Sedimentary Environments

Continental
rivers, lakes, caves, desert, glaciers- mostly detrital
Transitional- coastal- along ocean shores
Estuaries and Deltas
Offshore islands
Lagoons
Subduction zones
Submerged coastlines
 Sedimentary Environments
Marine
Shallow marine environments (< 200m)

Deep marine environments (beyond the continental

shelf)
Facies
Facies Model
Model
Depositional
Depositional
Environment
Environment
Alluvial
Alluvial Fan
Fan Facies

Alluvial fans can basically be described as fan shaped deposits that are
fed by a channel emanating from a very narrow, steep valley in a region of
high topographic relief. This high relief is often due to the fact that most
alluvial fans are found in association with regions of active faulting.
Braided River Facies
Braided
Braided River
River Facies
Facies
Formation of a Braided river
Usually found in areas of high sediment influx, high
water influx, and high gradient
Examples include glacial discharge plains, distal
portions of alluvial fans, and mountainous regions
During times of flooding the river is choked with a
high amount of sediment and a new channel is
formed
Mid channel bars result from sediment too large to
be carried
Braided rivers
General Characteristics
1) Generally not very sinuous
2) Multiple channels separated by bars
or islands
3) Grain size decreases down stream
from gravelly to sandy
Structure of a Braided river deposit
Contain gravel in lower portions of bars and
channels and sand throughout the rest of the
deposit; mud is almost nonexistant
Longitudinal bars present with some having
horizons of plant roots
Linguoid and transverse bars also present
Lateral bars possible, also with possible
plants roots
Lateral extent of a braided river deposit can
be extensive because lateral migration of the
system and the high sedimentation rate
Meandering
Meandering River
River Facies
Meandering River Facies

General Characteristics
1) High sinuosity
2) Composed mostly of sand and mud
3) Confined to a single channel

Formation
- The transition between a braided river system and a
meandering river system is a difficult one to draw a line
through
- Further down stream the river has a much less sediment
influx, and therefore, does not form bars as a result of
sediment choking, but starts to deposit the smaller sediment
in its system and also erodes the surrounding banks
- The cut bank will erode the outside bank and cause the
river to expand laterally while the point bar will deposit
sediment from the system and accrete the river laterally with
sandy silt deposits and sometimes mud
- A meander will sometimes meet another and then form a
faster way down stream so the abandoned channel will
become an ox-bow lake
- During flooding stages the river will spill over its banks and
deposit on the levee and also on the flood plain depositing
silts and muds
Structure
Structure of
of aa Meandering
Meandering river
river deposit
deposit

-- The
The majority
majority of
of the
the deposit
deposit will
will consist
consist of
of the
the accretion
accretion of
of the
the point
point bar
bar
-- Some
Some abandoned
abandoned channels
channels and
and deep
deep channels
channels will
will be
be preserved
preserved as
as dish
dish
shaped
shaped structures,
structures, up
up to
to hundreds
hundreds of
of meters
meters wide,
wide, in
in the
the outcrop
outcrop
The
The point
point bar
bar will
will have
have aa fining
fining upward
upward succession
succession starting from a channel
deposit
deposit rising
rising through
through trough
trough cross
cross bedding
bedding and
and sand
sand stone
stone lenses
lenses up to
ripples
ripples and
and finally
finally aa flood
flood plain
plain deposit
deposit
-- The
The flood
flood plain
plain forms
forms by
by the
the deposition
deposition of
of fine
fine material
material from
from the
the river
river
during
during flood
flood stages
stages
-- Deposits
Deposits are
are usually
usually laminated
laminated and
and may
may be
be oxidized
oxidized
-- Paleosols
Paleosols may
may also
also be
be present
present on
on floodplain,
floodplain, levee,
levee, and
and point
point bar
bar (though
(though
much
much less
less common
common here)
here)
-- AA crevasse-splay deposit will
crevasse-splay deposit will consist
consist of
of aa sheet
sheet flow
flow with
with some
some cross
cross
bedding
bedding towards
towards the
the upper
upper section
section with
with rip
rip up
up clasts
clasts present
present in
in the
the bottom
bottom
of
of the
the section
section
Shoreline and Coastal Systems

Definitions
Coast - zone that spans from the landward limit of marine processes to the seaward
limit of alluvial and shoreline processes.
Shoreline - boundary line separating a body of water from an exposed beach.
Significance - shoreline deposits are easy to identify using fossils and are crucial in
documentation of sea-level changes and sequence stratigraphic analysis

Processes
The morphology of shorelines reflects the interaction between sediment supply and
basinal reworking processes.
Sediment supply - nature and volume determined by size, relief, tectonics, climate and
deposits of the catchment area, majority of seds are land-derived and transported via
alluvial processes, 5-10% comes from erosion of the coast or are transported from the
shelf.
Waves - the most significant modifier of shoreline deposits, waves sort and redistribute
sediment into beaches, barriers and spits.
 Environments (excluding deltas)
The type of environment that develops is a function of waves/tide energy, grain size, marine sed
supply, and relative sea-level change

Regressive systems:
Beaches/strandplains - prograding sand-rich shorelines produced by longshore currents and fluvial
processes. Deposits are therefore a mix of rounded marine-derived sand and angular fluvially-derived
sand.

