What is sedimentary petrography?

Sedimentary petrography involves the classification and study of sedimentary rocks using the petrographic microscope.

What is the appearance of sedimentary rocks?

Sedimentary rocks often have distinctive layering or bedding. Many of the picturesque views of the desert southwest show mesas and arches made of layered sedimentary rock. Common Sedimentary Rocks: Common sedimentary rocks include sandstone, limestone, and shale. Tuffaceous sandstones contain volcanic ash.

What are the classifications of sedimentary rocks?

For the purposes of the present discussion, three major categories of sedimentary rocks are recognized: (1) terrigenous clastic sedimentary rocks, (2) carbonates (limestone and dolomite), and (3) noncarbonate chemical sedimentary rocks.

How do you describe a thin section?

Thin Section: A thin section is a 30-micrometer-thick slice of rock that is attached to a glass slide with epoxy. Thin sections are used for mineral identification, petrographic analysis to classify rocks, and textural analysis to describe how a rock formed.

What is the difference between sedimentology and sedimentary petrology?

Sedimentary petrology is the study of their occurrence, composition, texture, and other overall characteristics, while sedimentology emphasizes the processes by which sediments are transported and deposited.

What are the 3 main categories of sedimentary rock?

Sedimentary rocks are formed from pieces of other existing rock or organic material. There are three different types of sedimentary rocks: clastic, organic (biological), and chemical. Clastic sedimentary rocks, like sandstone, form from clasts, or pieces of other rock.

How are siliciclastic sedimentary rocks classified?

While grain size, clast and cementing material (matrix) composition, and texture are important factors when regarding composition, siliciclastic sedimentary rocks are classified according to grain size into three major categories: conglomerates, sandstones, and mudrocks.

How thick is a thin section?

Generally, a thin section must be prepared to a thickness of approximately 30µm, with near perfect parallelism. 1. Thin sections begin with bulk sectioning to create a section approximately 3mm thick. Less well consolidated materials should be sectioned to produce a thicker section, up to 10mm in thickness.

What does quartz look like in a thin section?

In thin section, when viewed in plane polarized light (PPL), quartz is colorless with low relief and no cleavage. Its habit is either fairly equant or anhedral if it infills around other minerals as a cement.

How is a thin section prepared in petrography?

In optical mineralogy and petrography, a thin section is a laboratory preparation of a rock, mineral, soil, pottery, bones, even metal sample for use with a polarizing petrographic microscope, electron microscope and electron microprobe. A thin sliver of rock is cut from the sample with a diamond saw and ground optically flat.

What are the prerequisites for Sedimentary Petrography?

Prerequisites: GY 111, GY 112, EH 102, GY 304 or permission of the instructor. This course will examine the physical make-up of some of the most important rocks we have on the planet (certainly along the Alabama Gulf Coast!); the sedimentary rocks.

What do you need to know about petrographic analysis?

Petrographic analysis provides a detailed description of the texture (grain size, sorting, and grain contacts), sedimentary structures (laminations, bioturbation), framework grain composition, authigenic minerals, and types and distribution of macroporosity seen in a thin section.

What is guided discovery and scoring rubric for Petrography?

Guided Discovery and Scoring Rubric for Petrographic Analysis of a Thin Section — David Mogk, Montana State University; A guided discovery approach is used to “unpack” the methods and observations used by “master” petrographers in the petrographic analysis of a thin section.