Sedimentary Geology

Earth and Planetary Sciences 186-455

Final Exam – December 2005

Duration – 3 Hours

General instructions:
1) All answers must be written in answer books provided and turned in at the
end of the exam.
2) Notes/textbooks or other memory aids are not permitted.
3) Use sketches whenever appropriate.

Part 1 – Answer only two of the following four questions (25%)

1. Define and explain the three forces acting on sediment grains as they are
put into motion by unidirectional currents, and the mechanisms of
sediment transport once a grain is put into motion.

Lift force (Bernoulli effect) and drag force combine to exert fluid force. Gravity,
and possibly cohesion and friction, acts as a force to resist movement. Once set
in motion particles travel as bedload (rolling, sliding, saltation – in contact with
bed), suspension (held in suspension by upward component of turbulence;
intermittent suspension possible), wash load (fine-grained suspended sediment
e.g., clays – brought in from “up current” areas).

2. Describe the Modified Dunham classification scheme and explain its basis
for classifying limestones.

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 3. List the four main diagenetic processes that affect siliciclastic and
carbonate sedimentary rocks, and give an example of how each might be
recognized in thin section.

Compaction – caused by weight of overburden – chemical and/or physical

effects. concavo-convex boundaries, stylolites, sutured boundaries, broken
grains, bent grains (e.g., mica), squashed soft grains.

Dissolution – chemical dissolution of minerals. secondary porosity

Precipitation – cements. Overgrowths, pore-filling. Not just quartz or calcite.

Recrystallization – replacement of one mineral and simultaneous replacement by

another – no volume change. E.g., carbonate replacement by quartz.
pseudomorphs, ghost fabrics

4. Define all of the following terms:

i) Petroleum – liquid hydrocarbon accumulations

ii) Flute mark – erosional scour marks at the base of beds, used to give
paleocurrent info
iii) Floodplain – flat area within a valley, flanking channel that is inundated
during high discharges
iv) Stylolite – interlocking surface in a rock caused by pressure solution
v) Till – glacial deposit deposited directly by ice
vi) Chert – cryptocrystalline silica

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 vii) Coarsening-upward succession – upward increase in grain size, often
related to progradation
viii) Soil – unconsolidated deposits that support plant life
ix) phi scale – grain size scale -log base 2 of grain dia in mm
x) trough cross-bedding – sed structure produced by migration of 3-d
dunes
xi) Wave fetch – area over which wind blows to form waves
xii) Turbidite – deposit of a turbidity current

Part 3 – Answer four of the following five questions (50%)

5. Define lithostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy. Why is sequence

stratigraphy preferred for reconstructing earth history? What are the
primary surfaces used by sequence stratigraphers, how do they form, and
how are they recognized?

Lithostratigraphy – characterization and correlation of rocks based on

lithology (composition, color, etc.). Divides rocks into formations,
members, groups, etc. Sequence strat – analysis of stratigraphic
successions in terms of genetically related packages of strata, bounded by
discontinuities. Primary surfaces: 1) unconformities – form when sea level
falls. Recognized by erosional truncation and/or exposure, 2) flooding
surfaces – form during rsl rise/transgression - Recognized by abrupt
deepening of strata., 3) maximum flooding surfaces – form at turnaround
from transgression to regression – recognized by “hot” shales (gamma ray
log) or downlap (e.g., log cross-sections, seismic). Main problem with
lithostratigraphy: lithostratigraphic boundaries can cross timelines.

6. Use Walther’s Law, your knowledge of carbonate facies distributions, and

the Modified Dunham classification to predict what the vertical succession
of facies would be for a prograding unrimmed carbonate platform.

Walther’s Law states that in a section without significant hiatuses, the

vertical succession of facies (at least partially) reproduce lateral
succession of facies found in modern settings. Unrimmed platform – no
protective rim, so wave energy is dissipated over entire platform. Vertical
succession similar to prograding clastic shoreface – gradational
boundaries. Outer shelf – mudstones (micrites), bioturbation ->
innershelf/shoreface – high energy grainstones. Probable storm deposits.
Pacakages capped by flooding surfaces.

7. Describe 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th order relative sea level cycles in terms of
the time periods over which they operate and the possible causative
mechanisms.

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 1st order – sea level fluctuations over 100s of millions of years. – makeup
and breakup of supercontinents (eustatic)
2nd order – 10s of millions of years – tectonic (spreading rates - eustatic)
3rd order – millions of years – problematic in much of Phanerozoic.
Regional uplift/subsidence?
4th order – 100s of 1000s of yrs – milankovitch cycles, autocyclic
processes,
5th order – 10s of 1000s of yrs – climate, tectonics, autocyclic

8. What are the controls on whether a shoreline will experience

transgression or regression? Describe what they are and how they
interact.

