ESCI 443: Principles of Sedimentology
No longer offered
4 credits
About This Course: Sedimentology is the study of sediments and sedimentary rocks and the process by which they are formed. Stratigraphy is the study of rock strata and the relations of strata in time and space. These two sub disciplines of geology are intricately related to each other. The tools you will learn in this course are applicable to the oil and gas industry, hydrogeology, and environmental fields which are some of the most employable fields in the geological sciences. In addition, a significant part of this class will involve practice in scientific writing.
Required Textbook: Sedimentary Geology: An introduction to sedimentary rocks and stratigraphy, 3rd ed., 2013, by D. R. Prothero and F. Schwab, W.H. Freeman & Co.
The Wave, UT-AZ border. Jurassic Navajo Sandstone
Course Description and Goals: First, this class will cover the formation of sediments, their classification, transport, deposition, and structure starting with siliciclastic sediments, carbonates, evaporites, and other sediment types. The class will then cover environments of deposition and sedimentary facies. Finally, the class will cover principles of stratigraphic analysis of sediments.
At the end of this class you should be able to identify, thoroughly describe, classify, and analyze sediments and sedimentary rocks. You should also be able to interpret modes of transport and reasonably reconstruct past environments of deposition. Finally, using stratigraphic principles, you should be able to correlate in time and space sedimentary strata on regional scales.
Laboratory: We will meet once a week for hands-on study of sedimentary rocks
Field Trips: There will be mandatory field trips to study sediments and sedimentary rocks in the field.
Lecture Topics:
Origin of Sediments
Stokes' Law of Settling
Sediment Transport & Processes
Bedforms and Structures
Origins of Siliciclastic Rocks
Carbonate Rocks
Diagenesis
Depositional Environments
Stratigraphic Principles