Undergraduate Course: Sedimentology (EASC09037)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | The primary aim of the Sedimentology course is to place interrelated clastic, chemical, carbonate and biological sediments in the wider context of sedimentary basins. The course builds on the basic principles developed in the second year course and expands the subject outside predominantly clastic systems to incorporate other important components, notably clastic sediment diagenesis and the formation and geological occurrence of chemical and biological sediments (carbonates, ironstone, cherts, evaporites). The practicals will be closely integrated with the lectures and will consider specific geological examples. |
| Course description |
Lecture 1
a) Review of carbonate sedimentary rocks through time.
b) Carbonate depositional environments: exposure surfaces; fresh-water; temperate shallow-sea; and deep-sea.
Practical 1
Hand-specimen, loose-sediment and thin-section examination of modern and ancient carbonates from exposure surface, fresh-water, temperate shallow-sea, and deep-sea environments.
Lecture 2.
Distribution and structure of modern coral reefs.
Practical 2
Demonstration and thin-section analysis of limestones from the Silurian reefal deposits of the Much Wenlock Limestone of Shropshire, England.
Lecture 3
Diagenesis of carbonates in the fresh-water, marine, and deep-burial realms.
Practical 3
Thin-section analysis of diagenetic fabrics in reef limestones of Quaternary, Cenozoic and Carboniferous ages.
Lecture 4
Carbonate deposition environments: Processes and products of deposition of carbonate sediments in shallow tropical seas.
Practical 4
Thin-section analysis of Mesozoic shallow water tropical limestones from the Dorset coast, SW England.
Lecture 5
Ironstones. Composition, character and associations of ironstone minerals; goethite, haematite, siderite, chamosite, glauconite, sulphides. Distribution of ironstone facies in space and time. Palaeoenvironment of Jurassic ironstones, especially Central Europe and Labrador, in the context of shelf sea development. Diagenesis and ironstone formation.
Practical 5
Petrography and hand specimens of ironstones.
Lecture 6
Cherts. Chert types and nomenclature, silica diagenesis, opal A, opal CT, and chert; mineralogical and structural changes. Lepispheres. Sediment composition and silica transformation. Environment and biogenic silica accumulation.
Practical 6
Thin sections and chert samples.
Lecture 7
Evaporites. Modern occurrences of evaporites. China, Caspian. Afar, compositional differences. Products of evaporation of sea water, evaporite minerals. Sabkhas; Abu Dhabi. Barred basin evaporite development. Mediterranean Zechstein evaporites. Diagenesis and evaporite mineral pair transformation. e.g. gypsum-anhydrite.
Lecture 8
Components of clastic sediments. Different classification schemes will be outlined, and their applications to sediment provenance.
Practical 7
Examination of clastic and carbonate sediments using petrographic microscope.
Lecture 9
Diagenesis. Changes in clastic sediments after deposition, during burial, up to metamorphism. Cementation, dissolution, porosity, permeability and their application.
Practical 8
Examination of porosity and cements in sandstones at different burial depths.
Lecture 10
Coal. Occurrence, modern analogues, palaeoenvironments, coal types and occurrence in the geological record.
Practical 9
Coal settings and environments.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 20,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
66 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
80 %,
Coursework
20 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Written Exam: 80%, Course Work: 20%, Practical Exam: 0%
The written exam will be based on the lectures given during the course. However, students will also be expected to utilise information given during the practical sessions (e.g. geological examples).
The Course Work will involve a test of practical information given during the course which will be taken be during a scheduled practical session. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Sedimentology | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- By the end of this course you will have achieved a good understanding of several key types of sedimentary rock, namely carbonates, sandstones, ironstones, evaporites and cherts.
- You will have learnt how to identify and interpret these sedimentary rocks in hand specimen and thin section under the optical microscope.
- You will have developed an understanding of the sedimentary and diagenetic processes involved in the formation of these rocks and you will have learnt about the chemical, physical and biological processes involved.
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Reading List
| Reading lists will be given out by individual lecturers during their classes. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Lectures on Wednesdays at 09:00-09:50, Weeks 1-11.
Laboratory sessions on Wednesdays at 10:00-12:00, Weeks 1-11.
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| Keywords | Sedimentology |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Alastair Robertson
Tel: (0131 6)50 8546
Email: Alastair.Robertson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Ken O'Neill
Tel: (0131 6)50 8510
Email: koneill3@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
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