10: Depositional Environments
In this chapter we provide a survey of the most common clastic and carbonate environments and talk about their geometry, occurrence, typical lithologies and structures, and provide numerous pictures of each. Given the scale of these features, the kind of facies analysis needed to determine depositional environments is best learned in the field or by looking at drill core.
- Describe the most common lithologies, sedimentary structures, and fossils in major clastic and carbonate depositional environments.
- Explain what processes are important in these environments.
Chapter thumbnail shows a cast of a standing lycopsid in floodplain deposits of the Pennsylvanian Joggins Formation, Nova Scotia ( Michael C. Rygel via Wikimedia Commons ; CC BY-SA 4.0 ).