Depositional
Environment
s
Presented by:
Waqas Javaid
Table of Contents:
Diagnostic characteristics
A depositional environment
Continental
Alluvial, Aeolian, Fluvial, Lacustrine
Transitional
Deltaic, Tidal, Lagoon, Beach
Marine
Shallow marine, Deep Marine
Glacial
Evaporite
Volcanic
Oceans and seas are the largest basins available for accumulation of
sediments.
It includes:
continental shelf (littoral + Sub-littoral zone)
continental slope (bathyal zone)
continental rise (bathyal zone)
Shallow Marine
Environment
Continental Shelf:
is a continental shelf
Continental Shelf:
Gentle, < 1o (1:500) slope
30m -1300km wide (passive vs active margins)
Shelf break at ~ 130m depth
9% of total ocean area (6% Earths surface)
2.5 km sediment thickness
15% of marine sediment volume
abundance of sand on the continental shelf
Continental Slope:
Low temperature
Continental Slope:
2-6o slope
9 km sediment thickness
Continental Rise:
Fossils - rare, some broken shells from continental shelf, some forams
- 800 - 4,000 m depth
- 6% of ocean area (4% Earths area)
- Cut by submarine canyons
- 8 km sediment thickness
- 31 % of marine sediment volume
- Submarine fan systems may contain coarse sediments
- Extremely important hydrocarbon reserves
Turbidity Currents:
Sand with
graded bedding
and mud settled
from seawater
CONTINENTAL SHELF
Deep Marine
Terrigenous or carbonate
Terrigenous or carbonate
Terrigenous or carbonate
Gray to brown
Clay to sand
Clay to sand
Clay
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Poor to good
Poor
Good
Inorganic
Sedimentary
Structures
Lamination, cross-bedding
Lamination
Organic or
Biogenic
Sedimentary
Structures
Trails, burrows
Trails, burrows
Trails, burrows
Fossils
Marine shells
Rock Type
Composition
Color
Grain Size
Grain Shape
Sorting