Final Exam Study Guide

Sedimentary and Stratigraphy Sequence

1. What can be learned from analysis of seismic sections?
Sea level change and sedimentation
2. Define Seismic Stratigraphy. How does it relate to Sequence Stratigraphy?
Seismic stratigraphy is the use of seismic methods for obtaining information about subsurface
rocks and structures for the purpose of extracting stratigraphic information.
Sequence stratigraphy is based on the premise that sedimentary successions form during a
single, major cycle of sea-level change.
The use of seismic in analyzing the depositional systems that are created during the rise and fall
of sea level, the elevation of sea floor, tectonism (subsidence/uplift) and so on supports for the
study of sequence stratigraphy.
3. What are the basic stratigraphic principles or laws?
• Original Horizontality: All sedimentary rocks are originally deposited horizontally.
Sedimentary rocks that are no longer horizontal have been tilted from their original
position.
• Lateral Continuity: Sedimentary rocks are laterally continuous over large areas
• Superposition: The oldest strata will be at the bottom of the sequence and the youngest
one will be on the top.
• Cross-Cutting Relations: A body or discontinuity which cuts across a stratum must form
after that stratum (younger)
• Law of Inclusions: Rock fragments (in another rock) must be older than the rock
containing the fragments.
• Law of Faunal Succession: Separated strata have the same related fossils deposited at
horizontal areas must form in the same age.
4. What are facies and what is Walther's law?
What are facies
A "sedimentary facies", or simply "facies" is defined as a sedimentary rock unit referring to its
distinct and specific identifiable (i.e. descriptive) characteristics, produced by physical, biological
and/or chemical processes, during formation and from which an interpretation of its origin may
be made.
The facies that identify on the basic of lithologic characteristics is lithofacies.
Facies distinguished by paleontological characteristics (fossil content) without regard to lithologic
character is biofacies.
Very small-scale facies that can be recognized within microscope thin sections or polished
sections of rock are referred to as microfacies (Flugel, 1982).
What is Walther's law?
Walther’s law which is now called the law of the correlation (or succession) of facies says that
the various deposits of the same facies-area and similarly the sum of the rocks of different facies-
areas are formed beside each other in space, though in a cross-section we see them lying on
top of each other… it is a basic statement of far reaching significance that only those facies
and facies-areas can be superimposed primarily which can be observed beside each other
at the present time. (Walther, 1894)
5. Why might some sedimentologists consider Walther's law the most important stratigraphic
principle?

6. What processes control the vertical succession of facies?

Transgression and Regressions
Transgression refers to movement of a shoreline in a landward direction, also called
retrogradation
A seaward movement of a shoreline is called regression or progradation.
7. Describe the nature of contacts in the stratigraphic record? What can we learn from them?

8. What types of grain size trends are associated with transgression and regression along coarse
clastic margins? Deltaic margins?

