EESC
121 Earth History Lab 1-1
LAB 1:
CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY ROCKS & STRUCTURES
Naming Clastic Sedimentary Rocks
The names of clastic sedimentary rocks are based on the descriptions you have already learned. Table 1.3 shows how clastic rocks are named.
You must provide a full description followed by the descriptive rock type name:
Colour, (Sorting), (Rounding), (Sphericity), Grain Size, Gain Category, (Other Features): Descriptive Rock Name
For example:
Red, well-sorted, well-rounded, high sphericity, grain size is gravel and larger, grains are rock fragments: Conglomerate
Table 1.3: Names of sedimentary rocks
Sorting Rounding Sphericity Grain size Grain Category Other Features Clastic Rock Type
Mostly composed of rock
Rounded >2mm Conglomerate
fragments
Gravels
Mostly composed of rock
Angular >2mm Breccia
fragments
Quartz grains Quartz Sandstone
1/16 – 2 Sandstones >25% of grains are feldspar Arkose
mm Mostly rock fragments Lithic sandstone
Contains abundant silt and clay Greywacke
(Not visible) (Not visible) 1/256 – Non-fissile Siltstone
Silts
(Not visible) (Not visible) 1/16 mm Fissile Shale
(Not visible) (Not visible) < 1/256 Non-fissile Claystone
Clays
(Not visible) (Not visible) mm Fissile Shale
NOTE: Average grain size is estimated in mm, then used to assigned a grain size category.
EESC 121 Earth History Lab 1-2
EXERCISE 1.1: Describing Clastic Sedimentary Rocks
Describe the clastic rock specimens provided by your instructor using Table 1.3. Use a magnifying lens and a grain card to help you identify the average
grain size, sorting, roundedness and sphericity.
Table 1.4: Descriptions and names of rock specimens
Sample # Colour Sorting Rounding Sphericity Grain Size Grain Size Other Features Rock Name
(mm) (Name)
NOTES: Average grain size is estimated in mm, then used ot assign a grain size category.
You should attempt to put something in each space in the table. In rare cases (such as with the "Other Features" column) there may be nothing of note.
When this happens, write "None" in the space.
EXERCISE 1.2: Describing Chemical and Biochemical Sedimentary Rocks
EESC 121 Earth History 1-3
Fill in the table below to create a full rock description for the specimens provided by the instructor. These are both carbonates and non-carbonates.
Table 1.6: Descriptions and names of chemical and biochemical rock specimens
Sample Colour Dominant Grain Type* Matrix* Other Features Name
ID Mineral
*Features not described for non-carbonate sedimentary rocks
EESC 121 Earth History Lab 1-4
EXERCISE 1.3: Sedimentary Structures
Bedding
Sediments and sedimentary rocks can be separated into different beds of varying thickness. A bed is a layer
of sediment that is distinct from sediments above and below because of differences in grain size,
mineralogy, cementing agents, fossils, sedimentary structures, and other properties. There are several
types of beds:
Parallel bedding – beds are parallel to one another. Samples: _________________
Laminated (or laminar) bedding – a type of parallel bedding, where the beds are very thin (mm scale).
Samples: _________________
Cross-bedding – beds over 1 cm thick, inclined at an angle to the original surface of deposition. (Cross-
laminations are similar structures with thicknesses <1cm.) Under flowing water or air (wind) the sediment
surface will form ripples ranging from cm’s high up to dunes that are m’s high (Figures 1.5, 1.6). The
flowing water or air speeds up when it climbs the upstream side and may pick up or erode some of the
sediment there. When it passes over the crest the water or air slows down and sediment will settle out of
suspension on the downstream side of the ripple, adding layers to that side. Over time, the whole ripple or
dune moves downstream as sediment is added to the downstream face. For sediments deposited in water,
larger cross-beds indicate faster moving water or larger water waves. Samples: _________________
Asymmetrical cross-beds – Cross-beds or cross-laminations forming in a stream are uni-directional because
water flows only in one direction. Material is removed from the upstream side and deposited on the
downstream side (Figure 1.7a), and the resulting ripple has a steeper slope on the downstream side.
Samples: _________________
Symmetrical cross-beds – Sediments on or near beaches in lakes and at the ocean encounter wave action
which reworks the sediment back and forth as the waves come on shore and off. Cross-beds or cross-
laminations form as sediment is added into this wave action. Some will be preserved going onshore, and
some offshore (Figure 1.7b). The result is symmetrical cross-beds that form a herringbone pattern. These
features indicate near-shore conditions in a lake or ocean.
Samples: _________________
Graded bedding: Grain size may change through a bed and the trend is described from the bottom to the
top (oldest to youngest). Normally grain size decreases upwards, indicating that a higher energy
environment gradually slowed down and allowed finer sediments to settle out on top of coarser sediments.
This might be typical of sediments deposited from a river where flow decreased over time, or at the beach
following a big rainfall or storm event. This is referred to as a fining upward sequence (FUS). Coarsening
upward sequences (CUS) are less commonly preserved in a bed. If energy was rising in a river or beach,
then chances are, the higher energy later in time will erode and re-deposit any finer sediment.
Samples: _________________
Mud Cracks are formed by the drying and shrinking of mud exposed to air. Drying creates either polygonal
shaped desiccation cracks or mud curls. They are common in desert (playa) lakes, tidal flats and the flood
plains of rivers, where fine sediments are deposited at the edges of water bodies that then dry out or where
water levels drop. Samples: _________________
