Course overview
This course will provide students with the knowledge and skills to analyse and interpret sedimentary environments and rocks. Students will learn how to observe, describe, and classify sediments from modern to ancient systems, and at scales ranging from grain to basin. By integrating field and laboratory observations, students will develop a holistic understanding of how sediment transport and deposition, sedimentary environments, stratigraphic patterns, fossils and preservation evolve through time. Students will develop a practical appreciation of the role that sedimentary processes play in shaping the Earth’s surface, enabling reconstruction of the geological past.
- Description and Classification
- Processes
- Depositional Environments
- Preservation and Correlation
Course learning outcomes
- Demonstrate practical skills in the observation of sedimentary data from modern environments, outcrop and core, and experimental models
- Describe the characteristics of clastic and carbonate rocks using appropriate classification schemes.
- Interpret processes of sediment transport and deposition from grain and deposit properties
- Evaluate the geomorphology and sedimentology of different depositional environments from land to the deep ocean.
- Recognise the changes that occur after sediment deposition, including modes of fossil preservation.
- Explain the key controls on erosion and deposition through time, and the methods used to correlate deposits across regional and global scales.