9. Discuss the differences between the various types of unconformities.

• Angular: horizontal sedimentary layers are deposited on top of eroded, tilted layers
• Nonconformity: sedimentary layers are deposited on top of metamorphic or igneous
• Disconformity: sedimentary layers are parallel but there is a period of time that has been
eroded away
• Paraconformity: unconformity is known but not visible
10. What are the principles mechanisms of weathering?
1. Freeze-Thaw (Frost) weathering
2. Insolation weathering
3. Salt weathering
4. Wetting and drying
5. Stress-release weathering
6. Other physical (mechanical) weathering like exfoliation, spheroidal
weathering
11. How might these processes have changed through time?
The rate of weathering has varied throughout geologic time depending upon climatic conditions
and vegetative cover. For instant, the absence of plant cover to hold soil moisture and contribute
organic acids probably slowed rates of chemical weathering while contributing to increased rates
of physical erosion in the early Paleozoic time.
12. What factors influence rates of weathering? How might these change in importance around the
planet (e.g., compare Antarctica to the Amazon)
These processes have changed through time depending upon the climate and the mineral
composition and grain size of the rocks undergoing weathering. For example, physical
weathering processes may be quite effective in moderately cold climates (freeze-thaw) like
Antarctica or arid climates (salt weathering), whereas, chemical weathering processes are
accelerated in humid, hot climate which is existed in Amazon.
13. What are some of the products of weathering processes?
Products of subaerial weathering:
1. Source-rock residues consisting of chemically resistant minerals and rock
fragments derived particularly form siliceous rocks such as granite, rhyolite,
gneiss and christ.
2. Secondary minerals formed in situ by chemical recombination and
crystallization result of hydrolysis and oxidation
3. Soluble constituents released from parent rocks mainly by hydrolysis and
solution
 Products of submarine weathering: alteration of clay minerals, formation of glauconite from
feldspars and micas, and formation of phillipsite and palagonite from volcanic ash
14. What processes can form sedimentary structures? What can we learn from them?
Sedimentary structures are formed by four fundamental kinds of processes:
1. Mainly deposition (depositional structures)
2. Processes that involve an episode of erosion followed by deposition
(erosional structures)
3. Deposition followed by physical soft-sediment deformation (deformation
structures)
4. Biogenically mediated deposition or nonbiogeneic deposition followed by
biogenic modification (biogenic structures).
15. What are the principle classes of sedimentary structures? How does each form?
Primary sedimentary structures: occur in clastic sediments and produced by the same processes
(currents, etc.) that caused deposition. Includes plane bedding and cross-bedding.
1. Plane bedding: forms as a direct consequence of Steno's law of lateral
continuity, that holds that a unit of sediment will extend laterally to the
physical margins of the basin it is filing
2. Laminations: When bedding persists at fine scale (< 1cm)
3. Bedforms: sediments are transported in a set of structures on the surface
of beds right after flow attains a force sufficient to erode particles. Bedforms
include ripples, dunes and antidunes
4. Cross-stratification: also known as cross-bedding is layering within a
stratum and at an angle to the main bedding plane.
5. Irregular stratification: include: (1) deformation structure can begin during
deposition and be caused either by the depositional process itself or by
other mechanisms triggered by it or by gravity. It also occurs after deposition
on or below the sedimentary interface. (2) Erosion structures are formed by
erosion like channels and scour-and-fill structures (similar to channels but
are commonly in small scale).

16. How can sedimentologist infer paleocurrent direction?

They depend on the dip direction of cross-bed foresets, the asymmetry and orientation of the
crests of current ripples, and the orientation of flute casts, groove casts, and current lineation.

17. What controls the size of bedforms in sedimentary environments?

The entrainment velocity of unidirectional flow for the sediment and the grain size control the
size of bedforms.

18. Do bedforms form any clear progressions? If so, what?

Bedforms can form some clear progressions. For example, cross-beds are exceedingly common
in many ancient sandstone successions. Moreover, in an attempt to better understand the origin
of bedforms; many investigators have turned to the study of sediment transport in flumes
19. What are trace fossils? How can they be used to infer a depositional environment?
Trace fossils give us proof of animal life from the past. They include things like foot prints,
burrows, and fossilized poop. Some can be used as local index fossils, to date the rocks in which
they are found whereas others can even provide details of how wet the sand was when they
were being produced, and hence allow estimation of paleo-wind directions.
20. What is relative sea level? How does it differ from mean sea level?
Relative sea level is the sea level that is observed with respect to a land-based reference frame.
 Relative sea level is sea level at local areas

Mean sea level (eustatic sea level) is global sea level

21. What is accommodation space?

Sediment will be deposited in places where there is space available to accumulate material. In
shallow marine environments, an increase in relative sea level creates accommodation that is
filled up with sediment until an equilibrium profile is reached. A fall in sea level may create
negative accommodation along the profile, resulting in erosion.
22. What factors influence relative sea level change? Which are dominant?
1. Global warming
a. Changes in the strength and distribution of ocean currents
b. Changes in atmospheric pressure distribution
c. Local changes in seawater salinity
d. Changes in the earth gravitational field
2. Tectonic activities
3. Land subsidence
• Affected by tectonic uplift or downward and sedimentation buildup
23. How do these factors influence accommodation space?
In shallow marine environments, an increase in relative sea level creates accommodation that
is filled up with sediment until an equilibrium profile is reached. A fall in sea level may create
negative accommodation along the profile, resulting in erosion.

