Clastic Sedimentary Rocks 0305732
Course Outline
I.
Introduction
Definitions, abundance, distribution, economic value: aquifers,
hydrocarbon and gas reservoirs, economic minerals within the heavy
fraction, placer deposits, and quartz sand.
II. Mineralogy
Light minerals: varieties of quartz, feldspars, rock fragments; heavy
minerals; ultrastables (ZRT), stables least stable heavies as hornblende,
and pyroxene; micas and clay minerals including muscovite, biotite,
kaolinite, dickite, illite, chlorite, smectite, mixed-layer clay minerals,
and glauconite.
III. Factors influencing the mineralogical composition of
sandstones:
Provenance, tectonic setting, paleoclimate, modification through
transport, effect of depositional environment, diagenesis, and uplift.
VI. Chemistry
Abundance and distribution of the major, minor and trace elements.
V. Classification
Historical development, defining parameters; quartz, feldspars, rock
fragments and primary matrix; an adopted classification.
IV. Petrography of the various types of sandstone
Quartz arenite, arkoses and feldspathic sandstone, lithic arentie, wackes
and graywackes.
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IIV. Diagenesis
Definitions; physical processes: orientation of particles and
compaction, pressure solution and stylolite, development; destructive
processes: dissolution of light minerals such as feldspars and
intrastratal solution; chemical processes; replacement versus
alteration, neoformation, cementation and authigenesis; burial history.
XII. Depositional environments and related facies
Definition of facies; alluvial environments: alluvial fans, braided
rivers and meandering rivers, deltas, shore zone environments: tidal
flats, tidal deltas and tidal marsh, lagoon and estuary including beach
and barrier island; marine environments.
XI. Research Project
1. Field work including measurement of paleocurrent directions, and
facies analysis.
2. Grain size analysis by sieving and microscopy.
3. Petrographic study of thin sections and grain mounts.
4. Constructing the diagenetic history of the formation.
5. Determination of the depositional environment and evaluating the
factors influencing the mineral composition of the sandstone.
References
Amireh, B.S. (1987): Sedimentological and Petrological Interplays of the
Nubian Series in Jordan with Regard to Paleogeography and Diagenesis.
Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis. TU Braunschweig, 232 pp.
Blatt, H., Middletion, G. and Murry, R. (1980): Origin of Sedimentary
Rocks, 2nd. Ed., 782 pp. New Jersey (Prentice – Hall).
Boenigk, W. (1983): Schwermineralanalyse. 158 pp. Stuttgart (Enke).
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Chilinger, G.V. and Wolf, K.H. (1989): Diagenesis II, Developments in
Sedimentology. Amsterdam (Elsevier).
McDonald, D.A. and Surdam, R.C. (1984: Clastic diagenesis, AAPG
Memoir 37. 434 pp. Tulsa (AAPG).
Miall, A.D., 1996. The Geology of Fluvial Deposits. Springer-Verlag,
Berlin.
Pettijohn, F. J. (1975): Sedimentary rocks, 3rd. ed. 628 pp. New York
(Harper and Row Publishers).
Pettijohn, F. J., Potter, P.E. and Siever, R. (1986): Sand and Sandstone. 618
pp. New York (Springer-Verlag).
Reineck, H.E. and Singh, I. B. (1986): Depositional Sedimentary
Environments, 2nd ed. 551 pp. Berlin (Springer-Verlag).
Tucker, M.T. (1988): Techniques in Sedimentology. 394 pp. Oxford
(Blackwell Scientific Publications).
Walker, R.G. (1984): Facies Models, 2nd. Ed. 317 pp. Toronto (Geoscience
Canada).
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