7: Chemical, Biochemical, and Other Sedimentary Rocks

This chapter focuses on sedimentary rocks other than clastics and carbonates (evaporites, siliceous, and organic-rich rocks). Most of them form either from direct precipitation from fluids or because of the activities of living organisms. Although not as volumetrically significant as carbonates or clastics, the rocks described in this chapter are of great economic importance.

Learning Objectives

• List common evaporite minerals
• Describe how evaporite minerals form and how thick evaporite deposits occur.
• Summarize the special physical properties of evaporites.
• List the basic types of siliceous rocks and explain how they formed.
• Explain how oil, natural gas, and coal form.

Chapter thumbnail shows a worker holding up a piece of coal in front of a coal firing power plant in the Netherlands (Adrem68 via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)

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