4: Sedimentary Structures

Sedimentary structures are important because they tell us about processes that were operating during the deposition of that sediment. Things like flow velocity, depth, and direction can be determined from some sorts of structures. From there, we can start to make some educated guesses about what sorts of depositional environments these processes were taking place in. But, the first step is having the vocabulary to describe what you are seeing.

Learning Objectives

• Identify common sedimentary structures
• Interpret appropriate sedimentary structures to determine paleoflow direction
• Interpret and describe the processes responsible for and recorded by sedimentary structures
• Use appropriate sedimentary structures to determine way up and top/bottom of beds

Chapter thumbnail shows eolian sand dunes in Death Valley National Park (Michael C. Rygel via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0).

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