GEOL 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Siliciclastic, Phosphorite, Dolostone

• School: Texas A&M University
• Department: Geology
• Course: GEOL 104
• Professor: Frederick Michael Chester

Document Summary

Weathering breaks down rock into the particles that compose siliciclastic sediments and the dissolved ions and molecules that are precipitated to form chemical and biological sediments. Currents of water and air and the movement of glaciers transport the sediments to their ultimate resting place in a sedimentary basin. Deposition (also called sedimentation) is the settling out of particles or precipitation of minerals to form layers of sediments. Burial and diagenesis compress and harden the sediments into sedimentary rock. Sediments and the sedimentary rocks that form from them can be classified as one of two types: siliciclastic sediments or chemical and biological sediments. Siliciclastic sediments form from fragmentation of parent rock by physical and chemical weathering and are transported to sedimentary basins by water, wind, or ice. Chemical and biological sediments originate from minerals dissolved in and transported by water. Through chemical and biological reactions, these minerals are precipitated from solution to form sediments.