Sedimentology
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Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation, transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of modern processes to interpret geologic history through observations of sedimentary rocks and sedimentary structures.
Middle Triassic marginal marine sequence of siltstones and sandstones, southwestern Utah.
Mi Vida uranium mine in redox mudstones near Moab, Utah
Heavy minerals (dark) deposited in a quartz beach sand (Chennai, India).
Centripetal desiccation cracks (with a dinosaur footprint in the center) in the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm, southwestern Utah.
Sediment
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Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand and silt can be carried in suspension in river water and on reaching the sea bed deposited by sedimentation; if buried, they may eventually become sandstone and siltstone through lithification.
River discharging sediment into the ocean
Sediment in the Gulf of Mexico
Sediment off the Yucatán Peninsula
Sediment builds up on human-made breakwaters because they reduce the speed of water flow, so the stream cannot carry as much sediment load.