Chenier plains - extensive, prograding coastal mudflats with widely separated, subparallel beach
ridges (cheniers).

Tidal Flats - form in all tidal settings, extent depends on tidal range, sed supply and shoreline gradient.

Transgressive systems:
Barrier Islands - narrow barrier beach that is separated from the mainland by a lagoon or marsh.
Generally associated with low sed supply and relative sea-level rise although can also form as a
prograding system during stillstands. Deposits generally are preserved in washover features (i.e.
washover fans).

Lagoons - areas of shallow water parallel to the shore between the barrier island and the mainland.
Lagoons contain mostly fine-grained seds that are finely laminated (hyper saline) or are highly
bioturbated (normal marine), also, symmetrical ripples (humid) or mudcracks (arid) may be present.

Estuaries - partially enclosed bodies of water where tidal processes interact with fresh-water stream
currents. Differentiated from deltas by having a net landward movement of sediment. Estuarine facies
consist of an outer coarse-grained sand body, a central fine-grained body and an inner sand and gravel
facies composed of fluvial deposits.
 Barrier bar

Mangrove
swamp
 Estuaries

Tidal flat
Delta Facies
What is a delta?
A delta, as defined by the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey), is the fan-shaped
area at the mouth, or lower end, of a river, formed by eroded material that has
been carried downstream and dropped in quantities that can not be carried off by
tides or currents.
Boggs defines a delta as any deposit, subaerial or subaqueous, formed by fluvial
sediments that build into a standing body of water.

Where are deltas found?

Deltas can occur in lakes and inland seas as well as in the ocean, but they are
most important in the open ocean (Boggs). Deltas are particularly common in the
modern ocean owing to post-Pleistocene sea-level rise coupled with high
sediment loads carried by many rivers. They often contain extensive wetlands,
whose high biological productivity makes them vital nursery grounds for fisheries.
Huge amounts of coal, oil, and natural gas are found in subsurface ancient deltaic
deposits. Deltas seldom form on active, subducting continental margins because
there is no stable shallow shelf on which sediments can accumulate. Twenty-five
(25) of the worlds largest deltas are found on passive margins of continents.
They are categorized according to features within the delta plain and by energies
acting on the delta (tide, wave, and fluvial). The size of a delta is dependent on
the size of the drainage basin, the elevation of the land, and climate.
What does a typical delta look like?
What are the different types of deltas?
 Tide-Dominated Deltas

The shape of a delta is influenced by sediment input, wave energy, and tidal energy. Deltas
which undergo strong tidal interaction are classified as tide-dominated deltas. As sediment
travels out of the delta into the sea, high tides and flood tides confine sediment on the delta
plain and low tides carry sediment seaward. Tide-dominated deltas typically occur in
locations of large tidal ranges or high tidal current speeds. In situations such as these, where
the sediment supply is over powered by strong tidal currents, the delta tends to be very
small. Another resulting feature of a tide-dominated delta is that it has many linear structures
parallel to the tidal flow and perpendicular to the shore (shown below).
Tide-Dominated Deltas

These tidal sand ridges are characteristic of the subaqueous delta plain. They may
reach relief heights of up to 15-20 meters close to the shoreline. Relief of the ridges
decrease with increasing distances from the distributaries. Ridges are also greater in
relief and size when there is more tidal discharge than fluvial discharge. Sediments
that make up the sand ridges are fine to medium sands. Characteristic of the lower
delta plain are broad tidal flats that grade unidirectionally into the sand bars and the
opposite direction into marshes or evaporative flats (depending on climate).

The delta has a gradational, upward coarsening sequence of muds; interbedded sands, silts,
and muds; and then fine to medium sands. Due to the eroding effect of tides, the sands
display cross-bedding, the sand ridge field can be truncated through erosion, and the
distributary channel sediments contain more slack-water mud drapes than usual.
Wave-Dominated Deltas

An open ocean basin accepts more water input,

which means there is potential for greater wave
energy, making wave-dominated deltas more
likely. High wave interference causes conflicted or
deflected river mouths.
There is less influence from fluvial sources. In wave-
dominated delta regions, breaking waves cause
immediate mixing of fresh and salt water. Typically,
the fresh water flow velocity decelerates rapidly. A bar
may form in the immediate vicinity of the distributary
mouth, often supplemented by landward migrating
swash bars. The wave action reworks the sediment,
making it much sandier than other types of deltas,
coarsening upward. Sediment is delivered by the
river and is transported along the coast. The sediment
is then deposited as beaches and bars and the
development of distributaries is limited
Wave-Dominated Deltas

Geometry:
1. More lobate and have smooth, arcuate to sharp margins.
2. Longshore drift may rework sediment along coastline.
3. Lobes strung out parallel to shoreline.

