Home / Selected Geology / Sedimentology and Sedimentary Rocks

American Geological Institute's: Earth Science Educational Resources. A link directory. Go to:
Deltas and Flood plains.

Angevine, C.L., Heller, P.L., and Paola, C. (1990): Quantitative Sedimentary Basin Modeling. PDF files, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Shortcourse Note Series, 32, 247 pp.

! The British Geological Survey (BGS): The BGS Rock Classification Scheme. These reports are released for download here in PDF format. Go to: C.R. Hallsworth & R.W. O'B Knox: Rock Classification Scheme - Vol 3 - Sedimentary (approx 460kb).

BYU-Idaho, Department of Instruction & Technology Rexburg, ID: Flash Files. Go to: Rocks, Sedimentary Rocks, and Clastic Rocks

Stan Chernicoff & Ramesh Venkatakrishnan, Geologylink, Chapter 6: Sedimentation and Sedimentary Rocks.

Philippe Claeys, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley: When the sky fell on our heads: Identification and interpretation of impact products in the sedimentary record. U.S. National Report to IUGG, 1991-1994, Rev. Geophys. Vol. 33 Suppl.; 1995. American Geophysical Union.

F. Clark, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta:
Introduction to Sedimentary Rocks.
Siliciclastic Sedimentary Rocks.
Biochemical Sedimentary Rocks.
Chemical Sedimentary Rocks.
Powerpoint presentations.

Jeff Crabaugh (University of Wyoming), The Science Education Resource Center (SERC), Carleton College: Teaching Geoscience with Visualizations: Using Images, Animations, and Models Effectively, River Systems: Process and Form. This site provides access to a number of visualizations and supporting material that can be used effectively to teach students about physical processes acting in rivers and their floodplains. Visualizations include simple animations, visual output from numerical models, as well as numerous static illustrations and photos.

Jeff Crabaugh (University of Wyoming), The Science Education Resource Center (SERC), Carleton College: Teaching Geoscience with Visualizations: Using Images, Animations, and Models Effectively, Sedimentation Models. This site provides a diverse group of visualizations depicting sedimentation models. Visualizations range from photos and still image sequences to animations, and represent simple conceptual models, output from computer simulations, and physical experimental models.

N.S. Davies and M.R. Gibling (2010): Cambrian to Devonian evolution of alluvial systems: The sedimentological impact of the earliest land plants. PDF file, Earth-Science Reviews, 98: 171-200.

Olaf Otto Dillmann, Gelsenkirchen, Germany: GeoDienst, Sandsteinvorkommen in Deutschland, and Petrographie des Sandsteins. (in German).

! Jim Dockal, Department of Earth Sciences at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington: Sedimentary Petrology Laboratory Manual. Lecture notes. The primary objective in this course is to learn how to observe, describe, and interpret sedimentary rocks.

Becky Dorsey, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene: Web Resources for Sedimentary Geologists.

EarthComm (developed by the American Geological Institute (AGI) and supported by the National Science Foundation and donors of the American Geological Institute Foundation). Actually a link directory. Go to: Bedrock Geology, and River Systems.

! The Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program (ETE), Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.
The Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program investigates Earth´´s land biotas throughout their 400 million year history. Their goal is to understand how terrestrial ecosystems have been structured and how they change over geologic time. Using the fossil record, ETE scientists study the characteristics of ecological communities and the changing dynamics of ecosystems. Go to:
! ETE Relational Database and ETE DataNet.
The ETE relational database is now partially united with the Paleobiology Database Project´s (PBDB) relational database. All primary database functions (queries, entries and updates) are available through the PBDB home page. The new combined database compiles information from the terrestrial and marine record, but lacks some of the data fields present in the original ETE database.

! Provided by The Walter Geology Library, University of Texas, Austin: Robert L. Folk, The Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks. This out-of-print classic is published on the Web (transformed in GIF) with the permission of the author. Navigate from the table of contents.

Mark Francek (Central Michigan University), The Science Education Resource Center (SERC), Carleton College: Teaching Geoscience with Visualizations: Using Images, Animations, and Models Effectively, Processes of River Erosion, Transport, and Deposition. Find animations showing processes of river erosion, transport and deposition.

Rockhounds, Online Museum Educators, The Franklin Institute Science Museum: Discover How Rocks Are Formed, How Sedimentary Rock Is Formed. This page provides a brief easy-to-understand introduction with an animation.

Deborah Freile, New Jersey City University: Historical Geology. An investigative course of geological and biological aspects of Earth History as developed through the use of fossil evidence and the principles of stratigraphy, geochronology, and the geology of structures. PowerPoint slides for lecture, e.g.:
Sedimentary Rocks and Environments.

! R.A. Gastaldo and T.M. Demko (2011): The relationship between continental landscape evolution and the plant-fossil record: long term hydrologic controls on preservation. In PDF, Taphonomy.

GeologieInfo.de: Gesteinsklassifikation, Sedimentite (in German).

