Sedimentary Petrology Oppo Exam 2 (excluding diagenesis)
Average heavy-mineral content of sandstone is about ____or less
1%
micas make up ___ of framework grains. they're mostly found in _____ and _____
2%; very fine sands; silts
quartz commonly takes up ____ of the common sandstone
2/3
quartz arenites facts:
90-95% quartz, well lithified, mature, hardly any matrix, a lot of overgrowths, most are multicycle deposits, and is mainly quartz because less stable minerals are weeded out through rough erosion/weathering practice
matrix size:
<0.03 mm
Lithic arenites facts:
<90% quartz, rock fragments exceeds feldspars; occur in fluvial deposits, deeper water depositional environment, and submarine basalts; fine to coarse grained, high matrix content makes it immature; silica overgrowth cement is abundant; can preserve organic material; 1st cycle sediments
arkose generally means
>1/4 feldspars
Feldspathic arenites facts:
>25% feldspar, 50-60% quartz. immature because they're typically young due to their instability, matrix at 15%, typically 1st cycle sediment, most common cement is carbonate, K-feld is most common, coarse grained, best preserved in cold/arid environments,
List parts in a Bouma unit from bottom to top:
A: massive sandstone, coarse to pebbly. Coarser one. B: parallel lamination in coarse-medium sand. Decreased sand size C: cross laminated rippled sandstone. Even more decreased sand size. Ripples that are climbing. D: laminated silts from tails of turbulence current (turbidite). Normal oceanic deposition. E: pelagic mud, structureless
Why do sandstones contain less than .1% of organic matter in them?
As soon as it deposits in an oxygenated environment, it begins to dismantle through oxidation.
Heavy minerals assumption in provenance: (2)
Assumption 1: each major source rock has a distinctive suite of heavy minerals (not always true) Assumption 2: all detrital assemblages accurately reflect originally present minerals in parent rocks. (almost impossible)
For Quartz provenance: cathodoluminescence shows fabric that show provenence. Volcanic quartz shows ____; plutonic quartz shows _____; metamorphic quartz shows _____;
CL zoning (alternating dark and light bands); spiders, rutile needles, repaired fractures; Mottled texture: light colored dots Shows incomplete recrystallization or annealing (cools down v slowly), Homogenous texture: Shows Recrystallization at high temperatures, Recrystallization: quartz dissolution of grain squished together by pressure, where they dissolve one into the other.
Quartz provenance: Volcanic quartz properties show that it
Doesn't contain so many vacuoles and is most of the time nearly water-clear
the ____ classification is your standard triangle with tail triangles on the feldspar and lithic respectively. one feldspar triangle and two lithic triangles
Folk
__________ (name) classification is based upon both the composition of framework grains and the abundance of matrix
Gilbert's
Potassium-sodium (alkali) feldspars are constituents of: (3)
Igneous rocks, pegmatites, many felsic and intermediate gneisses
Sand waves/dunes signals the _____ in ______ of ______.
Increase; strength; fluid
the _____ classification involves the lithic subarkose part in between feldspars, quartz, and lithic.
McBride
provenance interpretations are based on: (2)
Mineralogy/composition and Presence of directional features in the rocks
Orthoclase and microcline feldspars are constituents of: (2)
Plutonic felsic rocks and high-grade metamorphic rocks
List structures on upper bedding surfaces: (6)
Ripple marks, sand waves/dunes, Plane beds (primary current lineation), Mudcracks (desiccation/syneresis cracks), rain drop imprints, tracks & trails.
Opal is
SiO2 that contains a few percent water. It consists of mixtures of amorphous and crystalline silica
Detrital particles includes: (8)
Silica minerals Feldspars Coarse micas Clay minerals Heavy minerals Rock fragments Skeletal remains Organic matter
inverse/reverse grading:
Starts fine goes coarse
reactivation surfaces
System stops for whatever reason, a portion of ripple is removed and leaves an obvious downwards slope, when current reactivates, it'll continue on leaving the reactivation surface behind
terminology for distinguishing between strata and lamination: (7)
Very thickly bedded > 1m Thickly bedded- 30cm-1m Medium bedded- 10-30 cm Thinly bedded-3-10 cm Very thinly bedded- 1-3 cm Thickly laminated- .3-1cm Thinly laminated- <.3 cm
Plane beds, primary current lineation
Water just above the bed creates turbulence to erode/transport. lineation shows indication direction of the flow
Sedimentary structures are formed by: (4)
Weathering agents forms shape of structure, Gravity slumping or sediment loading that deforms sediments, Biogenic origin formed by burrowing/boring/browsing/sediment binding activities of organisms, Some types of bedding like laminated bedding of evaporites are generated by primary chemical precipitation processes
chalcedony is
a fibrous variety of quartz containing submicroscopic pores. "feathery"
Trace elements abundances are given in ________
actual concentration units such as ppm
oscillatory zoning:
alternating dark/bright thin bands, Indicative of volcanic or hypabyssal origin
Climbing ripple cross lamination
angle of climb is bigger than the stoss side angle. Happens when there's a supercritical flow.