24. How do transgression, regression, and still stand relate to the facies deposition on continental
margins?
1. Under the condition of transgression, the shoreline will move to a place that
used to be land, and the coastal plain deposits are overlain by beach
deposits. Similarly, beach (foreshore) deposits will be overlain by shoreface
deposits because the former beach is now under shallow water.
2. If there is a regression, the pattern seen in vertical succession will be the
opposite: as the sea becomes shallower, shoreface facies will be overlain
by foreshore deposits, offshore transition sediments by shoreface deposits.
3. If a higher sedimentation rate is equal to the sea level rise, the space is filled
up with sediment and the shoreline stays in the same place
25. What determines the degree of sorting in a sedimentary rock?
The degree of sorting depends upon how much transport the sediment has undergone. Well-
sorted sediments have grains of similar size and are the result of much sediment transport and
earth processes which segregated the sediment by depositing different size fractions in different
places. In contrast, poorly-sorted sediments have grains of varying sizes, and are the evidence
of sediments that have been deposited fairly close to the source area (have not undergone much
transport)

26. What factors control sediment fabric?

The fabric of sedimentary rocks is a function of grain orientation and packing and is thus a
property of grain aggregates.
27. How do the sequence boundaries differ from lithostratigraphic horizons?
During sea-level fall erosion of the shelf occurs as rivers erode into the sediment deposited
during the previous cycle: where erosion is localized the rivers cut incised valleys. This erosion
 creates an unconformity. It bounds between underlying Highstand System Tract (HST) &
overlying Falling Stage System Tract (FSST) or Early Lowstand System Tract (ELST).
Lithostratigraphic horizons maps lithofacies independent of subdividing external & internal
boundaries.
28. Describe or sketch ONE facies model associated with a fluvial or alluvial environment

29. What are the principle classes of organic rich sediments or sedimentary derived resources that
we discussed in class? In which environments would you expect to find these hydrocarbons
forming, seal rock, reservoir?

30. Which terrestrial environments can generally be observed in the sedimentary record?
Fluvial and Lacustrine environments
31. What is progradation? How does it influence the age relationships between facies within a delta?
• Progradation refers to the growth of a river delta farther out into the sea over time.
• Since the accommodation rate is less than sediment supply, the succession formed by
the progradation of a delta therefore has a shallowing-up pattern, a series of strata that
consistently shows evidence of the younger beds being deposited in shallower water than
the older beds they overly.
32. What types of barrier island facies models would be generated in response to transgression,
regression?
Barrier island shorefaces record progradation, while barrier island tidal inlets record lateral
migration, and barrier island tidal channels record aggradation within the tidal inlet. Four facies
associations are used to describe and characterize these barrier island architectural elements.
33. What is the relationship between bedding planes and time lines in the inlet facies model?
Bexco data from other studies at this site also document the continuation of lower ramp facies
to those depths and a dominance of parallel style of ramp-profile buildup, dominance of plane-
parallel internal bedding, correlative ramp-buildup time series over very widespread areas(>1
km), and seaward-tapering facies geometry, it is evident that storm-associated ramp accretion
occurs in a thin and very widespread manner extending much beyond erosional closure and
survey capability of the CRAB (~9m depth)
34. What processes can transport sediment from continental shelf environments to the abyssal
plains?
• In continental shelf, the sediment deposited here is mainly material eroded from nearby
land, together with organic remains such as broken sea shells
• In abyssal plain located on the deep ocean floor, sediment deposition is usually very slow
 • Plankton in the surface waters of the ocean provide a gentle “rain” of organic remains;
the microscopic to gradually settle out on the deep-sea floor.
• Turbidity currents, sediment deposited near the top of the continental slope is not in a
good resting place! Occasional earthquakes may stir up the sediment. This mixture of
sediment and water can flow rapidly down the continental slope and sometimes far out
onto the deep ocean floor. These currents can deposit more material in a few hours than
would usually be laid down over centuries.
• Towards the poles, “dropstones” – material melted out of icebergs - also add to the deep-
sea sediments.

