Sedimentary Rocks:

Environments of Deposition and

Stratigraphic Correlation
Environments of Deposition
6_27
Continental
shelf
Continental
slope
S
h
a
llo
w
m
a
r
in
e
D
e
e
p

m
a
r
i
n
e
Submarine
volcanoes
Conglomerate deposited as an alluvial
fan, Cretaceous of Utah
6_5
Particles are large and
irregular, and consist of
a variety of lithologies,
including the least
resistant.
Particles are mid-sized
and of intermediate
sphericity, and include
resistant and nonresistant
lithologies.
Particles are small and
nearly spherical, and
consist mainly of the
most resistant lithologies,
such as quartz.
Sideling Hill Outcrop, I-68, Hancock,
Maryland
6_28
Floodplain
Meandering
river channel
Lake
River bank
(a)
Floodplain facies:
Fine-grained shales
and organic
deposits
Lake (lacustrine)
facies:
Thinly bedded,
extremely fine-grained
shales
Riverbank and channel facies:
Cross-bedded, coarse-grained
channel sandstone and
conglomerate
Older sedimentary
strata showing
changing
facies
relationships
(b)
Black Shale, Anoxic Environment
Red Beds, Oxygenated Environment
Geometry of sand dunes, both eolian
and aquatic.
Cross beds
formed by
underwater
sand dunes
Master Bedding
Cross
Bedding
Master Bedding
Sand waves on the sea floor formed
by underwater sand dunes,
Florida Keys
Current Direction
Facies changes produced by
Marine Transgression
6_29
River
Direction of migration
of shoreline, and landward
shift of sedimentary facies
Shoreline at
time B
Shoreline at
time A
Time B
Time A
Sea level
rising
Deposited
at time A
Deposited
at time B
Shallow
marine
Beach
River
Deep
marine
Deep
marine
Shallow
marine
Beach
Shallow
marine
Comparison of sediments deposited
Transitional Environments: Tidal
Inlets, Marshes, and Lagoons
Transitional Environments: Tidal Inlets
between Barrier Islands
Transitional Environments: a Barrier
Island
Transitional Environments: a
prograding Spit on a Barrier Island
Stratigraphic Correlation
The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River
in Arizona
Stratigraphic
correlation
between Grand
Canyon, Zion,
and Bryce
Canyon national
parks allows
construction of a
composite
stratigraphic
column.
Stratigraphic
correlation
between Grand
Canyon, Zion,
and Bryce
Canyon national
parks allows
construction of a
composite
stratigraphic
column.
Top of Kaibab Ls.
Top of Navaho Ss.
Grand Canyon, Zion Canyon, Bryce Canyon
Zion Canyon National Park, Jurassic
Sedimentary Rocks
Jurassic Navaho Sandstone, Zion National
Park, wind-blown cross-bedding.
Bryce Canyon, Utah, Cretaceous sedimentary rocks
Correlation
Determination of the equivalence of
bodies of rock at different locations.
There are two kinds of correlation:
Lithostratigraphic - matching up
continuous formations.
Chronostratigraphic - matching up
rocks of the same age. Usually done
with fossils using biostratigraphy.
Correlation
Over short distances lithostratigraphic
correlation is the same as
chronostratigraphic correlation.
Over medium distances they are not
the same.
Over long distances only
chronostratigraphic correlation can be
used.
Original Lateral Continuity: permits
lithostratigraphic correlation
Barrier islands in the subsurface
Time Lines
Simple
Lithostratigraphic
Correlation
Detailed lithostratigraphic correlation of the Cambrian strata of the
Grand Canyon. Note the facies interfingering. (Stanley, Fig. 6.5)
Zone of middle
Cambrian trilobites
Cambrian strata of the Grand Canyon: Note the two time lines from
biostratigraphy. (Stanley, Fig. 6.6)
Depositional Model for the Cambrian strata of the
Grand Canyon: Tapeats Ss., Bright Angel Sh., and
Muav Ls. (Stanley, Fig. 6.6)