Methodology of Sedimentology
The methods employed by sedimentologists to gather data and evidence on the nature and depositional conditions of sedimentary rocks include;
- Measuring and describing the outcrop and distribution of the rock unit;
- Describing the rock formation, a formal process of documenting thickness, lithology, outcrop, distribution, contact relationships to other formations
- Mapping the distribution of the rock unit, or units
- Descriptions of rock core (drilled and extracted from wells during hydrocarbon exploration)
- Sequence stratigraphy
- Describes the progression of rock units within a basin
- Describing the lithology of the rock;
- Petrology and petrography; particularly measurement of texture, grain size, grain shape (sphericity, rounding, etc.), sorting and composition of the sediment
- Analysing the geochemistry of the rock
- Isotope geochemistry, including use of radiometric dating, to determine the age of the rock, and its affinity to source regions
Read more about this topic: Sedimentology
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