sedimentary structures- i
TRANSCRIPT
Sedimentary structures- I
Outlines
1. A bit a brainstorming…
2. Then, some classification: how and why?
3. A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Brainstorming
What kind of sedimentary structures do you know?
Definition and Classification
1. Suspension is falling in a calm or slowly moving fluid:
Stokes’ law (spheric particles < 0.2 mm)
2. « Entrainment Flow », when FF > FG
3. Gravity flow within a calm or moving fluid
Three types of sediment deposition
Definition and Classification
In entrainment flow…
Classification based on:
• The location: internal vs.
bedding
• Physical or biological
process
Definition and Classification: cross bedding
CROSS-BEDDING is a feature that occurs at various scales,Sedimentary.Rocks are
normally deposited as horizonal layers. However, you may see very layers that are at an
angle to the horizontal. These tilted layers layers are termed cross bedding.
Definition and Classification
In entrainment flow…
A series of strongly
different structures
develop, as a function
of the mean flow
velocity (laminar,
turbulent, subcritical,
supercritical), flow
depth and grain size
of transported particles
Depth: 10-22 cm; Temperature: 10°C
Current RipplesFlow (imagined as streamlines) within the sub-viscous layer
form clusters of grains that modify the flow dynamic.
A region of boundary layer separation get formed
between the flow separation point and the flow attachment
point.
Ripples are bedformscreated by the effect of
boundary layer separation on a bed of sand.
• Adsorbed layer: at margin, fluid particles attached to solid surface (a few molecules thick).
• Boundary layer: zone of bottom-ward decreasing velocity. This contains a viscous sub-layer, a reduced turbulence zone.
Layers within a flow
Current Ripples
H: 0.5 – 3 cm
L: 10 – 20 cm (max. 60 cm)
Ripple Index: 10 (sand) – 20 (silt)
How do ripples form?
Crest
1) Sand grains roll up orsaltate up to the crest on the upstream side of the
ripple.
2) Avalanching of grains occurs on the downstream side as accumulated grains become unstable at the crest, over the maximum critical slope angle (circa 30° for sand-size grains).
Stoss sideLee side
Trough
Current Ripples constrains
• Require moderate velocity within the viscous sub-layer under hydraulically smoothed conditions.
• Independent from the water-depth.
• The dominant grain size is finer than 0.6 mm; no lower grain-size limit but sediment must be non-cohesive.
• Can be up to 40 mm high and the wavelengths range up to 500 mm. Wavelength/height is usually around 10 and 40.
Current RipplesCurrent flow causes downstream migration of the ripple and all its components, creating sand layers at the angle of the slope.
These layers are called cross-laminae and form a specificsedimentary structure named cross-lamination.
3 types of ripple crest
Current Ripples
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Current ripples
Current Ripples
First ripples (low flow velocity): parallel, long and regular crests
Increase in velocity: sinuous, then linguoid crests
Cross-laminationMainly dependent by the flow velocity/duration and the ripple shape.
Planar cross-laminationfrom straight ripples.
Trough cross-laminationfrom sinous to isolated
Ripples.
Planar cross-lamination
Trough cross-lamination
Trough to planar cross-stratification
Deep-water current ripples
Terminology for cross-stratified beds
Climbing ripplesEach ripple migrate up the stoss side of the ripple form in front,
when the sand-addition rate ≥ migration rate.
Upward decreasing of sedimentation rate
Deposition occurs on both the stoss and the lee side.
Indicators of high sedimentation rate.
Climbing ripples
Kurt Grimm, UBC
Cojan & Renard, 2000
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Current ripples Transport > input
Transport = input
Transport < input
current
Subaqueous Dunes• Require higher flow velocities to appear and do not form at all in
sediments < 0.1 mm.
• Range of wavelengths: 600 mm to hundreds of meters.
• Range of height: few centimeters to more than 10 meters.
• Appear in river channels, deltas and shallow-water environments with quite strong and sustained flows.
There is a relationship between flow depth and
the dimension of the dunes
• Originate in one of two ways:
– From ripples at flows ~ 50 cm/sec
– From a plane bed of sediment coarser than
~ 0.8f
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Sand Waves: Dunes
Both dunes and ripples can occur when the grain-size ranges between 0.1-0.4
mm.
Current velocity: 40 to 150 cm/s, grain size > 0.15 mm (2.8 Φ)
H = up to several 10s meters
L = up to several 100s meters
Index = ca. 5 (fine sand) - 50
(coarse sand)
Oblique stratification, often
tangential at the base of the
structure (bottomset)
www.nasm.si.edu
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Dunes
Ripples vs. Dunes
Clear separation (no overlap) in both wavelength and bedform height between ripples and subaqueous dunes.
The two bedforms are not the same!
Dunes seem to be more dependent by water depht because are generated by large-scale turbolence within the whole flow.
Cross-beddingMainly dependent by the flow velocity/duration and shape.
Planar cross-beddingfrom straight dunes.
Trough cross-beddingfrom sinuous to isolated
dunes.
Plane beds
• A bed with active sediment transport but no obvious topography.
