EASC 2702 Sedimentology & Stratigraphy Lecture 1 PDF

EASC 2702 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy CLASS BACKGROUND Lectures M-W-F 10:00 – 10:50 P.M., ER 3009 Lab Mon. 2:00 – 5:00 P.M., ER 3009 Instructor David Lowe ER 6022 Tel. 709-864-8398 e-mail: [email protected] Office hours: Friday 1 – 4 pm...

EASC 2702 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy CLASS BACKGROUND Lectures M-W-F 10:00 – 10:50 P.M., ER 3009 Lab Mon. 2:00 – 5:00 P.M., ER 3009 Instructor David Lowe ER 6022 Tel. 709-864-8398 e-mail: [email protected] Office hours: Friday 1 – 4 pm (appointments scheduled by request) Textbooks Sedimentology and Stratigraphy by Gary Nichols (second edition), can be found online through ”raregeologybooks” or purchased in e-format, or at the bookstore. https://raregeologybooks.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/sedimentology-and-stratigraphy-by- gary-nicholssecond-edition/ Additional Text Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy by Sam Boggs (second edition) CLASS BACKGROUND Course Evaluation: Lab exercises & participation – 25% Midterm lecture exam – 15% Lab final exam – 10% Final lecture exam – 25% Group project – 25% Lecture schedule Part 1: Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks September 4: Class introduction September 6: Sediment: size, composition, classification September 9: Making clastic sediment: weathering, erosion, precipitation September 11: Biochemical and chemical sediment September 13: Naming, describing, and classifying sedimentary rocks September 16 and 18: Flow physics and the transport and deposition of sediment September 20 and 23: Fluid gravity flows, bedforms and their sedimentary structures September 25 and 27: Soft sediment deformation, sediment gravity flows and their deposits October 2: Introduction to sedimentary environments and facies analysis October 4: Midterm review October 7: Midterm Exam Lecture schedule Part 2: Sedimentary environments, stratigraphy, basins, diagenesis October 9 and 16 (No lecture October 11): Terrestrial sedimentary environments October 18 and 21: Shallow marine sedimentary environments and ichnology October 23 and 25: Deep marine sedimentary environments October 28 and 30: Carbonate and evaporite sedimentary environments November 1 and 4: Stratigraphy (litho-, chrono-, and sequence stratigraphy) November 6 and 8: Tectonics and sedimentary basins November 13: Sediment provenance November 15: Diagenesis November 18, 20, and 22: Group project presentations November 25: No lecture (lab exam day) November 27: Economic and societal importance of sedimentary rocks November 29 and December 2: Exam prep and review Lab schedule September 9: Sediment classification September 16: Flatrock fieldtrip – Flatrock Cove Formation September 23: Fieldtrip to the Skerries – Blackhead Formation October 2: Bedform stability: the flume October 7: Sedimentary structures 1 (fluid gravity flow structures) October 21: Sedimentary structures 2 (SSD and sediment gravity flows) October 28: Siliciclastic petrology November 4: Carbonate and chemical sedimentary rock petrology November 15: Core facility trip November 18: Sequence stratigraphy November 25: Lab exam Group Project Based on data collected in labs 2-3, groups of 2 (and one group of 3) will present a summary of the sedimentary facies, depositional environment interpretations, and describe the correlation and stratal evolution of the upper part of the Signal Hill Group. 1o minute presentation with 5 minutes for questions, covering details of: Facies conditions of sedimentation. Depositional environments. Stratigraphic correlation of sections. Depositional and stratal evolution of sections. Why study sedimentology*? Sedimentary rocks are the only direct source of information about the conditions of the Earth’s surface throughout its history (and Mars, too). *because it’s fun! The work of a Sedimentologist: Reconstruction of the Past  Paleobiology Edicarian Fauna, Mistaken Point, NL. Climacticnites from Mount Simon Fm., Earliest metzoans Minnesota. Giant amphibious slug http://www.abc.net.au, University of Oxford Getty, 2007 National Museum of Natural History, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution - See more at: http://www.astrobio.net/news-exclusive/fossils-on-the-edge-of-forever/#sthash.thZMEakF.dpuf Tectonic reconstruction/Basin Analysis Foreland Basins: Accretional tectonics onlinelibrary.wiley.com Rift Basins: Extensional tectonics Withjack and Schlische, 2002  Early Earth Casovie et al., 2004 Jack Hills, Australia – some of the worlds oldest zircons at > 4.4 Billion years old in fluvial-deltaic siliciclastic rocks. Evidence for existence of continents and surface water on the early Earth. Eriksson and Wilde, 2010  Why else study sedimentology? Sedimentary rocks contain vast economically-important mineral, energy resources and are key to the energy transition. Sedimentary rocks are the global sinks of carbon and organic matter. Sedimentary processes are fundamental to understanding and predicting natural hazards. They’re just great  Sediment-Hosted mineral deposits Banded iron formations Chemical sedimentary deposits: - Banded iron formations (BIF) - Sedimentary exhalative (Sedex) Deposits with sedimentary host/source(?) rocks: - Orogenic gold - Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) - Sediment-hosted copper Sediment- hosted Sediment-hosted copper Copper  Sediment-Hosted mineral deposits Orogenic Gold Mississippi Valley Type (MVT, Pb+Zn) www.luckysci.com  Energy: oil and gas Where is Ø and µ (reservoir, conduits)? Source rocks needed – oil shales (i.e. organic rich)! R R R R S tunaskehidupan.wordpress.com Energy: Coal atlas.nsw.gov.au Carbon dioxide storage Bédard et al., 2013 Carter et al., 2007 Crouch, 2011 (Shell) Geothermal energy Northwest Europe has to reduce CO2 emission. One major source of CO2 is the production of electricity and heat by burning fossil fuels, which could be vastly replaced by using deep geothermal energy (DGE). However, the exploration of DGE in most NWE regions requires specific expertise and technologies in the complex geological situations (strongly faulted high permeable carbonates and coarse clastic rocks) that lie across the borders between Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium. The Interreg North-West Europe Programme Environmental hazard management Frank Slide, Alberta www.timfraserphoto.com Dauphin Is. Alabama after Katrina, coastal.er.usgs.gov Floods following heavy rain, Duluth, coastal.er.usgs.gov Hydrogeology Nastev et al., 2008 Definitions Sedimentology: the science of the formation, transport, and deposition of sediment, and the formation of sedimentary rocks through lithification. Stratigraphy: Following the principles of original horizontality, superposition, cross-cutting relationships, and Walther’s Law, stratigraphy is the science that establishes the relative ages and genetic temporal and spatial relationships of stratified rocks.  Sedimentary systems Sediment Hinterlands Sediment drainage basins Sedimentary basins Sediment Hrishcheva and Gier, 2002 mud Clastic: fragments gravel sand of rocks By Hannes Grobe - Own work, “bioclasts” Biogenic: formed biogenically Chemical: formed halite gypsum by abiogenic chemical reactions FEATURES OF SEDIMENT and SEDIMENTARY ROCKS Area: 66% of land surface Rock Proportions: 63% mudstone, 20% sandstone, 2% conglomerate (Total of 85% is siliciclastic!) 15% carbonate rocks Mineral Proportions: 45% clays, 40% quartz, 6% feldspar, 5% rock fragments, 4% others Average sedimentary accumulation: 1.8 km on land, 0.3 km in oceans Range of thickness: 0 km on Canadian Shield, 20 km offshore; common constituent of shallow continental crust Age: 41% of exposures -- rocks