UGA Bulletin

Course Description

Interpretation and origin of sediments and sedimentary rocks, with an emphasis on grain production, sediment transport, diagenesis, facies models, sequence stratigraphy, and sedimentary basins. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of sedimentary rocks in hand sample and thin section, as well as application of course material in solving geological problems.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
A project requiring interpretation of a suite of sediments or sedimentary rocks and culminating in a fully developed scientific paper will be required of all graduate students.

Athena Title

Sedimentary Geology

Prerequisite

GEOL 3010-3010L

Semester Course Offered

Offered spring

Grading System

A - F (Traditional)

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to organize the processes of sedimentary geology over the range of spatial and temporal scales at which they apply.
Students will be able to interpret the sedimentary rock record at large or smaller spatial and temporal scales based on observations at any particular scale.
Students will be able to differentiate common sedimentary rocks in hand sample and thin section and interpret the processes by which those samples formed.
Students will be able to interpret rock exposures in terms of the sedimentary environment's conditions of accommodation and sediment supply under which they accumulated.
Students will be able to estimate the likely distribution of source, reservoir and seal for hydrocarbon exploration and aquifers and aquitards in ground-water movement, based on the controls on porosity and permeability in sedimentary rocks at the scales of hand samples, outcrops, and sedimentary basins.

Topical Outline

Production of sedimentary grains Weathering Classification and petrology of major classes of sedimentary rocks Siliciclastics: conglomerates, sandstones, mudrocks Carbonates Processes of grain erosion, transport, and deposition Formation of sedimentary structures Physical: erosional, deformational, bedforms and cross-stratification Biogenic Diagenetic processes Compaction Cementation Authigenesis Recrystallization Replacement Sedimentary environments and facies models Fluvial systems Siliciclastic tidal flat and estuarine systems Siliciclastic wave-dominated coastal systems Deep-sea systems Shallow-water carbonate systems Sequence stratigraphy Parasequences and parasequence sets Depositional sequences Sequence architecture in carbonate and siliciclastic settings Sedimentary basins and basin-forming mechanisms Stretching Cooling Flexure

Syllabus

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