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6.15: Sedimentary Processes and Sedimentary Structures

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    Sedimentary Processes and Sedimentary Structures

    Lamination and bedding

    Sediments are deposited in layers ranging from paper-thin sheets to massive beds tens to hundreds of feet thick! A laminae (or lamination) is a layer of sediment or sedimentary rock layer only a small fraction of an inch (less than a centimeter) in thickness (see Figure 6.57). Thin lamination is typically associated with fine-grained sediments deposited in quiet or slack-water environments, such as in a lake basin or offshore below the influence of waves and strong currents. Bedding is the smallest division of a sedimentary rock formation or stratigraphic rock series marked by well-defined divisional planes (bedding planes) separating it from layers above and below (see Figure 6.58).

    lamination Bedding at the Del Mar Dog Beach, CA
    Figure 6.57. Lamination in shale. Each laminae may be an annual cycle of deposition or a seasonal storm flood event (scale is in mm to cm). Figure 6.58. Bedding is layers of sediment deposited in an environmental setting on a scale of hundreds to many thousands of years.

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