current ripple marks are____ because______
asymmetrical; current flows in the same direction
The principal source for detrital plagioclase is probably
basic and intermediate lavas, where it occurs as phenocrysts
horizontal bedding/lamination: determining sizes between bedding and lamination of strata
bedding >1cm; lamination <1cm
Organic material appears as ___________ under thin section
black/opaque or brownish translucent/transparent particle
Cathodoluminescence:
bombarding mineral with stream of high energy electrons in a scanning electron microscope to obtain emission of photons
progressive zoning:
broad wave of extinction, has no value in distinguishing between sources.
Detrital micas are ____ grained and derived mainly from ___ rocks. Also ____ (type if igneour rock)
coarse; metamorphic; granite
Feldspars are the most
common framework mineral in sands and sandstones after quartz
fewer rock fragments in _____ (quartz-rich) sandstones than in __________ sandstones. therefore, more rock fragments mean the sandstone is ____ in age.
compositionally mature; immature; young
Lee Side
crest drops low into trough
Examples of Ripple marks (5)
current ripple marks, wave-formed ripple marks, stoss side, lee side, increase in velocity results.
Rock fragments are
detrital particles made up of two or more mineral grains
authigenic minerals reflect conditions of the ________ environment
diagenetic
opal-CT is
disordered cristobalite/tridymite
sandstone classification types: (2)
epiclastic and volcaniclastic
climbing-ripple lamination is caused by a current ________ at the ___________part, and deposited more _______ at the ripples.
eroding; parallel (already deposited); sediment
Volcaniclastic deposits are those that are:
especially rich in volcanic debris, including glass, consist principally of pyroclastic materials derived through explosive volcanism
in making provenance interpretation of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks, the modal composition of detrital sediments faithfully reflects the composition of the source rocks
false
block faulted continental basements form ____ rich sandstones
feldspar
sandstones with >1/4 feldspar content is considered
feldspar rich
volcanic island arcs form more _____ and ____ rich sandstones
feldspar; lithic
predominance of sand cross laminated intervals and units. Less than 50% muddy matrix. More sand than mud. This bedding type is called
flaser bedding
Epiclastic deposits are formed from :
fragments of pre-existing rocks, composed mainly of silicate minerals and various kinds all 3 rock type fragments
epiclastic sandstones are identified by
framework grains
what are the geologist's 4 components of sandstones?
framework grains, matrix, cement, and pores
what are the 3 principle types of pyroclasts:
glassy fragments, crystals, and lithic fragments
graywacke is
gray, matrix rich sandstones
Coarse tail Normal Grading:
has fine grained in between the coarse grains, still has coarse going fine
Structures within bedding: (4)
horizontal bedding and lamination, cross bedding and cross lamination, graded bedding, slump folds/ convolute lamination
For Quartz provenance: cathodoluminescence shows colors that show provenence. Blue/violet = ____, red = ____, brown = _____, no color=_____, short lived blue or green = _____
igneous plutonic; volcanics only; metamorphic; authegenic; hydrothermal/pegmatitic
Tuffs are mixed origin. Comes through ______ processes and deposited through ________ processes.
igneous; sedimentary
Antidunes are ____, meaning the water surface elevation mimics the bed elevation. When wave ____, sediment is _____.
in phase; breaks; deposited
Properties with possible provenance significance for quartz:
inclusions undulatory extinction polycrystallinity nature of subgrain contacts grain shape or crystal shape trace-element composition cathodoluminescence properties
When current velocity is ________, it breaks up ____________________. ___________________________.
increased; intensity of a single ripple; straight line ripple turns into isolated parentheses shaped ripples
polycrystalline quartz (3 facts)
is extremely common in some sediments aggregates of two or more crystals can develop from monocrystalline quartz during metamorphism
Aggradation:
layering upwards
small lenses of sand in muddy beds are called
lenticular bedding
types of cross bedding and cross lamination: (5)
lenticular, flaser, wavy, hummocky, reactivation surfaces
Feldspars are ___ stable than quartz
less
Quartz inclusions have _______ in provenance significance
limited value
On the basis of particle composition, volcaniclastic sandstones classify as _________ (wackes) or ________
lithic arenites; feldspathic arenites
Unless authigenic minerals form quite early, while sediment is still very close to the depositional interface, they provide _____useful information about depositional conditions
little
skeletal remains in sandstones are_________, and important for interpreting the _____ and mainly important in _____ rocks
low in abundance; paleoenvironment; carbonate
Stoss side-
low in trough eases up to crest at top
list off some opaque heavy minerals:
magnetite, ilmenite, hematite and limonite, pyrite, and leucoxene
In sandstones, clay minerals are most common within _____
matrix
minerals involved are unstable, so they can be altered diagenetically to form _______
matrix
Amorphous opal (opal-A) is
metastable. its very small, packed, spherical masses and transforms in time to opal-CT.
