|
Matrix-supported Rock
In geology, a matrix-supported rock is a sedimentary rock of which a defined majority is the fine-grained matrix as opposed to the clasts (in the case of a conglomerate) or allochems (in the case of a limestone). For a conglomerate, a rock is considered matrix-supported when clasts constitute less than 15% of its volume. Matrix support is considered characteristic of debris flow deposits, in which clasts are supported within a fabric of mud as they move downstream. Wackestones and mudstones under the Dunham classification of limestones are also considered matrix-supported due to the predominance of micrite Micrite is a limestone constituent formed of calcareous particles ranging in diameter up to four μm formed by the recrystallization of lime mud. Flügel, Erik, ''Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks: Analysis, Interpretation and Application,'' Springer ... (as opposed to, for example, macrofossils). References Sedimentology Petrology {{petrology-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth sciences, including hydrology, and so is treated as one major aspect of integrated Earth system science and planetary science. Geology describes the structure of the Earth on and beneath its surface, and the processes that have shaped that structure. It also provides tools to determine the relative and absolute ages of rocks found in a given location, and also to describe the histories of those rocks. By combining these tools, geologists are able to chronicle the geological history of the Earth as a whole, and also to demonstrate the age of the Earth. Geology provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and the Earth's past climates. Geologists broadly study the properties and processes of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sedimentary Rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles to settle in place. The particles that form a sedimentary rock are called sediment, and may be composed of geological detritus (minerals) or biological detritus (organic matter). The geological detritus originated from weathering and erosion of existing rocks, or from the solidification of molten lava blobs erupted by volcanoes. The geological detritus is transported to the place of deposition by water, wind, ice or mass movement, which are called agents of denudation. Biological detritus was formed by bodies and parts (mainly shells) of dead aquatic organisms, as well as their fecal mass, suspended in water and slowly piling up on the floor of water bodies ( marine snow). Sedimentation may also occur as dissolved minerals precipita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matrix (geology)
The matrix or groundmass of a rock is the finer-grained mass of material in which larger grains, crystals, or clasts are embedded. The matrix of an igneous rock consists of finer-grained, often microscopic, crystals in which larger crystals, called phenocrysts, are embedded. This porphyritic texture is indicative of multi-stage cooling of magma. For example, porphyritic andesite will have large phenocrysts of plagioclase in a fine-grained matrix. Also in South Africa, diamonds are often mined from a matrix of weathered clay-like rock ( kimberlite) called "yellow ground". The matrix of sedimentary rocks is finer-grained sedimentary material, such as clay or silt, in which larger grains or clasts are embedded. It is also used to describe the rock material in which a fossil is embedded. Cementation All sediments are at first in an incoherent condition (e.g. sands, clays and gravels, beds of shells), and they may remain in this state for an indefinite period. Millions of ye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clast
Clastic rocks are composed of fragments, or clasts, of pre-existing minerals and rock. A clast is a fragment of geological detritus,Essentials of Geology, 3rd Ed, Stephen Marshak, p. G-3 chunks, and smaller grains of rock broken off other rocks by physical weathering.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Ed, Stephen Marshak, p. G-5 Geologists use the term clastic to refer to sedimentary rocks and particles in sediment transport, whether in suspension or as bed load, and in sediment deposits. Sedimentary clastic rocks Clastic sedimentary rocks are rocks composed predominantly of broken pieces or ''clasts'' of older weathered and eroded rocks. Clastic sediments or sedimentary rocks are classified based on grain size, clast and cementing material (matrix) composition, and texture. The classification factors are often useful in determining a sample's environment of deposition. An example of clastic environment would be a river system in which the full range of grains being transported by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allochem
Allochem is a term introduced by FolkFolk, R. L. (1959) ''Practical petrographic classification of limestones.'' American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin. 43, pp. 1–38. to describe the recognisable "grains" in carbonate rocks. Any fragment from around 0.5 mm upwards in size may be considered an allochem. Examples would include ooids, peloids, oncolites, pellets, fossil or pre-existing carbonate fragments. Fragments are still termed allochems if they have undergone chemical transformations – for example if an aragonite shell were to dissolve and be later replaced by calcite, the replacement would still be deemed an allochem.Scholle, P. A., and D. S. Ulmer-Scholle (2003) ''A Color Guide to the Petrography of Carbonate Rocks: Grains, textures, porosity, diagenesis''. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir no. 77. Tulsa, Oklahoma, American Association of Petroleum Geologists. 474 pp. The allochems are typically embedded in a matrix of micrite Micrite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conglomerate (geology)
