A short description on sedimentary environment

1. Sedimentary Environment

2. Fluvial Systems
 Two broad environmental settings:
 Alluvial fans
 River systems

3. Alluvial fans
 Alluvial fans are deposits with fan shaped
 Sediments are poorly sorted.
 Abundant gravel(>2mm) size detritus.
 Generally formed at the base of a
mountain range.

4. Alluvial fans are classified into two types:
i. Debris flow dominated fans
ii. Stream flow dominated fans
 Debris flow dominated fans:
 Poorly sorted
 Lacking sedimentary structures
 Impermeable and nonporous
 Stream flow dominated fans:
 Well sorted
 Sedimentary structures

5. Eolian
 Eolian processes is the activity of the winds. Winds
may erode, transport, and deposit materials, and are
effective agents in regions with sparse vegetation
and a large supply of sediments.
 Although water is much more powerful
than wind, eolian processes are important
in arid environments.

6. Glacial
 Glaciers not only transport material as they move,
but they also sculpt and carve away the land beneath
them.
 The ice erodes the land surface and
carries the broken rocks and soil
debris far from their original places,
resulting in some interesting
glacial landforms

7. flood plain
 A flood plain is a flat area on the edge of a river,
where the ground consists of soil, sand,
and rock left by the river when it floods

8. Lakes
 Lacustrine environments (or lakes) are diverse; they
may be large or small, shallow or deep, and filled with
terrigenous, carbonate, or evaporitic sediments.
 Fine sediment and organic matter
settling in some lakes produced
laminated oil shales.

9. Delta
 Deltas are large accumulations of sediment that are
deposited where a river empties into a standing body
of water.
 The deposit as a whole
consists of a thick
accumulation of sand, silt,
and mud.

10. Swamps
 A swamp is a wetland that is
dominated by woody plants
(shrubs and trees).
 Swamps are often near rivers
or streams

11. shoreline
 The shoreline is the place where a large body of
water, like an ocean, lake, or river, meets the land.

12. Shallow Marine
 Shallow water marine environment refers to the
area between the shore and deeper water, such as
a reef wall or a shelf break.

13. Organic Reef
 An organic reef is a structure built of the shells and
secretions of marine organisms.
 A highly fossiliferous limestone commonly is the
result of these organisms in the rock record.