Sedimentary Rock

How and Where

Formed from the sediments of weathered rocks.

Sediments are cemented together to form new rocks OR...

when minerals are left behind when water evaporates

Characteristics

Often there are visible layers in the rocks. You may see the individual sediments that make up the rocks

3 types of SR

• Clastic - fragments of rock cemented together with calcite or quartz
• Organic - made of the remains of plants and animals
• Chemical - formed out of solution in warm marine waters (shells, corals, marine feces)

3 types of SR

• Clastic - fragments of rock cemented together with calcite or quartz
• Organic - made of the remains of plants and animals
• Chemical - formed out of solution in warm marine waters (shells, corals, marine feces)

Examples of

Examples are

• sandstone (clastic)
• conglomerate (clastic)
• limestone (chemical)
• coal (organic)

Why are fossils found

Dead plants and animals form fossils in the mud and sand that become sedimentary rocks

But sedimentary rocks are also the only rocks made without

heat which would destroy them or pressure that would crush them

Some important

Weathering

Erosion

Deposition

Compacting

Cementation

Cementation