(See related pages)
Below you will find key words and concepts that you should remember from this chapter.
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| bedding | An arrangement of layers or beds of rock. (See page(s) 356) |
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| bedding plane | A nearly flat surface separating two beds of sedimentary rock. (See page(s) 356) |
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| cement | The solid material that precipitates in the pore space of sediments, binding the grains together to form solid rock. (See page(s) 346) |
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| cementation | The chemical precipitation of material in the spaces between sediment grains, binding the grains together into a hard rock. (See page(s) 346) |
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| chemical sedimentary rock | A rock composed of material precipitated directly from solution. (See page(s) 347) |
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| chert | A hard, compact, fine-grained sedimentary rock formed almost entirely of silica. (See page(s) 355) |
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| clastic sedimentary rock | A sedimentary rock composed of fragments of preexisting rock. (See page(s) 347) |
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| clastic texture | An arrangement of rock fragments bound into a rigid network by cement. (See page(s) 346) |
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| clay | Sediment composed of particles with diameter less than 1/256 mm. (See page(s) 343) |
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| coal | A sedimentary rock formed from the consolidation of plant material. It is rich in carbon, usually black, and burns readily. (See page(s) 356) |
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| compaction | A loss in overall volume and pore space of a rock as the particles are packed closer together by the weight of overlying material. (See page(s) 346) |
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| conglomerate | A coarse-grained sedimentary rock (grains coarser than 2 mm) formed by the cementation of rounded gravel. (See page(s) 347) |
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| contact | Boundary surface between two different rock types or ages of rocks. (See page(s) 361) |
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| cross-bedding | An arrangement of relatively thin layers of rock inclined at an angle to the more nearly horizontal bedding planes of the larger rock unit. (See page(s) 356) |
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| crystalline texture | An arrangement of interlocking crystals. (See page(s) 347) |
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| crystallization | Crystal development and growth. (See page(s) 346) |
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| deposition | The settling or coming to rest of transported material. (See page(s) 344) |
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| dolomite | A sedimentary rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite. (See page(s) 353) |
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| environment of deposition | The location in which deposition occurs, usually marked by characteristic physical, chemical, or biological conditions. (See page(s) 345) |
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| evaporite | Rock that forms from crystals precipitating during evaporation of water. (See page(s) 355) |
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| formation | A body of rock of considerable thickness that has a recognizable unity or similarity making it distinguishable from adjacent rock units. Usually composed of one bed or several beds of sedimentary rock, although the term is also applied to units of metamorphic and igneous rock. A convenient unit for mapping, describing, or interpreting the geology of a region. (See page(s) 361) |
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| fossil | Traces of plants or animals preserved in rock. (See page(s) 360) |
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| graded bed | A stream that exhibits a delicate balance between its transporting capacity and the sediment load available to it. (See page(s) 359) |
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| gravel | Rounded particles coarser than 2 mm in diameter. (See page(s) 343) |
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| limestone | A sedimentary rock composed mostly of calcite. (See page(s) 351) |
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| lithification | The consolidation of sediment into sedimentary rock. (See page(s) 346) |
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| matrix | Fine-grained material found in the pore space between larger sediment grains. (See page(s) 349) |
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| mud crack | Polygonal crack formed in very fine grained sediment as it dries. (See page(s) 359) |
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| organic sedimentary rock | Rock composed mostly of the remains of plants and animals. (See page(s) 347) |
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| original horizontality | The deposition of most water-laid sediment in horizontal or near-horizontal layers that are essentially parallel to Earth’s surface. (See page(s) 356) |
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| pore space | The total amount of space taken up by openings between sediment grains. (See page(s) 346) |
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| recrystallization | The development of new crystals in a rock, often of the same composition as the original grains. (See page(s) 353) |
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| ripple mark | Any of the small ridges formed on sediment surfaces exposed to moving wind or water. The ridges form perpendicularly to the motion. (See page(s) 359) |
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| rounding | The grinding away of sharp edges and corners of rock fragments during transportation. (See page(s) 343) |
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| sand | Sediment composed of particles with a diameter between 1/16 mm and 2 mm. (See page(s) 343) |
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| sandstone | A medium-grained sedimentary rock (grains between 1/16 mm and 2 mm) formed by the cementation of sand grains. (See page(s) 349) |
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| sediment | Loose, solid particles that can originate by (1) weathering and erosion of preexisting rocks, (2) chemical precipitation from solution, usually in water, and (3) secretion by organisms. (See page(s) 343) |
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| sedimentary breccia | A coarse-grained sedimentary rock (grains coarser than 2 mm) formed by the cementation of angular rubble. (See page(s) 347) |
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| sedimentary rock | Rock that has formed from (1) lithification of any type of sediment, (2) precipitation from solution, or (3) consolidation of the remains of plants or animals. (See page(s) 347) |
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| sedimentary structure | A feature found within sedimentary rocks, usually formed during or shortly after deposition of the sediment and before lithification. (See page(s) 356) |
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| shale | A fine-grained sedimentary rock (grains finer than 1/16 mm in diameter) formed by the cementation of silt and clay (mud). Shale has thin layers (laminations) and an ability to split (fissility) into small chips. (See page(s) 350) |
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| silt | A tabular intrusive structure concordant with the country rock. (See page(s) 343) |
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| sorting | the process whereby sediment grains are selected and separated according to grain size. (See page(s) 344) |
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| source area | a locality that eroded and provided sediment for transport. (See page(s) 362) |
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| superposition | ordering of sedimentary layers with oldest on the bottom and youngest on top when horizontally layered. (See page(s) 356) |
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| turbidity current | dense masses of sediment-laden water that flow downslope along the sea floor. (See page(s) 349) |