Learning outcomes

The course :

 

  • introduces the main sedimentological processes for geologists
  • provides the basis for (re)understanding the nature of the main sedimentary rocks
  • describes the links between the (palaeo)environmental context and the type of deposits
  • enables students to familiarise themselves with the description of sedimentary rocks using thin sections.

Goals

Identify the sedimentary rocks by i) macroscopic observation (review of Bloc 1) and ii) examination of thin sections using a polarising optical microscope. Students will then interpret their observations in order to define the environmental context of deposition. At the end of this course, the student should be able to deduce the context of deposition of sedimentary rocks and draw geological applications from it.

 

Content

The course successively describes the different sedimentary rocks (terrigenous detritus, evaporite, limestone, carbonaceous) based on the (palaeo)environmental context in which they were formed.
 
4 practical sessions (analysis of thin sections)
 
1 day in the field (Hoyoux valley)

Table of contents

Topics discussed during the course :

  • introduction
  • stratigraphy
  • sedimentary basins
  • erosion
  • weathering
  • transport
  • ocean
  • deposition
  • classification and paleoenvironments of detritic rocks
  • classification and paleoenvironments of carbonceous rocks
  • sedimentary structures
  • evaporites - carbon rocks - siliceous rocks
  • introduction to diagenesis


Teaching methods

Observe - Describe - Analyse - Interpret are the key words on which the EU is based.

Assessment method

Theoretical written exam (50% of final grade)
Practical microscope examination, description of thin slides (40% of final grade)
Field trip report linking the practical work and theoretical concepts (10% of final grade)

Sources, references and any support material

Boulvain (2010). Pétrologie sédimentaire: des roches aux processus. Ellipses, Paris, 259 pp.

Bridge J.S., Demicco R.V. (2008). Earth surfaces processes, landforms and sediment deposits, 815 pp.

Chamley H., Aubouin J. Bases de sédimentologie, Dunod, 2000, 178 pp.

Cojan I., Renard M. 1997. Sédimentologie. Masson Ed. ISBN 2-225-85430-0

Einsele G. Sedimentary Basin. Springer, 2000, 792 pp.

Reineck H.-E., Singh I.B. Depositional Sedimentary Environments. Springer-Verlag, 1973, 439 pp. 

Selley R.C. An introduction to sedimentology. Academic Press, 1982, 417 pp.

Tucker M., Wright P. Carbonate sedimentology, Blackwell Science, 2008 (1990), Part

 + website https://coursgeologie.com/le-depot-des-sediments-222/#gsc.tab=0

Language of instruction

French
Training Study programme Block Credits Mandatory
Bachelor in Geology Standard 0 4
Bachelor in Geology Standard 2 4