Chapter 5: Sandstone and Conglomerates

Terrigenous
From

the Earth Terrigenous clastic sedimentary rocks are composed of clasts of pre-existing rocks and minerals. Also referred as:

detrital (detached from pre-existing rocks by erosion or weathering), or; Epiclastic (derived from the surface).

Silisiclastic
Because

most terrigenous clastics are especially rich in quartz and other silicates minerals, the term silisiclastic is also used. Clast formed by physical weathering are eroded and transported by mass wasting, wind, water, and ice and are deposited as discrete, unconsolidated fragments that are eventually lithified.

 Terrigeneous

sediments and sedimentary rocks are defined on the basis of clast diameter. Three distinct groups are recognized:

Conglomerates and breccias Sandstones mudrocks

Conglomerates and Breccias

Conglomerates

is lithified gravel made up of rounded to subrounded clasts whose diameters exceed 2 mm.

They are also called roundstone or puddingstone.

Breccias

is lithified rubble made up of angular clasts coarser than 2 mm.

They are also called sharpstone.

Conglomerates and Breccias

The roundness (angularity) of the grains is measured using standard grain silhouettes. Very coarse clastic rocks are collectively referred to as rudites or rudaceous sedimentary rocks.

Composition
Most

clasts on conglomerates and breccias are fragments of rocks and minerals produced by the disintegration of bedrock. These occur both as coarser-grained fragments and finer-grained matrix filling the space between fragments. Clasts are typically glued together by a small amount of siliceous, calcareous, or ferruginous cement.

Conglomerates and Breccias

Three

principal categories of clasts are distinguished:

Mineral fragments that occur as major components, Mineral fragments that occur as accessory constituents, and Fragments of rock.

Mineral fragments occurring as major constituents (5% or more)

Clasts of a single mineral such as quartz or feldspar tend to be less abundant in conglomerates and breccias than in sandstone because few igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary rocks have original grains coarse enough to disintegrate into pebbles and coarser detritus. Source rocks with mineral grain diameters coarser than 8 mm (fine pebble) include quartz veins, pegmatites, deep-seated plutons, highgrade metamorphic rocks, breccias and conglomerates.

 Quartz

is the most abundant major mineral in conglomerates and breccias.

It is harder than other rock-forming mineral Has no cleavage Practically insoluble

Large

clasts of K-feldspar, plagioclase feldspar, and mica can also be abundant but seldom last as long as quartz because they corrode, disaggregate, and abrade with transport. The sand matrix is similar in composition to sandstone interbedded with the conglomerate or breccia.

Mineral class occurring as accessory constituents (less than 5%)

Other

fragments occur as accessory, their presence is incidental. They occur as accessory minerals either because their original abundance in source rocks is low or because they are easily destroyed by weathering. Micas and heavy minerals such as: olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, zircon, magnetite and hematite.

Rock fragments
Rock

fragments are typically the most abundant component in very coarsegrained terrigenous rocks and are invariably the most interesting. Careful analysis of their composition provides us with direct information on provenance.

Texture

Conglomerate and breccia textures are studied at the outcrop using methods of quantitative grain size analysis that differ from those used for sandstone. Grain diameters of particles coarser than sand (>2mm). The interstitial space between framework grains can be empty; filled with finer-grained detrital matrix; or occupied by cement, fluid (oil, water) or natural gas.

Two distinctive varieties of conglomerates (and breccias) are defined on the basis of texture:
Orthoconglomerates (literally, true conglomerates) consist mainly of gravel-sized framework grains. Matrix (sand or finer) is less than 15%. So, grain-supported framework. Paraconglomerate have a matrix of sand and finer clasts. Matrix is at least 15%; most have 50% matrix and are actually sandstone and mudrocks in which pebbles, cobbles and boulders are scattered.

Extraformational or intraformational

They are separated by comparing the composition of framework and matrix grains. Intraformational- conglomerates and breccias have an interior (intrabasinal) source: that is; they are eroded from the same sedimentary rock unit they are a part, rather than being derived from rocks located outside the depositional basin. Consequently intraformational conglomerates and breccias have framework grains identical in composition to those in the matrix.

Extraformational or intraformational
Extraformational-

conglomerates and breccias are derived from sources areas outside the depositional basin. Detritus weathered from external sources is carried away and deposited elsewhere. As a result framework clasts differ markedly in composition from matrix.Framework matrix is exotic; that is, not derived by the erosion and redeposition of matrix material.

Orthoconglomerate and Paraconglomerates

(Orthobreccias and Parabreccias) They are separated by examining the proportion of matrix. Orthoconglomerate are matrix poor, Paraconglomerates are matrix rich.

Orthoconglomerates

They are matrix-poor (80% or more framework grains) and have an intact, stable, grainsupported fabric. They are transported and deposited on a grain-by grain basis by fluids, specifically water or air. Oligomict or petromictcngl are further divided into these on the basis of framework grain composition.

Oligomict or petromict

In oligomict (orthoquartzose) conglomerates (or breccias), more than 90% of the framework clasts consist of fragments of only a few varieties of resistant rocks and minerals as metaquartzite, vein quartz, and cherts. In petromict (polymict) clasts of many different composition of metastable and unstable rocks are abundant; for example, basalt, slate, and limestone.

 A more

precise classification can be given by specifying predominant clast size and lithology:

quartz pebble oiligomictic orthoconglomerate slate coble petromictic parabreccia

 Oligomict

orthoconglomerates imply wholesale decomposition and disintegration of immense volumes of rocks, reflecting climate and topography that promote chemical decomposition and physical disintegration of all but the most resistant components. Typically stream channels deposits and bars deposits, or near shore marine settings.

 Petromic

are much more abundant than oligomict orthoconglomerates and are mainly alluvium eroded from high-relief areas.

Paraconglomerates

Paraconglomerates
Paraconglomerates

and parabreccias are further divided on the basis of their inferred origin as well as the size and internal organization of their matrix. Is the matrix sand or mud? Is the matrix internally laminated or chaotic? Is the framework imbricated, sorted, and vertically graded? Is the deposit sheetlike or lenticular? With what other types of sediment is the deposit associated?

Paraconglomerates
Paraconglomerates

containing a matrix of delicately laminated mudrocks in which coarser framework grains float are called laminated pebbly (or cobbly, or bouldery) mudrock. Dropstone- ice rafting

Paraconglomerates
Paraconglomerates

in which the matric is disorganized and non-laminated are either tillite (only if glacial origin can be inferred) or tilloid (deposited by mass movement).