Sedimentary environments

● A geographic setting where sediment is

accumulating
● Determines the nature of the sediments that
accumulate (grain size, grain shape, etc.)
 Sedimentary environments

● Types of sedimentary environments

• Continental
• Dominated by stream erosion and deposition
• Glacial
• Wind (eolian)
• Marine
• Shallow (to about 200 meters)
• Deep (seaward of continental shelves)
Sedimentary environments

• Transitional (shoreline)
• Tidal flats
• Lagoons
• Deltas
 Terrestrial
Sedimentary
environments
Aeolian Environments:
Areas of windblown sand
near beaches or in arid,
desert environments.

Large areas of sand dunes

are known as ergs.
In the geological record, ancient sand
dunes are identified by large-scale sets of
cross beds. These cross beds are in the
Navajo Sandstone, Zion National Park,
Utah, where individual sets can be 20-5-
ft thick.
Glaciers are one of the most effective erosional agents on earth. They literally grind and
bulldoze rock from beneath them, leaving deposits of loose material called moraines.
Moraines are comprised of glacial till, a chaotic mix of detrital sediment containing
everything boulders to silt.
Glaciers leave deposits of eroded material called moraines. Moraines are given
different names depending on their location relative to the glacier. Moraines consist of
a mixture of boulder to silt sized material.
 Lateral Moraine

En
dM
ora
ine

Re
ces
sion
al M
ora
ine
Loose, unconsolidated “recent” till deposited by glaciers during the last ice age. Till
contains particles of all sized, ranging from large boulders to silt.
Tillite: Consolidated glacial till that has been lithified. It is now a conglomerate containing
large boulder-sized clasts.
Alluvium: Mixed material consisting of boulder- to silt-sized material deposited by
streams, usually at the mouth of canyons. These are very common in
mountainous desert areas such as southern Utah. In fact, Cedar City is build on
a series of alluvial fans.
Alluvium: Mix of boulder- to silt-sized material deposited by streams.
Figure 7.19F
Transitional and Marine
Sedimentary
environments
Beaches are the most recognizable transitional environments. Beaches form
where wave energy washes silt and clay away, leaving larger sand particles
behind. Silt and clay may then be deposited in other low energy transitional
environments such as tidal flats or sabkhas, or in deep marine environments.
Behind the beach area of this sand spit lies another transitional environment, a tidal flat.

Tidal flat (mud)

Beach (sand)
 Sabkhas are another transitional
environment that, although rare
today, are important to the geologic
past of Utah.

Sabkhas only occur in, hot, arid

climates where sea water can
evaporate rapidly.

1987

Sabkhas can be though of as tidal

flats or pools that are periodically
inundated with water. The water
evaporated leaving behind deposits
of evaporate minerals like halite
(salt) or gypsum. These satellite
photos show a tidal pool in Tunisia
in a filled state (1987) and after the
water evaporated (1999) The white
material in the 1999 photo is halite
and gypsum. 1999
Dude excavating a sabkha. The white surface layer is halite, underneath is red
oxidized silt and clay. This is similar to the sabkha deposits seen in the Moenkopi
formation,
Interbedded gypsum and red silt/clay in the Moenkopi Formation, Utah
 Sedimentary environments

● Sedimentary facies
• Different sediments often accumulate adjacent to
one another at the same time
• Each unit (called a facies) possesses a distinctive
set of characteristics reflecting the conditions of a
particular environment
• The merging of adjacent facies is a gradual
transition
 Sedimentary facies:
In a shallow marine setting, the different facies
represent different depositional environments
Notch Peak, Millard Co., Utah, and an extraordinarily clear day. The different layers
consist of limestone and shale deposited in shallow marine settings.
 Sedimentary structures

● Provide information useful in the interpretation

of Earth history
● Types of sedimentary structures
• Strata, or beds (most characteristic of
sedimentary rocks)
• Bedding planes that separate strata
• Cross-bedding
 Sedimentary structures

● Types of sedimentary structures

• Graded beds
• Ripple marks
• Mud cracks
• Fossils
Sedimentary layering or strata or a primary sedimentary
structure; Structures formed during deposition
 Ripple marls for during deposition through water flow. Different types
of ripple marks record different types of water currents, and thus
depositional environments.
Current

Symmetric

Asymmetric
Symmetric ripple marks form when currents flow back and forth, as in a tidal regime,
These can be produces in an aquarium as water is made to slosh back and forth.
Symmetric ripple marks in a modern setting
Figure 7.25A

Asymmetric ripple marks

form where water flows in
one direction, and indicated
by the arrow
More asymmetric ripple marks, arrow indicated direction of flow.
Cross beds from a river (fluvial) deposit
Cross beds from a modern beach sand dune
Aeolian cross beds in the Navajo Sandstone, Zion National Park
Modern mud cracks caused by drying and shrinkage of mud
Mudcracks preserved in rock