Orthoclase and microcline appear to be by far the
most abundant potassium feldspars in sandstones
feldspar provenance is the _____ in telling source-rock lithology
most useful
metamorphic plagioclase is almost _______ zoned
never
Slumps/folds/convolute lamination:
not formed in place, shifted angles, tiny folds overlapping in cross section
Heavy minerals are divided into two groups on the basis of optical properties:
opaque, nonopaque
For antidunes, Sediment migrates on the ______ side of the dune. Eroded on the ____ side and deposited on the ____ side. this means they migrate ____.
opposite; lee; stoss; upstream
zoning of feldspars: (2)
oscillatory and progressive
Major elements are expressed as ________, and the abundances reported in ___________
oxides; weight percent of total oxides
the most important part of sandstones are their ____.
particle composition
textural inversion is
poor sorting and high rounding
particle composition of sandstones include:
porosity and framework grains
stable continental craton produces ___ rich sandstones
quartz
major petrographic divisions:
quartz arenites, feldspathic arenites, lithic arenites, and their respective wackes
The principal crystalline varieties of SiO2 are:
quartz, cristobalite (metastable), and tridymite (metastable)
recycled orogen produces more _____ and ____ rich sandstones
quartz; lithic
Hummocky/Swaley cross stratification
result of storms. hummocky- mounds, swales-valleys
Climbing-ripple lamination:
ripples succeed one another upward in such a manner that the crests of vertically succeeding ripples are out of phase and appear to be advancing or climbing in a down current direction
about 10-20% of the framework grains in average sandstones are:
rock fragments
Detrital micas are rarely ____. they're normally ___-round diagenetic minerals.
rounded; first
Recrystallization of quartz eventually turns it into
schistose
wave formed ripple marks are ____ and have ____. They're formed by ___
shallow marine ripple marks; symmetrical; formed by waves going out and back in.
secondary silica cementation is a fancy word for
silica overgrowths
Major elements of oxides: (8)
silicon, aluminum, iron, sodium/potassium, magnesium, titanium, phosphorous
Metamorphic rocks are more __________ and _________ with much less gradient. Potassium is nearly __________
sodium; calcium; nonexistent.
Plutonic rocks are more _______ and ______ rich with a smaller amount of __________.
sodium; calcium; potassium
list structures on lower bedding surfaces: (2)
sole marks, evaporite crystal molds
Authigenic:
something formed in the place where you find it
Normal grading:
start coarse then progressively goes fine
Antidunes occur in _____________ flow
supercritical flow
A weak asymmetrical current ripple stratification would look more _______, and a _________ one would be very mixed up and together
tabular; powerful/high energy;
Major element chemistry can provide info about ___________ of sandstone's accumulation
tectonic settling
rock fragments are ____ for determining provenance
terrible
some quartz arenites show ______. this is due to mixing of grains from many different sources.
textural inversion
why are sandstones a "restricted suite of minerals"?
the processes of chemical weathering and physical and chemical attack during transport, deposition, and burial gets rid of most particles.
Provenance is
the study of the location of the sediment source area
Apatite fission tracks:
thermochronology
Detrital constituents are defined as
those derived by mechanical and chemical disintegration of a parent rock
sole marks include:
tool marks - grooves, prods etc. groove casts- trails left behind from clasts moving with current scour marks - flutes, etc. load casts- billowy mud deposits
Epiclastic sandstone classification includes the ____ classification charts
triangle
Sand size volcaniclastic rocks formed by primary volcanic processes are called _______.
tuffs
quartz found in sandstones can be polyciclic, meaning:
undergo several cycles of diagenesis
Climbing-ripple lamination is where crests of _____ are _______ and appear to be ___________ in a current direction.. Looks like shadows from a light source at an angle.
vertically succeeding; out of phase; advancing/climbing down
plagioclase are constituents of:
volcanic, igneous, and metamorphic. presence of twinning indicates igneous
most epiclastic volcaniclastic sandstones are __________ rather than arenites
wackes
____ and ____ are the most effective weathering agents of quartz arenites
waves and wind
equal mix of small lenses of sand and muddy beds are called
wavy bedding
reliability of feldspar provenance heavily relies on
weathering, transportation (abrasion and impact), and diagenesis
whats used to date heavy minerals?
zircon
Sandstone = ___ sed. rocks in geologic record
¼