M.R. Gibling and N.S. Davies (2012): Palaeozoic landscapes shaped by plant evolution. In PDF, Nature Geoscience, 5.

! Pamela J. W. Gore, Department of Geology, Georgia Perimeter College, Clarkston, GA: Historical Geology.Online laboratory manual. Go to:
Sedimentary Rocks.

Peter K. Haff, Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina: The Introductory Geology WebPages, Slides. Click on the topic you wish to review. Thumbnails of geology slides will be displayed. If you wish to see an enlarged version, click on the thumbnail or on the text title. Go to: Textures and Structures of Sedimentary Rocks.

Paul Heller, Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie: Sediment Video Movies. Downloadable Quicktime movies about ripple migration, plane bed lamination, turbidity current, debris flow, bedload transport, experimental braided stream, experimental shoreline progradation, etc.

J. Hill and K. Davis, Geology Rocks: Introduction to Carbonates.

J. Hladil et al. (2010): Dust. A geology-orientated attempt to reappraise the natural components, amounts, inputs to sediment, and importance for correlation purposes. PDF file, Geologica Belgica, 13: 367-384.

Thomas R. Holtz, Department of Geology, University of Maryland: Historical Geology. The History of Earth and Life. Lecture notes. Go to: Terrestrial Sedimentary Environments, or Fluvial & Deltaic Environments; Walther´s Law.

International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS).

! S.M. Kidwell et al. (1986): Conceptual framework for the analysis and classification of fossil concentrations. PDF file, Palaios, 1: 228-238.

Reiner Kleinschrodt, Institute for Mineralogy and Geochemistry, University of Cologne, Germany: POLARISATIONSMIKROSKOPIE DER GESTEINE. Click the microscope icon. Images of thin sections, with annotations. See the microscopy of sedimentary rocks (in German).

Kåre Kullerud, Department of Geology, University of Tromsø, Norway: webGeology. Flashed teaching resources in geology. Topics are e.g.: "Organic and chemical sedimentary rocks", "Clastic sedimentary rocks", "Clastic sediments".

Lab. of Sedimentary System, Korea: Atlas of sedimentary rocks.

Harold L. Levin, Washington University: The Earth Through Time, Seventh Edition (provided by Wiley, Higher Education). This textbook provides rich, authoritative coverage of the history of the Earth, offering the most comprehensive history in the discipline today. Some sample chapters: Chapter 2. Earth Materials: A Physical Geology Refresher, and Chapter 3. The Sedimentary Archives.

Peter Lourie, Matrix Learning Inc.: RiverResource. At RiverResource you won't find the facts, but rather the connections to facts, books, and people studying rivers. Go To: River System (by Hamblin 1995). Major characteristics of a river system.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Open Courseware. Free lecture notes, exams, and videos from MIT. No registration required. Go to:
David Mohrig: Sedimentary Geology. Selected lecture notes (PDF files). This course covers e.g. sediments in the rock cycle, sediment transport and deposition in modern sedimentary environments, stratigraphic relationships of sedimentary basins, evolution of sedimentary processes through geologic time, etc. Go to: Lecture notes. PDF files.

David McConnell, Department of Geology, University of Akron: Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rocks. A series of lectures which describe the basic types of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, the control of grain size of clastic sediments, lithification, how chemical sedimentary rocks form, the temperature at which metamorphism occurs and the factors influencing it.

! Virginia T. McLemore: Sedimentology and Sedimentary Processes. Powerpoint presentation.

Phil McNamara, Waterfiltersfast.com: Erosion: Wind, Water, and Ice. Information in a nutshell and a useful link list.

Per Michaelsen (2002): Mass extinction of peat-forming plants and the effect on fluvial styles across the Permian-Triassic boundary, northern Bowen Basin, Australia. PDF file, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 179: 173-188. Models of fluvial styles in fig. 7 (on PDF page 10).

J.W. Morse, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX, USA: Formation and Diagenesis of Carbonate Sediments. (PDF file). A sample chapter of Volume 7. Sediments, Diagenesis, and Sedimentary Rocks (Fred T. Mackenzie), Treatise on Geochemistry.

World Data Center for Marine Geology & Geophysics, Boulder, National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC): Total Sediment Thickness of the World's Oceans & Marginal Seas. The data values are in meters and represent the depth to acoustic basement. The distribution of sediments in the oceans is controlled by five primary factors:
1. Age of the underlying crust
2. Tectonic history of the ocean crust
3. Structural trends in basement
4. Nature and location of sediment source, and
5. The nature of the sedimentary processes delivering sediments to depocenters.

Stephen A. Nelson, Tulane University (adapted to HTML by Earth Science Australia, with links to other Earth Science Australia resouurces): Free On-Line National Curriculum Science Syllabus Certificate Course "The Earth And Beyond". Go to: Sedimentary Rocks.

! N. Noffke et al. (2001): Microbially induced sedimentary structures: A new category within the classification of primary sedimentary structures. PDF file.

