Review Items

Photomicrograph of a mudrock obtained by SEM. Quartz (Q) precipitated between flakes of muscovite (Mus). Mudrocks are the most common sedimentary rock.

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Last Update: October 16, 2009 10:53 am

You should have some knowledge of the following items.

• Facies
  • Transgressions, regressions and their effect on facies.
  • Major sedimentary environments
  • Walther's Law- facies relationships
  • Effects of climate, tectonics and sea level
  • Autocyclic vs. allocyclic succession (what are Milankovitch Cycles?)
• Sequences and their probable causes
  • First order - icehouse vs. greenhouse
  • Sloss Sequences (2nd Order) - sea floor spreading rates
  • 3rd Order - essentially unknown
  • 4th Order - Milamkovitch Cycles
• Depositional environments - Understand the important processes and sedimentary signatures (responses) that distinguish the following depositional environments.   You should be able to sketch a generalized stratigraphic column for each.
• Fluvial (meandering vs. braided streams, alluvial fans)
• Deltaic
  • Characteristics controlling deltaic sedimentation
  • Hinterland
  • Receiving Basin (3 characteristics)
  • Tectonic Framework
  • Delta subenvironments -distributary/levee, delta platform, delta slope, prodelta
  • Delta packages, cyclothem controversy
• Coastal Systems- beach, upper and lower shoreface, transitional zone, tidal flats
• Shelf Systems
  • Siliciclastic Shelves
    • Important physical and biological processes
    • Understand the three types of shelves and the processes/sediments associated with each
  • Carbonate Shelves
    • Outline the various peritidal environments and the facies associated with each
    • Explain the concept of time-transgressive facies and how is applies to peritidal carbonates
    • What are punctuated aggradational cycles?
  • Reefs - framework, cement, brief geologic history.   Why are reefs constrained to shallow tropical environments?
• Stratigraphy
  • Basic concepts of various methods of stratigraphy. Lithostratigraphic vs. Geochronologic vs. Chronostratigraphic units.
  • Lithostratigraphy - basic concepts
  • Biostratigraphy
    • characteristics of index fossils
    • how are FAD vs. LAD vs. overlapping range zones used?
  • Seismic Stratigraphy - what do seismic profiles represent? How was the Vail sea level curve generated?
  • Compare and contrast Sloss Sequences with Sequence Stratigraphy.
    • Mechanisms controlling 1st, 2nd and 4th order cycles.
  • Magnetostratigraphy - what does the magnetic time scale measure? How is the magnetic time scale applied to geologic materials.
  • Chronostratigraphy -radiometric age dates used in conjunction with relative age dating principles to date sedimentary rocks. What particular problems are associated with obtaining radiometric age dates from sedimentary materials? What systems are most commonly used?