35. What types of grain size trends are associated with transgression and regression?
Transgression forms a sequence (from bottom to top) of sand > shale > limestone. A maximum
transgression occurs where the finest sediments reach the farthest landward.

Regression forms a sequence (from bottom to top) of: limestone > shale > sandstone. A
maximum regression occurs where the coarsest sediments reach the farthest seaward.
36. Describe characteristics of Sequence Boundary (SB) from seismic.

37. Explain each following term.

1. Basin
Altogether 71% of the area of the globe is occupied by ocean basins that have formed by
sea-floor spreading and are floored by basaltic oceanic crust. The ocean basins are
bordered by continental margins
2. Uniformitarianism
It is also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity, is the assumption that the same natural
laws and processes that operate in our present-day scientific observations have always
operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe. In geology,
uniformitarianism has included the gradualistic concept that "the present is the key to the
past" and that geological events occur at the same rate now as they have always done,
though many modern geologists no longer hold to a strict gradualism
3. Curie Point
 It is also called Curie Temperature, temperature at which certain magnetic materials
undergo a sharp change in their magnetic properties. In the case of rocks and minerals,
remanent magnetism appears below the Curie point—about 570 °C (1,060 °F) for the
common magnetic mineral magnetite.
4. Magnetostratigraphy
Magnetostratigraphy is a geophysical correlation technique used to date sedimentary and
volcanic sequences. The objective of a magnetostratigraphic study will usually be to
identify periods of normal and reversed magnetic polarity recorded in a succession of
strata.
38. Make a comparison between the Law of Lateral Continuity with the Law of Cross-cutting
relationship.
Cross-cutting relationships is a principle of geology that states that the geologic feature which
cuts another is the younger of the two features. It is a relative dating technique in geology. While
principle of lateral continuity states that layers of sediment initially extend laterally in all
directions; in other words, they are laterally continuous. As a result, rocks that are otherwise
similar, but are now separated by a valley or other erosional feature, can be assumed to be
originally continuous
39. Explain about the paraconformity and provide a diagram to illustrate your answer.
A paraconformity is a type of unconformity in which strata are parallel; there is no apparent
erosion and the unconformity surface resembles a simple bedding plane. It is also called
nondepositional unconformity or pseudoconformity.

40. Make a comparison of transport mechanism between fluid flows with gravity flow.
• Water: Transport of material in water is by far the most significant of all transport
mechanisms. Water flows on the land surface in channels and as overland flow. Currents
in seas are driven by wind, tides and oceanic circulation. These flows may be strong
enough to carry coarse material along the base of the flow and finer material in
suspension.
• Gravity: The simplest mechanism of sediment transport is the movement of particles
under gravity down a slope. Rock falls generate piles of sediment at the base of slopes,
typically consisting mainly of coarse debris. The slope angle for loose debris varies with
the shape of the clasts and distribution of clast sizes, ranging from just over 30 o for well-
sorted sand to around 36o for angular gravel (Carson 1977; Bovis 2003).
41. Discuss how the rate of change in sea level affects sequence stratigraphy in terms of system
tracts

