered to
be submature. Well-sorted or very wellsorted
sands are considered mature if the individual
grains are angular to subrounded and
supermature if rounded to well-rounded.

Maturity often increases downstream in a river

and once the same sediment reaches a beach the
high wave energy will further increase the
maturity.

Maturity of terrigenous clastic material

Flow diagram of the determination of the textural maturity of a

terrigenous clastic sediment or sedimentary rock.