• Occurs in two different physical settings
– All sediments coarser than circa 0.4 mm near the initiation of motion (lower regime) (Still not so not clear process)
– Sediments of any grain size at very high velocity (upper regime) (planar configuration is associated with the planing or flattening of the bed)
Dune
Upper plane bed
Trias, Nevada
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Entrainment current, upper flow regime: Upper Plane Bed
Flow velocity between 60 and 180 cm/s
Upper flow regime: supercritical fluid and Fr>1
Formation of Upper Plane Beds, with motion of sediments by traction or
saltation, inducing the development of sorting lineations
Internal Structures in Plane Beds• The internal structures produced are a series of
thin, parallel and sub-horizontal laminae (parallel or planar lamination).
• Internally, the laminae can comprise alternations of slightly finer and coarser sediments.
Current velocity > 120 cm/s:
formation of antidunes,
bedform in phase with surface
waves
Occurrence: tidal current and
flooding events
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Entrainment current, upper flow regime: Antidunes
current
Tidal channel, California
Antidunes are commonly observed in small streams that flow across beaches
into the ocean. Flume studies have shown that they can also occur in
submarine environments beneath density flows like turbidity currents.
Cojan & Renard, 2000
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Entrainment current, upper flow regime: Antidunes
Antidunes: slow
height, length (L) up
to 5 m
Index: between 7
and > 100, usually
high
A: laminae on the
lee side (low
angle slope)
B: laminae wrapping the
entire antidune
C: slightly inclined laminae
on the stoss side: upstream
motion of the antidune
water surface
water surface
water surface
The water surface is
strongly in phase with the
bed. A train of
symmetrical surface
waves is usually
indicative of the presence
of antidunes.
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Entrainment current, upper flow regime
Very high current velocity: Chutes and pools, mainly an erosive
feature
Chutes: high flow regime inducing upper plane beds
Pool: downstream, a thicker package of sediment corresponds to
an hydraulic threshold
Bedforms stability diagram
Very slow flow: parallel, planar beds, no mouvement,
deposition by settling of suspension: lower plane bed
Flow velocity between 5-60 cm/sec: small ripples for
sediments < 0.8 mm (0.3 ϕ)
WavesAn ocean wave is an oscillatory motion of the sea surface
caused by wind and involving transfer of energy between particles but no mass transport.
Wave Parameters– Wave crest
– Wave trough
– Wave height
– Wave length
– Wave Amplitude
– Wave period (time interval between arrival of consecutive crests at a
stationary point).
Amplitude
Motion of Water Particles beneath Waves
The oscillatory motion generates a circular pathway.
With increasing depth internal friction reduces the motion and the effect of the
surface waves dies out.
The depth to which surface waves affect a water body is
referred to as the
wave base
Interaction of waves and shoreline
Motion of Water Particles beneath Waves
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Wave ripples and orbital velocity
Vertical decrease in velocity
from water surface to the wave
base
Wave base = L/2, where L =
wave length
Wave ripple cross-laminationIn cross-section wave ripples are generally symmetrical in profile,
laminae within each ripple dip in both directions and are overlapping.
Wave ripples can form in any non-cohesive sediment and are principally seen in coarse silts and sand. If the wave energy is high enough wave
ripples can form in granules and pebbles
Wave ripples
Several features are common in wave-ripple lamination. Foresets on
the parallel-to-flow face may dip in opposite directions, sometimes in
adjacent ripples, sometimes within a single ripple. Laminae may be
interleaved at an individual ripple crest.
Wave ripples
Modern wave ripples
Current ripples vs. Wave ripples
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Mixed ripples
Cojan & Renard, 2000
« Hummock »« Swale »
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Hummocky cross stratifications (HCS)
HCS: undulating set of cross laminae both concave up
(swales) and convex up (hummocks)
storm- generated wave causing strong oscillatory flows and/or
combined flow. Erosion of the seabed into Hummocks and
swales.Swales and hummocks are superimposed on top of
each others
Erosive base, low angle (10-15°), rippled top
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Hummocky cross stratifications (HCS)
Summary
1. Storms with oscillatory flows and unidirectional currents
2. Erosive base with angle usually <10°3. Laminae parallels to the base
4. Changes from concave up to convex up
5. Crests not straigth but more curved
6. Coarse silt to fine-medium sands
Ferron Sandstone, Gentile Wash, Utah
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Hummocky cross stratifications (HCS)
Ashgill, Ordovician, Anti-Atlas, between Merzouga and Erfoud
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Hummocky cross stratifications (HCS)
Ashgill, Ordovician, Anti-Atlas, between Merzouga and Erfoud
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Hummocky cross stratifications (HCS)
Cojan & Renard, 2000
HCS
Upper plane bed
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Hummocky cross stratifications (HCS)
Cross-stratifications
Mud
Bioturbation
Conglomerate
Groove, flutes
« Tempestite »
Linked to a rapid
increase of the orbital
velocity of wavesFAIR WEATHER
STORM
WEATHER
IDEAL SEQUENCE
Tempestite, Carboniferous, east of Tineghir, Anti-Atlas, Morocco
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Hummocky cross stratifications (HCS)
Tides
Tides are formed by the gravitational attraction of teh moon and sun on teh Earth
combined with the centrifugal force caused by the movement of the Earth around
the center of mass of teh Earth-moon system
Semi diurnal or diurnal tidal cycles
Neap-spring tidal cycles
Annual tidal cycles
Tides
Tidal sedimentation
Herringbone cross bedding
Tidal sedimentation
A huge variety of sedimentary structures
Current ripples in tidal environments
FLASER BEDDING
LENTICULAR BEDDING
WAVY BEDDING
Lenticular and wavy lamination in dark mudstone and pale sandstone
Entrainment flow - Synthesis