42. Define the following terms: Allostratigraphy, Lithostratigraphy, Chronostratigraphy,

Biostratigraphy
• Allostratigraphy is defined as the packaging of rocks bounded by discontinuities within a
time-stratigraphic framework (NACSN, 1983). These bounding discontinuities can include
unconformities, ravinement surfaces, flooding surfaces, and omission surfaces
• Lithostratigraphy maps lithofacies independent of subdividing external & internal
boundaries
• Chronostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that studies the age of rock strata in
relation to time. The aim of chronostratigraphy is to give a meaningful age date to these
fossil assemblage intervals and interfaces.
• Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning
relative ages of rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them. The
aim is correlation, demonstrating that a particular horizon in one geological section
represents the same period of time as another horizon at some other section.
43. Differentiate between breccia and conglomerate in terms of their roundness, sphericity and
maturity
Conglomerates and breccias (> 30% gravel (>2 mm) and larger clastic grains:
Conglomerates and breccias can be distinguished by the sphericity of the clasts in the rock: if
the clasts are rounded the rock is referred to as a conglomerate, if they are angular it is a breccia.
With both conglomerates and breccias, grain-size, shape and orientation can be measured
accurately in the field and may provide valuable information about the depositional environment.
It is also important to note the ‘maximum clast size’, since it is often a reflection of the
competency of the flow (i.e. a measure of the hydraulic energy of the transport process).
44. Describe using appropriate diagrams.
i. Delta
Delta forms where rivers with large drainages meet standing water bodies (~basins) with
a very large sediment flux. Delta types depend on tidal range, wave climate, and
composition and depths of water in river and basin.
ii. HST
Highstand System Tract (HST) consists of an aggradational to progradational set of
parasequences that overlies the maximum flooding surface and that is overlain by the
next sequence boundary. During the highstand systems tract, the rate of relative sea level
rise begins to slow and relative sea level eventually begins to fall prior to the next
sequence boundary.

iii. Aggradation Parasequence

Aggradation parasequence is a parasequence that build vertically
 iv. Sequence boundary:
The stratigraphy envelopes sequence which is significant erosional unconformity and
correlative disconformity and formed by drop in base level (sea level). Erodes subaerially
exposed sediment surface of earlier sequence or sequences. Sequence boundary locates
between underlying Highstand System Tract (HST) and overlying Falling Stage System
Tract (FSST) or Early Lowstand System Tract (ELST)

45. With the aid of sketches, compare and contrast the following:
a. Alluvial fan and submarine fan.
• Submarine fan: accumulation of land-derived sediment on the deep seafloor; in
configuration, a fan is like the section of a very low cone, with its apex at the lower
mouth of a submarine canyon incised into a continental slope. Submarine canyons
have steep courses with high walls and funnel occasional dense slurries of water and
terrigenous sediment (turbidity currents) to the abyssal seafloor
b. Alluvial fan: is a triangle-shaped deposit of gravel, sand, and even smaller pieces of
sediment, such as silt. This sediment is called alluvium. Alluvial fans are usually created as
flowing water interacts with mountains, hills, or the steep walls of canyons. Streams carrying
alluvium can be trickles of rainwater, a fast-moving creek, a powerful river, or even runoff
from agriculture or industry. As a stream flows down a hill, it picks up sand and other
particles—alluvium.

Figure 1. This is alluvial fan spread out in Death Valley. (National Geographic)
c. Symmetrical and asymmetrical ripple.
 Figure 2. Assymmetrical ripple ((Current) ripple marks)

Figure 3. Symmetric ripple ((Wave-formed) ripple marks)

46. Draw a schematic diagram showing THREE (3) of the major sedimentary environments.
1. Marine: continental shelf, continental slope, continental rise, deep marine.
2. Transitional Environments: beaches, tidal flats, deltas, barrier islands,
lagoons, swamps
3. Continental Environments: fluvial environments, lakes, arid environments,
glacial environments, eolian deposits
47. The relationship between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks is describe in the rock
cycle. Explain the processes, which lead to the changing of granite to gneiss.
• In the case of magma erupted from the bottom. If the magma went up to the surface,
we called the extrusive igneous rock, the other which was inside the earth, we called
the intrusive igneous rock. After that, the intrusive rock was uplift to surface to be
weathering and transported to the lower surface. In the area, the rock was deposited
to become the sedimentary rock. The sedimentary rock was squashed under high
pressure and temperature to create the metamorphic rock. However, the metamorphic
 rock was melted to become magma or be transfer again to the upper surface to be a
part of sedimentary process.

• About The changing of granite to gneiss.

Intense heat and pressure can also metamorphose granite into a banded rock known
as "granite gneiss." This transformation is usually more of a structural change than a
mineralogical transformation. Granite gneiss can also form through the metamorphism
of sedimentary rocks. The end product of their metamorphism is a banded rock with
a mineralogical composition like granite.
48. Please explain: Aggrading, Retrograding, Prograding, & Aggrading.

