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The aim of sedimentology, studying sediments, is to derive information on the depositional conditions which acted to deposit the rock unit, and the relation of the individual rock units in a basin into a coherent understanding of the evolution of the sedimentary sequences and basins, and thus, the Earth's geological history as a whole.
Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. [1] It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles.
Uluru (Ayers Rock) is a large sandstone formation in Northern Territory, Australia.. Sedimentary rocks can be subdivided into four groups based on the processes responsible for their formation: clastic sedimentary rocks, biochemical (biogenic) sedimentary rocks, chemical sedimentary rocks, and a fourth category for "other" sedimentary rocks formed by impacts, volcanism, and other minor processes.
Figure 1 illustrates this relationship between sediment grain size and the depth of the marine environment. Figure 1. Illustrating the sediment size distribution over a shoreline profile, where finer sediments are transported away from high energy environments and settle out of suspension, or deposit in calmer environments.
Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock. [1] [2] [3] They form when long-term subsidence creates a regional depression that provides accommodation space for accumulation of ...
Soft sediment deformation (possibly a seismite) in Dead Sea sediments, Israel. Soft-sediment deformation structures or SSD, is a consequence of the loading of wet sediment as burial continues after deposition. The heavier sediment "squeezes" the water out of the underlying sediment due to its own weight. There are three common variants of SSD:
Igneous rocks are formed when magma cools in the Earth's crust, or lava cools on the ground surface or the seabed. Sedimentary rocks are formed by diagenesis and lithification of sediments, which in turn are formed by the weathering, transport, and deposition of existing rocks. Metamorphic rocks are formed when existing rocks are subjected to ...
Eventually the sediments will become so dense that they would essentially form a rock. This process is known as lithification. Igneous rocks have crystallised from a melt or magma. The melt is made up of various components of pre-existing rocks which have been subjected to melting either at subduction zones or within the Earth's mantle.