Transgression – landward movement of the shoreline

Regression – basinward movement of the shoreline

Global sea level change – eustacy

Regional subsidence/uplift

These two combine to cause relative sea level changes – fix the amount
of accommodation space

Sediment supply (ss)

Add sed supply to rsl changes to get changes in water depth

If ss>rsl rise – progradation, if ss<rsl rise– transgression, if ss=rsl rise

aggradation

9. Describe the differences between wave-dominated and river-dominated

deltas, in terms of their morphology, sedimentary facies and sandbody
geometry. How would you distinguish between a wave-dominated delta
and a strandplain?

Delta: shoreline protruberance formed where sediment is supplied by a

river faster than it can be redistributed by basinal processes.

Wave dominated – waves redistribute most of sediment supplied by the

river. Regular/smooth shoreline. Progradation of entire delta front. Shore-
parallel, sheet-like delta front sand. Coarsening-upward succession,
facies show strong wave influence (e.g., hummocky cross-stratification)

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 River dominated – supply > redistribution/reworking, “birdfoot” geometry,
progradation only around river mouths – coarsening upward successions,
complex facies distributions in interdistributary – marshes, levees,
crevasse splays, etc.

Wave-dominated delta will resemble strandplain – need to map out to see

whether there is a “protuberance”

Part 4 – You must answer the following question (25%)

10. Congratulations! You have just landed a summer job with Terra
Incognito, a prestigious international environmental consulting firm. They
already have your first assignment: tell them what they need to find out
about the Salsa Verde Formation, a possible source of potable water (i.e.,
an aquifer) for the town of Las Tamales. A map view and simplified
geologic cross-section of the area are shown on the following page.

Unfortunately the Salsa Verde Fm is poorly studied, and not much is

known about the depositional environment, diagenesis, etc. Outcrops of
the formation about 100 km west of town have been described as “fluvial”,
but the style of fluvial deposit (e.g., meandering, braided) is unknown.
Porosity is present in the sandstone units exposed at the surface there,
but the amount (if any) of porosity in the formation below the town is
unknown.

Your company knows that you have taken EPSC-455 and so has
assigned you the following specific tasks:

A) Porosity characterization. Define the types of porosity present in the

sandstones, and how/when the different types of porosity originated.
Determine the amount of porosity present, and how effectively the rocks
will transmit fluids. (This isn’t a hydrogeology course, so forget pump tests
or anything else like that)

Porosity - % of void space in rock that may contain fluids. need to look at
thin sections to characterize. Primary (intergranular) vs secondary
(dissolution, fracture, moldic, etc.). Use textural evidence. Impregnate
with blue expoxy. Need to get samples from subsurface and outcrop –
outcrop may have porosity that formed during teleodiagenesis.
Cementation may have destroyed porosity in subsurface. Test porosity
and permeability using plugs – porosity – Boyle’s law, permeability –
Darcy’s law. Collect wireline logs.

B) Aquifer geometry. Define, or predict, the lateral continuity of the

sandstones and the sand/shale ratio. These variables affect the size of the

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(possible) aquifer and the ease with which water could flow from one part
of the system to another.

Work with/collect outcrop, core, wireline log, and maybe seismic data.

Thin section analysis of samples to characterize type of porosity in outcrop

AND core – types of porosity in subsurface may be different from what is
present in outcrop. Impregnate samples with blue epoxy before cutting
thin sections. Measure porosity and permeability on core or outcrop
samples using methods described in handout to Lab 7. Lab 7 also
introduced people to “porosity logs”, but nobody got this and so I didn’t
dock marks for not mentioning it.

Note that sorting and grain size affect primary porosity, but cementation
can completely fill in primary porosity – therefore not a very reliable
predictor of porosity in consolidated sedimentary rocks.

Use facies and facies successions observed in outcrop, core, logs and/or
seismic data to define (interpretation) whether fluvial system was
meandering or braided. Meandering systems – moderate - low sand/shale
ratio, lenticular channels, shales - floodplain, fining upward successions –
less continuous – poorer aquifer.
Braided – sheet sandstones, high sand/shale ratio – more continuous,
therefore probably better aquifer.

Note that type of fluvial system could change from braided to fluvial (or
vice versa) over distance from outcrop to area below town, and that it may
be that fluvial system originally flowed toward the mountains – depends on
tectonic history (nobody got either of these – didn’t dock any marks).
Also, structure (dips) on formation are probably not the original
depositional slope.

Note that sand/shale ratio is defined over the thickness of the formation,
not from thin sections.

Write a short essay that addresses all of the issues identified in Tasks A
and B above (there are no tricks – just make sure you address all the
points). In your answer, make sure that you state what data you would
want to collect and/or use, why you would collect/use those data (i.e.,
what do you hope to learn from them), and generally state how you would
resolve the problems being posed. Give examples. Use drawings as
necessary. Integrate what you have learned in this course. Assume that
you will be able to collect any outcrop or subsurface data you like (not
necessarily a realistic assumption, but…).

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