Conglomerate () is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed of a substantial fraction of rounded to subangular gravel-size clasts. A conglomerate typically contains a matrix of finer-grained sediments, such as sand, silt, or clay, which fills the interstices between the clasts. The clasts and matrix are typically cemented by calcium carbonate, iron oxide, silica, or hardened clay. Conglomerates form by the consolidation and lithification of gravel. They can be found in sedimentary rock sequences of all ages but probably make up less than 1 percent by weight of all sedimentary rocks. In terms of origin and depositional mechanisms, they are closely related to sandstones and exhibit many of the same types of sedimentary structures, e.g., tabular and trough cross-bedding and graded bedding.Boggs, S. (2006) ''Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy.'', 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, New York. 662 pp. Friedman, G.M. (2003) ''Classification of sediments and sedimentary rocks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Debris Flow
Debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of soil and fragmented Rock (geology), rock rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors. They generally have bulk density, bulk densities comparable to those of rock avalanches and other types of landslide classification, landslides (roughly 2000 kilograms per cubic meter), but owing to widespread sediment liquefaction caused by high pore pressure, pore-fluid pressures, they can flow almost as fluidly as water. Debris flows descending steep channels commonly attain speeds that surpass 10 m/s (36 km/h), although some large flows can reach speeds that are much greater. Debris flows with volumes ranging up to about 100,000 cubic meters occur frequently in mountainous regions worldwide. The largest prehistoric flows have had volumes exceeding 1 billion cubic meters (i.e., 1 cubic kilometer). As a result of their hig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wackestone
Under the Dunham classification (Dunham, 1962Dunham, R.J., 1962. Classification of carbonate rocks according to depositional texture. In: W.E. Ham (Ed.), Classification of Carbonate Rocks. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, Oklahoma, pp. 108–121.) system of limestones, a wackestone is defined as a mud-supported carbonate rock Carbonate rocks are a class of sedimentary rocks composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite (different crystal forms of CaCO3), and dolomite rock (also known as doloston ... that contains greater than 10% grains. Most recently, this definition has been clarified as ''a carbonate-dominated rock in which the carbonate mud (2 mm)''. The identification of wackestone A study of the adoption and use of carbonate classification systems by Lokier and Al Junaibi (2016) highlighted that the most common problem enc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunham Classification
The Dunham classification system for carbonate sedimentary rocks was originally devised by Robert J. Dunham in 1962, and subsequently modified by Embry and Klovan in 1971 to include coarse-grained limestones and sediments that had been organically bound at the time of deposition. The ''modified Dunham Classification'' has subsequently become the most widely employed system for the classification of carbonate sedimentary rocks with 89% of workers currently adopting this system over the alternative Folk classification scheme History Original classification Robert J. Dunham published his classification system for limestone in 1962. The original Dunham classification system was developed in order to provide convenient depositional-texture based class names that focus attention on the textural properties that are most significant for interpreting the depositional environment of the rocks. The three criteria used to define the original Dunham classes were: * the supporting fabric of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms when these minerals precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes, such as the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, have likely been more important for the last 540 million years. Limestone often contains fossils which provide scientists with information on ancient environments and on the evolution of life. About 20% to 25% of sedimentary rock is carbonate rock, and most of this is limestone. The remaining carbonate rock is mostly dolomite, a closely related rock, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, . ''Magnesian limestone'' is an obsolete and poorly-defined term used variously for dolomite, for lime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micrite
Micrite is a limestone constituent formed of calcareous particles ranging in diameter up to four μm formed by the recrystallization of lime mud. Flügel, Erik, ''Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks: Analysis, Interpretation and Application,'' Springer, pp 74-94, 2004 The term was coined in 1959 by Robert Folk for his carbonate rock classification system. Micrite is derived from MICRocrystalline calcITE. In the Folk classification micrite is a carbonate rock dominated by fine-grained calcite Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scra .... Carbonate rocks that contain fine-grained calcite in addition to allochems are named ''intramicrite'', ''oomicrite'', ''biomicrite'' or ''pelmicrite'' under the Folk classification depending on the dominant allochem. Micrite is lime mud, carbon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sedimentology
Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation (erosion and weathering), transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of modern processes to interpret geologic history through observations of sedimentary rocks and sedimentary structures. Sedimentary rocks cover up to 75% of the Earth's surface, record much of the Earth's history, and harbor the fossil record. Sedimentology is closely linked to stratigraphy, the study of the physical and temporal relationships between rock layers or strata. The premise that the processes affecting the earth today are the same as in the past is the basis for determining how sedimentary features in the rock record were formed. By comparing similar features today to features in the rock record—for example, by comparing modern sand dunes to dunes preserved in ancient aeolian sandstones—geologists reconstruct past environme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