Controls on the Geometry:

1. substrate gradient
2. wave energy vs. tidal energy
3. sediment supply vs. accommodation volume: supply-dominated areas
produce allochthonous shelves characterized by more rapid
sedimentation and thick muddy sequences in which barrier sand bodies
maybe encased while accommodation-dominated areas are associated
with allochthonous shelves that have sandy sediments and experience
extensive reworking.
4. rates of sea level change
 Fluvial-Dominated Deltas

Fluvially-dominated deltas are primarily controlled by the water density

difference between the inflowing river water and the standing water on the basin.

Different flow types that determine the distribution of sediment and sedimentary
structures formed in the delta are homopycnal flow, hyperpycnal flow, and
hypopycnal flow

Homopycnal flow occurs when the density of the river water is equal to the density of the
standing water in the basin..
Hyperpycnal flow is produced when the density of the river water entering the basin is
greater than the density of the standing water in the ocean basin. This higher density river
water will flow below the standing water in the basin because of the difference in density.
Hypopycnal flow is associated with a lower river water density entering a higher density
standing water in the basin. Under these conditions, the river water will flow out over the
standing water, gradually depositing the suspended clay portion of the sediment load on the
prodelta.
Lacustrine Facies

Lakes are systems of fresh to saline waters contained in basins that are not in connection
with the oceans. These lake systems may span an immense range of variability in areal
size, depth, geometry, water chemistry, biota, elevation, and latitude. External influences on
lake sedimentation are also highly variable and encompass a spectrum of amounts of
precipitation, evaporation, temperature, wind, storms and fluvial flux of both water and
sediment. Even within one lake system, there is a large range of depositional environments
ranging from a high energy shoreline, to the quiet water basin. Below is a listing of some of
the most common of the facies of sediments deposited in these environments.

Controls on sedimentation:
These controls will influence the nature of the lake system, and the resultant
sediments deposited therein.
Lake size
Closed Basin vs. Open Basin
Chemistry of Water
Amount of sediment entering the basin
Latitude (Seasonality)
Shape of basin (shallow vs. deep)
Regional tectonics
Water temperature (lake and inflow)
Wind
Economic Value of Lake Deposits
Good source of evaporite minerals, gravels, oil shales, diatomites, zeolites, phosphates
and metallic ores.
Common site of discovery of vertebrate remains and archaeological sites.
Turbidite Facies

Turbidites are deposits of a turbidity current (density current moving downslope

on ocean floor driven by gravity that acts on the density difference between the
current and the surrounding seawater due to suspended sediment)

Turbidity currents can be initiated by earth quakes, rivers in flood, and sediment
failure in rapidly deposited delta fronts. The initial sediments in the current will
reflect the source

Major features
Sandstones and shales are monotonously interbedded.
Beds tend to have sharp, flat bases, with no indication of erosion of sea floor.
The sharp bases of beds have abundant markings (tool marks carved by rigid
objects).
Within sandstone beds, the grain size commonly decreases upward (graded bedding;
see Bouma sequence).
Turbidite Facies

Walker divided deep water clastic rocks into 5 facies associations:

Classical Turbidites: characterized by monotonous interbeds of sandstone and shale, with no

evidence of topography on the seafloor. All sandstones cab be described using the Bouma
sequence. In this sequence, deposits fine upward.

Massive Sandstones: Much more evidence of erosion of substrate; beds are commonly associated
with channels many meters deep. The deposits of successive flows also join together (amalgamation)
to make comosite beds (the monotonous aspect of sandstone-shale interbedding is lost). Most
common sedimentary structure of this type is dish and pillar structure which indicate abundant fluid
escape during deposition (see images from sedimenphica reference).

Pebbly sandstone: beds tend to be well graded with internal stratification fairly abundant and
consists of coarse, crude horizontal stratification and commonly channeled and laterally
discontinuous.

Conglomerates: Imbrication features which typified by clasts whose long axes lie parallel to flow and
dip upstream. This signifies that clasts have not rolled on the bed.

Pebbly mudstone, debris flows, slumps and slides: Consist of pebbles and distorted clasts of
sandstone and mudstone, dispersed in a silty mudstone matrix.
Bouma Sequence
SHALLOW WATER
CARBONATE
 Klasifikasi
Dunham,1962

Klasifikasi
Embry & Klovan, 1971
Carbonate platforms
 Sedimentary Facies
Sedimentary Facies- the characteristics of a unit of
sediments which can be used to interpret the depositional
environment.

-sediments deposits at the same time but in different

environments.

Sedimentary Facies can shift over time

The Facies Concept

A number of different depositional environments exist in any sedimentary basin.

These environments represent local variation in physical, chemical and biological conditions as
well as distance and direction from depositional agents entering basin (e.g. a river and its delta).

At any moment sediments being deposited may be correlated with local depositional
environments.

These lateral variations are termed sedimentary facies.

Walther's Law

Conceived in 1894 by German geologist Johannes Walther.

Different kinds of sediments are deposited adjacent to each other as result of lateral variation in
depositional environments. A vertical sequence of different sedimentary rocks must record the
superimposition of those same environments over time.

Stratigraphic units containing unconformities may not follow this rule.

Sedimentary Facies