QAB2023 Clastic Sedimentology & Petrography

Assoc Prof Dr Abdul Hadi Abd Rahman DGPE, Room:16-03-29 Tel: 605-368 7039 E-mail: hadi_rahman@petronas.com.my

Types of Sedimentary Material

Terrigenous Clastics (TC)
Detrital Particles
Derived from pre-existing rocks Derived external to the Transported by surface

processes to the site of deposition

depositional basin

Particulate Residues: quartz, feldspar, rock fragments, etc (unaltered rock forming mineral/rock grains) Secondary Minerals: minerals new-formed in the surface weathering environment: clay minerals, oxides, amorphous silica, etc

Types of Sedimentary Material

Allochemical Particles formed in situ at the site of deposition; of chemical/ biochemical origin
Carbonates: ooids, fossil

fragments, pellets, lithoclasts Glauconite, phosphate :in situ authigenic/particulate minerals Biogenic sediments: pelagic tests, siliceous and calcareous

Types of Sedimentary Material

Orthochemical Components
Chemical Precipitates

Secondary cement Primary chemical sediments: halite, etc

Organic Particulate Material

(detrital organic matter )
terrestrial and particulate marine pelagic 95% found in mudrocks and indicative of
Laminated Castile Formation basinal evaporites. Dark laminae are calcite plus organic matter; light laminae are gypsum (Peter Scholle)

low Eh and low current strength

Coal

Types of Sedimentary Material

Pyroclasts
particles fragmented and transported by volcanic

processes

Tephra: tuff deposits Volcanic mudflows: lahar and volcanic breccia deposits

Tephra

Volcanic Ash

Sedimentary Analysis
Requires description (qualitative, quantitative)
Analysis (graphical, statistical) interpretation

Describing Siliciclastics
Description Size Texture Fabric Analysis Maturity Textural Compositional

Describing Siliciclastics-Size
Size

Gravel and larger (> 2 mm) Sand (1/16 - 2 mm) Mud (< 63mm = < 1/16 mm) Silt 4mm >x<63mm Clay <4mm

Gravel-Size (Pebbles & Cobbles)

(> 2 mm)

Sand
(1/16 - 2 mm)

Mud
(< 63mm = < 1/16 mm)

Describing Siliciclastics I: Size The Wentworth scale

Udden- Wentworth size scale

Udden, 1914; Wentworth, 1922 Resolves problems with size classification Cumbersome to discuss size Limiting to restrict to 3 classes

Four basic groups + modifiers make more

Clay (< 4 mm) Silt (4 mm - 63 mm) Sand (63mm - 2 mm) Gravel (> 2 mm)

Siliciclastic Rock Classification:Texture

Descriptive Textural

Classification
Grain Size

Uden-Wentworth grain size scale Phi ()=-log2 (grain diameter in mm) naturally occurring groups; Gravel ~ rock fragments, Sand ~ individual mineral grains (particulate residues) Clay ~ chemical weathering products (clay minerals, etc.) Mud ~ particulate residues +/chemical weathering products

Describing Siliciclastics II: Size The Wentworth scale

Subdivided scale by factor of 2
.0039 mm clay .0078 mm very fine silt 128 mm = cobbles 256 mm = boulders

Logarithmic (base 2) progression! = -log2(grain diameter in mm)

As grain size increases, phi size decreases

Describing Siliciclastics: Sedimentary Texture

Aspects of texture
Shape Degree of sorting Surface texture

Result of
Parent rock type (shape) Weathering Transport history (sorting, shape)
Generally for siliciclastics but can be useful for other types

Describing Siliciclastics
Form/Shape
Zingg indices
spherical (equant), oblate (disk or tabular), bladed, prolate (roller)

Roundness

Degree of angularity Function of transport history Edges chip off as clasts knock into one another (progressive) Estimate visually or calculate from cross- section

Sphericity
How closely clast approximates a sphere (equant)
Inherited feature! (function of shape formed in weathering) slab may become discoidal but stays flat with time

Where: di= intermediate diameter dl= long diameter ds= short diameter

ZINGG DIAGRAM

Describing Siliciclastics: Angularity & Roundness

Texture: Sorting & Shape

Sorting: measure of the

diversity of grain size A function of grain origin and transport history Clast Rounding: surface irregularity
Due to prolonged agitation

during transport and reworking

Describing Siliciclastics: Degree of sorting

Measure of distribution of clast sizes

Well sorted most clasts fall into one class on the Wentworth scale Poorly sorted wide range of clast sizes Greater distance (or repeated agitation of sediment), better separation of sizes

Due to origin and transport history

Qualitative (visual) and quantitative methods

Describing Siliciclastics: Sorting

Statistical/Graphic Presentation of Texture: Grain Size/Sorting

Quantitative assessment of the % of different grain

sizes in a clastics

Mean: average particle size Mode: most abundant class size Median: 50th percentile

Describing Siliciclastics: Grain size analysis

Quantitative analysis
(granulometric analysis) Quantitative assessment of % of different grain sizes in clastic sediments Useful in interpretting depositional history of clasts,

especially in modern environments

Technique used varies with grain size

Direct Indirect

Describing Siliciclastics: Grain size analysis- techniques

Gravel

direct measurement in the field measure all within a quadrant

meter is used for pebbles, cobbles

Sand
pass through a stack of sieves with mesh keyed to

weigh contents of each sieve, get distribution by wt.

Describing Siliciclastics Grain size analysis- graphic analysis

Plots
Histogram of weight percentage of size fractions Frequency curve Cumulative frequency curve
When plotted, grain size increases from right to left, fines to right, coarse to left

Graphically represent grain size distribution

mean grain size standard deviation from a normal distribution (sorting) symmetry (skewness) flatness of curve (kurtosis)

Describing Siliciclastics: Grain size analysis- graphic analysis

Different depositional environments exhibit different grain size distributions

Glacial sediments poorly sorted River sediments moderately sorted Beach sediments well sorted

Statistical/Graphic Presentation of Texture; Granulometry

Refraction Index: immersion oils of known refractive index and comparing the unknown mineral to the oil