Exercise 8: Sedimentary Rocks and Their Depositional Environments

Geology Lab 111              Names_____________________________________________

This exercise has 3 parts.

Part 1. Identify all 8 of the sedimentary rocks in the bag labelled “Sedimentary.” Use this website, http://www.minsocam.org/msa/collectors_corner/id/rock_key.htm#Key,  and its key to identify your rocks. Use this table (or something similar) to record your answers (24 pts):

Use Google Slides, Google docs, Powerpoint, or Word to create Parts 2 and 3.

Part 2.  Show three images for the 12 sedimentary rock types below. (36 pts)

1. Shale or mudstone
2. Quartz arenite sandstone
3. Greywacke sandstone
4. Conglomerate
5. Breccia
6. Evaporite Salt
7. Coal
8. Travertine limestone
9. Oolitic limestone
10. Fossiliferous limestone
11. Chert
12. Banded iron formation

For each of the 12 you need:  1) a closeup photo of that rock (use your own photos for 8 of the 12 rocks); 2) a photo that shows that rock type in nature as part of an outcropping of rock; 3) a picture or diagram that illustrates the depositional environment in which that rock formed

Read more about depositional environments of sedimentary rocks here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depositional_environment

Part 3. Find photos of the following sedimentary structures and briefly explain how each of them form. (16 pts)

1. Strata
2. Laminae
3. Crossbedding
4. Mudcracks
5. Raindrop impressions
6. Graded bedding
7. Ripple marks
8. Bioturbation (burrows)

Websites that might be helpful:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedimentary_rock

https://geology.com/rocks/sedimentary-rocks.shtml

For every photo used in your atlas, give a copy of the url from which you took the photo.