Last modified: 28 Jun 2018 10:27
Sedimentology is fundamental to interpreting past climate and geography from the evidence in the rock record of the environment in which sediment was deposited. This course develops the skills needed to make such interpretations by cultivating proficiency at description and process-based interpretation of sedimentary successions, and showing how study of modern environments is used to decipher sedimentary processes. We review the controls on the preservation of sediments to make the rock record, including an introduction to the concepts of genetic (sequence) stratigraphy, and see how this can improve discovery and recovery of water and hydrocarbon resources in the subsurface.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | None. | Sustained Study | No |
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The course will take a problem-led approach emphasising concepts and techniques in preference to exhaustive knowledge. By the end of this course, students should be able to:
describe sedimentary successions in an objective, non-interpretative way, identifying the features of physical, chemical and biological origin, and assemble the descriptions into a sedimentary log;
describe the dominant processes, lithological characteristics, and spatial architecture of the terrestrial and marine depositional environments that dominate the sedimentary rock record;
describe in general terms how the inherent characteristics of these environments as well as externally applied factors affects the preservation potential, temporal evolution, and three-dimensional architecture of sedimentary successions;
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%) plus in-course assessment (40%) based on practical exercises (must achieve at least CAS 9 for all in-course assessments to pass the module overall). Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (60%) plus in-course assessment carried forward from first attempt (40%).
Core-logging exercise and production of a sedimentary facies model is carried out over the course of the half-session, and this is marked in interim marking as well as a final summative mark.
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