49. Define the differences of body fossil and trace fossil.

Typical fossils, such as shells and bones, are called 'body' fossils because they represent the
actual remains of the animal. But there is another type of fossil called 'trace' fossils. Trace fossils
include burrows, footprints and bite marks and can, therefore, be used as indicators of fossil
behavior and are incredibly useful for palaeobiologists.

For example:
 Figure 4. A. body fossil, B. trace fossil, C.
body fossil, D. body fossil (both the fossil
animal in the egg and the egg itself), E. trace
fossil, F. trace fossil, G. body fossil
50. Describe characteristics of Maximum Flooding Surface (MSF) from seismic.

51. FIGURE Q1 is a subsurface section through the earth showing the variety of geologic features.
Using the stratigraphic and relative dating principles:
 i.Construct the sequence of events in chronological order from the oldest to younger.
• About i) we have: E, G, L, C, H, M, D, J, A, N, K, B, F
ii.Justify the type and characteristic of unconformities found at 1, 2 and 3 (indicated in octogen)
in FIGURE Q1.
• About ii) we have:
1. Nonconformity
2. Angular unconformity
3. Disconformity

52. What are objective and significance of sequence stratigraphy? Which are necessary
knowledges?
Objective and significance of sequence stratigraphy is known as stratigraphic face geometries
and bounding surfaces is used to determine and demonstrated depositional setting. The
necessary knowledges are about system tract.

53. How many types of sedimentary rocks? Describes what types of sources rock that can generate
oil and gas, what types of seal rock, and reservoir as collector.
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, the other rock formed by minor process.

o Clastic rocks which particles derived from the weathering and erosion of precursor rocks
and consist primarily of fragmental material, classified by grain size and composition
such as sandstone, conglomerate.
o Biochemical sedimentary rocks are created when organisms use materials dissolved in
air or water to build their tissue such as limestone
o Chemical sedimentary rock forms when mineral constituents in solution become
supersaturated and inorganically precipitate. Common chemical sedimentary rocks
include oolitic limestone and rocks composed of evaporite minerals, such as halite
Rock can generate oil and gas: limestone and shale. Seal rock are based on limestone and
shale. Reservoir based on sandstone and carbonate

54. Which methods is used for sequence stratigraphy analysis? Classification of sedimentary
environment of deposition?
Methods used for sequence stratigraphy analysis are facies analysis, well logs, seismic data,
age dating
 There are three major environments of deposition: marine, transitional and continental.
1. Marine: continental shelf, continental slope, continental rise, deep marine.
2. Transitional Environments: beaches, tidal flats, deltas, barrier islands,
lagoons, swamps
3. Continental Environments: fluvial environments, lakes, arid environments,
glacial environments, eolian deposits
55. Use well logging as a framework of genetically related stratigraphic facies geometries to indicate
their bounding surfaces in depositional setting.
56. Define a boundary of Maximum Flooding Surface (MFS) through well logs in below:
57. The photograph shows modern ripple marks in a loose sediment along a coastline. If you were
to dig a shallow trench perpendicular to the ripples in order to look at a cross-section of the
sediments, what would you most likely see?

Cross beds
58. Two rock layers are shown. The rock labeled “A” is best classified as which?

Conglomerate
59. A geologist creates a table to record characteristics of sedimentary rocks. Part of the table is
shown below. Assuming all other conditions were the same, which rock most likely formed
closest to the source rock from which it was derived?
Sample A Sample B Sample D Sample C
Clast composition Granite Feldspar Quartz Quartz
Clast size 1–5 cm 0.5–1 cm 0.5–1 cm 0.5–1 cm
 Clast shape Angular Angular Angular Rounded
1. Sequence are subdivided by
• Maximum Flooding Surfaces (mfs)
• Transgressive Surfaces (TS)
• Sequence Boundaries (SB)
2. Arrangement of vertical succession or stacking patterns of unconfined sheets
• Prograde (step seaward)
• Retrograde (step landward)
• Aggrade (build vertically)
3. Sheets and unconfined lobes containing
• Non-amalgamated bodies
4. Incised topographic fill
• Amalgamated, multi-storied bodies (e.g. incised valleys)
• Within unconfined lobes