This page provides a brief outline of, lists the main points of, gives links to figures for, and lists the assigned reading for a lecture in Dr. Bruce Railsback's GEOL 1121 class at the University of Georgia. This page is not intended as a set of lecture notes, and it cannot subsititute for a set of lecture notes. Familiarity with this page alone will not assure satisfactory grades on exams in the course.

Lecture 8 (Friday, February 1): Sedimentary Rocks

Brief outline of this lecture:
Kinds of sedimentary rocks
Characteristics of sedimentary rocks
Origins of sedimentary rocks
Lithification of sedimentary rocks

Main points of this lecture:
Sediments can originate by breakdown of pre-existing rocks, through biological processes, or through chemical processes.
Textures of sediments can be characterized by the size, rounding, sphericity, and sorting of grains.
Sedimentary rocks can be linked to sediments from which they form.
Most sediments have relatively distinct environments in which they accumulate.
Breccias can form in many ways
Loose sediments are compacted and cemented to form solid rocks.

Figures used in this lecture:
Three fundamental kinds of sedimentary rocks
Characteristics of sediments
Characteristics of sediments II: Layering
A possible sedimentary rock
Sediments, the environments in which they accumulate, and the sedimentary rocks they form
Highly generalized locations of where sediments accumulate
Origins of breccias
Lithification of sediments

Reading assignment: pp. 35-36.

Next Lecture
Email to Railsback (rlsbk@gly.uga.edu)
Railsback's main 1121 web page
Railsback's main web page
UGA Geology Department web page