GEO 403: SEDIMENTOLOGY
Winter 2004 - TUE & THU 9:00 - 10:15; SC 064
Instructor: Dr. Daniel Goldman,
Office Hours: Science Center 077, Monday 9:00 - 11:00 am or by appointment.
Departmental phone: 229-4820
e-mail: dan.goldman@notes.udayton.edu
Textbooks: The required text is Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy by Sam Boggs, Jr,
and Ancient Environments and the Interpretation of Geologic History by L.S. Fichter and D.J.
Poché. They can be purchased at the UD Bookstore.
Course Description: Sedimentology is the study and interpretation of sedimentary rocks. Over
the past few decades it has evolved from a mostly descriptive subject that focused on texture and
mineralogy to a process-based discipline that emphasizes formation and depositional setting.
This course will try to combine the best of the old and the new. We will start by examining the
origins and physical properties of sediments, and using this as a foundation move on to fluid
flow, sedimentary structures, rock types, and sedimentary environments. The last part of the
course will integrate all this information in an examination of large scale patterns of sediment
deposition - seismic and sequence stratigraphy.
The lab portion of the course contains a series of hands-on exercises that will reinforce
the concepts presented in lecture and provide practical training in the analysis of sediments and
sedimentary rocks. The skills learned here are widely used in most geologic fields - including the
environmental and petroleum industries, and academia.
Course Requirements:
First Test
Second Test
Final Exam
Quizzes
Field Trip & Notes
Class Work
TOTAL
Percent of Final Grade
20%
20%
25%
15%
10%
10%
100%
Quizzes & Classwork: We will use the lab manual for a number of in class and homework
assignments. There will also be a quiz approximately every two weeks (a total of 6). Together the
exams comprise 25% of your grade.
Exams: There will be two hourly exams and a final. Together the exams comprise 65% of your
grade. The exams will be mostly essay and short answer.
Field Trip And Notes: This course will include a cumpulsory extended field trip. One trip will
be a week-long excursion to examine the geology of the western United States. This trip, which
includes stops at Death Valley, Zion National Park, and the Grand Canyon, will run during the
mid-semester break. The second trip will be an overnight, weekend excursion to northern
Kentucky in mid-April. Students must take 1 fieldtrip.
LECTURE SEQUENCE
Dates
1/6
Topics
Readings
Part I: Origin & Classification of Sediments
Introduction
Boggs, Ch. 1
1/8
Weathering Processes
Boggs, Ch. 2
1/13
Fundamental Properties 1:
Particle Types & Origins
Assigned
(Handout)
1/15, 1/20
Fundamental Properties 2:
Grain Size Analysis (Quiz 1; 1/15)
Boggs, Ch. 4.
1/22
Fundamental Properties 3:
Grain Shape
Boggs, Ch. 4.
1/27
Test #1
Chapters 1, 2, 4
Part II: Sediments to Rocks - Deposition, Lithification, & Diagenesis
1/29, 2/3
Transport 1:
The Fluid Dynamics of Drag
Shape & Flow Video
Boggs Ch. 3.
2/5, 2/10
Transport 2:
Unidirectional Flow (Quiz 2; 2/10)
Boggs, Ch. 3.
2/12, 2/17
Primary Sedimentary Structures
Boggs, Ch. 5.
2/19
Siliciclastic Sedimentary Rocks
(Quiz 3)
Boggs, Ch. 6.
2/24, 2/26
Carbonate Sedimentary Rocks
Boggs, Ch. 7.
3/2
Other Chemical, and Carbonaceous
Sedimentary Rocks (Quiz 4)
Boggs, Ch. 8.
3/4, 3/9
Diagenesis
In Boggs, Ch. 6-8
3/11
Test #2
Chapters 3, 5, 6-8.
3/12 – 3/21
Mid Semester Break:
Death Valley – Grand Canyon Field Trip
Part III: Sedimentary Environments
3/23, 3/25
Continental Environments (Quiz 5)
Boggs, Ch. 9, 10
3/30
Marginal Marine Environments
Boggs, Ch. 11
4/1
No Class: North Central GSA
4/6
Siliciclastic Marine Environments
4/8 – 4/12
No Class: Easter Recess
4/13
Carbonate Marine Environments
Boggs, Ch. 12
Boggs, Ch. 13
Part IV: Principles of Basin Analysis
4/15, 4/20
Sequence Stratigraphy
(Quiz 6, 4/15)
Boggs, Ch. 14
4/22
Stratigraphy & Sedimentology of
the Late Ordovician of Ohio
To be Assigned
4/26
FINAL EXAM: 10 - 11:50 pm
GOOD LUCK!
GEO 403L - SEDIMENTOLOGY LABORATORY
For the lab you will need arithmetic and probability graph paper. You will also need a drawing
compass and a calculator. Not everyone will be able to work on certain labs at the same time. We
will have to be flexible regarding use of the splitter, ro-tap machine, and sieves.
Course Requirements:
8 Lab Assignments
Field Trip & Research Paper
Percent of Final Grade
80%
20%
Research Paper: You are required to write a short (5 pages) research paper on one of the
sedimentary units that we will visit on the field trip. I will provide you a list of units from which
to choose and a sample to cut and polish.
1/8
NO LAB - Purchase graph paper, read about grain size analysis in text.
1/15, 1/22
Lab 1: Grain Size Analysis - Sieving (Coarse Fraction)
1/29, 2/5
Lab 2: Grain Size Analysis - Hydrometer (Fine Fraction)
2/12
Lab 3: Grain Size Analysis – Laser Particle Counter
2/19
Lab 4: Grain Shape - Roundness & Sphericity
2/26
Lab 4: Bed Forms - Sedimentary Structures
3/4
Lab 5: Rock Types - Clastics
3/11
Lab 6: Rock Types - Non-Clastics
3/18
NO LAB - Mid-Semester Break
3/25
Lab 7: Trace Fossils
4/1
NO LAB: North Central GSA Conference & Field Trip
4/8
NO LAB: Easter Recess
4/15
Lab 8: Basin Analysis
4/22
Research Paper Due