Sedimentary Environments Chart

Laboratory 6

Sedimentary Environments
Classification Charts

Pamela J. W. Gore

Georgia Perimeter College

Please print these charts in landscape mode rather than in portrait mode.

Table 1

CONTINENTAL SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENTS

	ALLUVIAL FAN	FLUVIAL	LACUSTRINE	DESERT (DUNES)	PALUDAL
Rock Type	Breccia, conglomerate, arkose	Conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone, shale	Siltstone, shale, limestone, or evaporites (gypsum)	Quartz arenite (sandstone) or gypsum	Peat, coal, black shale, siltstone
Composition	Terrigenous	Terrigenous	Terrigenous, carbonate, or evaporite	Terrigenous or evaporite	Terrigenous
Color	Brown or red	Brown or red	Black, brown, gray, green	Yellow, red, tan, white	Black, gray, or brown
Grain Size	Clay to gravel	Clay to gravel (Fining upward)	Clay to silt or sand (Coarsening upward)	Sand	Clay to silt
Grain Shape	Angular	Rounded to angular	---	Rounded	---
Sorting	Poor	Variable	Variable	Good	Variable
Inorganic Sedimentary Structures	Cross-bedding and graded bedding	Asymmetrical ripples, cross-bedding, graded bedding, tool marks	Symmetrical ripples, lamination, cross-bedding, graded bedding, mudcracks, raindrop prints	Cross-bedding	Laminated to massive
Organic or Biogenic Sedimentary Structures	---	Tracks, trails,burrows	Tracks, trails, burrows, rare stromatolites	Tracks, trails	Root marks, burrows
Fossils	---	Rare freshwater shells, bones, plant fragments	Freshwater shells, fish, bones, plant fragments	---	Plant fossils, rare freshwater shells, bones, fish

Table 2

TRANSITIONAL SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENTS

	DELTA	BARRIER BEACH	LAGOON	TIDAL FLAT
Rock Type	Sandstone, siltstone, shale, coal	Quartz arenite, coquina	Siltstone, shale, limestone, oolitic limestone or gypsum	Siltstone, shale, calcilutite, dolostone or gypsum
Composition	Terrigenous	Terrigenous or carbonate	Terrigenous, carbonate, or evaporite	Terrigenous, carbonate, or evaporite
Color	Brown, black, gray, green, red	White to tan	Dark gray to black	Gray, brown, tan
Grain Size	Clay to sand (Coarsening upward	Sand	Clay to silt	Clay to silt
Grain Shape	---	Rounded to angular	---	---
Sorting	Poor	Good	Poor	Variable
Inorganic Sedimentary Structures	Cross-bedding, graded bedding	Cross-bedding, symmetrical ripples	Lamination, ripples, cross-bedding	Lamination, mudcracks, ripples, cross-bedding
Organic or Biogenic Sedimentary Structures	Trails, burrows	Tracks, trails, burrows	Trails, burrows	Stromatolites, trails, tracks, burrows
Fossils	Plant fragments, shells	Marine shells	Marine shells	Marine shells

Table 3

MARINE SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENTS

	REEF	CONTINENTAL SHELF	CONTINENTAL SLOPE AND RISE	ABYSSAL PLAIN
Rock Type	Fossiliferous limestone	Sandstone, shale, siltstone, fossiliferous limestone, oolitic limestone	Litharenite, siltstone, and shale (or limestone)	Shale, chert, micrite, chalk, diatomite
Composition	Carbonate	Terrigenous or carbonate	Terrigenous or carbonate	Terrigenous or carbonate
Color	Gray to white	Gray to brown	Gray, green, brown	Black, white red
Grain Size	Variable, frameworks, few to no grains	Clay to sand	Clay to sand	Clay
Grain Shape	---	---	---	---
Sorting	---	Poor to good	Poor	Good
Inorganic Sedimentary Structures	---	Lamination, cross-bedding	Graded bedding, cross-bedding, lamination, flute marks, tool marks (turbidites)	Lamination
Organic or Biogenic Sedimentary Structures	---	Trails, burrows	Trails, burrows	Trails, burrows
Fossils	Corals, marine shells	Marine shells	Marine shells, rare plant fragments	Marine shells (mostly microscopic)

Return to Contents

This page created by Pamela J. W. Gore, pgore@gpc.edu
Georgia Perimeter College

July 14, 1998
Modified June 22, 1999
Modified December 12, 2003