P David Polly, Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN: Historical Geology. Life through time. Lecture notes. Topics are paleontology, geologic time, biological evolution, plate tectonics, ancient environments, and climate change, principles of interpreting earth history from geological data, etc. Go to:
Lecture 2: Rocks, the earth's historical record,
Lecture 6: Coming Down: Sedimentary Rocks and Depositional Environments,
Lecture 7: Lakes, Rivers, Wind and Ice: Deposition on Land ,
Lecture 8: Deltas, shores, and reefs: Deposition at Sea . Lecture slides (PDF files).

L. Bruce Railsback, Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens: An Atlas of Speleothem Microfabrics. Stalagmites, stalactites, and other mineral deposits known as speleothems contain chemical and mineralogical clues to past rainfall and temperatures.

Hugh Rance, City University of New York: The Present is the Key to the Past. An electronic, college level, introductory historical geology textbook. Go to: Minerals and Rocks, e.g. Minerals and mineraloids,
Chemical bonds,
Physical properties of common rock forming minerals,
Rocks (three types),
Classification of sedimentary rocks,
Define clast,
Distinguish detrital and chemical sediments, and
Lithification.

Robert M. Reed, Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas, Austin: CL Web. Go to: Sandstones.

! Dave Rubin, Western Region Coastal & Marine Geology, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Menlo Park, CA: The USGS bedform sedimentology site. QuickTime and MPEG movies of bedforms and cross-bedding, and bedform simulation software. From this page you can access: Images of bedforms and crossbedding, and "How to identify low-dimensional deterministic systems (chaos) in time series or spatial patterns". Go to: Cross-Bedding, Bedforms, and Paleocurrents. Excellent!

J.P. Smoot: SEDIMENTARY FABRICS AS INDICATORS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: STRATEGIES AND PITFALLS IN CORE STUDIES. Powerpoint presentation, Workshop 2007, Colorado Plateau Coring Project (CPCP).

Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), Tulsa, Oklahoma

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Open Courseware. Free lecture notes, exams, and videos from MIT. No registration required. Go to:
John Southard: Sedimentary Geology. Lecture notes (PDF files). A survey of the important aspects of modern sediments and ancient sedimentary rocks. Emphasis is on fundamental materials, features, and processes, etc. Lecture Notes. PDF files.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Open Courseware. Free lecture notes, exams, and videos from MIT. No registration required. Go to:
John Southard: Special Topics in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences: The Environment of the Earth´s Surface. PDF files. The course combines aspects of geology, climatology, hydrology, and soil science to present a coherent introduction to the surface of the Earth. Go to: Rivers (PDF file), and Lakes (PDF file).

Mike Strickler, GeoMania, Rogue Community College (Department of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene):
Brief introductions, Community College level:
Sedimentary Rock notes
Brief introductions, High School level:
Sedimentary Rock notes.

Roger Suthren, Department of Geology, Oxford Brookes University: Sedimentology. See also: Volcaniclastic sediments, Composition of terrigenous clastic rocks, Textures in terrigenous clastic rocks, Sandstone diagenesis, Carbonate sediments 1, Carbonate petrography and classification, and Carbonate diagenesis.

! Maurice E. Tucker (2001): Sedimentary Petrology. 262 pages. Provided by Blackwell Publishing through the Google Books Partner Program. Registration procedure required. Use "More results from this book" or "Search this book" to navigate. Unfortunately, you can view two pages around your search result, but you can search again! Use Google Book Search to search the full text of books.

Maurice Tucker, University of Durham: Limestone Sedimentology and Carbonate Reservoirs.

UniServity, UK: Oxbow Lake Formation. This Flash slide show renders a detailed five step analysis of oxbow lake formation.

University of South Carolina Sequence Stratigraphy Web: Diagrams that track Carbonate Diagenesis. A directory of diagrams and photomicrographs that track the various settings of carbonate diagenesis. Most of these diagrams and photographs were created by Christopher Kendall.

Geological Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver: Clastic Depositional Environments. This web site is based on a core display of real rocks.

David Völker and Dorothee Mertmann, Institut für Geowissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin: Chemische Sedimente. A tutorial, in German.

Steve Wagner (paleontological volunteer at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science): Paleocurrents.com: Mainly nice photo galleries of fossil plants. Go to: Castle Rock Fossil Rainforest. Please take notice: THE MEANDERING RIVER.

Ian West, Geology Department, Southampton University: Sedimentology. Annotated index, excellent!

Ian West, Geology Department, Southampton University, UK: Sedimentology, General. See also: Sedimentary Structures - Illustrations for Students.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Open Courseware. Free lecture notes, exams, and videos from MIT. No registration required. Go to:
Kelin Whipple and Ben Crosby: Surface Processes and Landscape Evolution. The course (PDF files) offers an introduction to quantitative analysis of geomorphic processes, and examines the interaction of climate, tectonics, and surface processes in the sculpting of Earth´s surface.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Sedimentology.

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