Homework: Fluid Flow 1

1. Calculate the Reynolds number, flow speed, or water depth for the following flows using the Reynolds equation.  The density of water is 1000 kg/m3, and it has a viscosity of 0.001 kg/(m*s).  (6 points)

a) Calculate the Reynolds number for a flow with speed = 1 m/s and depth = 1 m.  Is the flow laminar, transitional, or turbulent?

b) Calculate the Reynolds number for a flow with speed = 0.1 m/s and depth = 0.1 m.  Is the flow laminar, transitional, or turbulent?

c) What is the maximum water depth for a laminar flow if the flow speed is 0.01 m/s?

2.  Where in any water flow is there laminar flow even if the flow speed is 0.45 m/s and the depth is 10’s of centimeters?  Why is it laminar?  (Assume that the bed it is flowing over is smooth.  You can watch this video: http://tinyurl.com/7lcc4o for a big hint!) (4 points)

3.  Watch the video at http://youtu.be/TKH1DyV9vNU called Sports Car Aerodynamics: Spoiler Alert!  Using the description of pressure in airflow over cars with spoilers vs. airfoils vs neither, sketch the laminar and turbulent areas of flow over a round sedimentary grain sitting on a flat surface.  Show the areas of low and high pressure and the forces on the grain.   (6 points)

4.  In words, briefly describe the process (Bernouli Effect) that causes grains to be picked up off the bed and entrained in the flow (at least temporarily). This description should be consistent with your sketch in question 3.  (4 points)

Fluid Flow and Sediment Transport

Key Concepts from Lecture 2
Reynolds Number - Reynolds number predicts the extent of turbulence in a fluid based on how fast the fluid is flowing, the geometry of the flow (how deep and wide it is, etc.), and the density and viscosity the of the fluid. Re = (fluid inertial forces)/(fluid viscous forces) = l*u*r/µ where the variables are flow velocity (u), characteristic length (l) which represents flow geometry, say river depth, fluid density (r), and fluid viscosity (µ). Turbulent flow has Re is greater than 2000 and laminar flow has Re is less than 500. Flow with Re between 500 and 2000 is transitional and has some characteristics of laminar flow, but some turbulence as well.

Boundary Layer and Laminar Sublayer - There is boundary layer at the edge of every flow where flow speed decreases due to friction. Within the boundary layer, right next to the surface, the flow speed is very low, creating a laminar sublayer.

Sediment Transport
Bed Shear Stress: The boundary layer determines the amount of “Bed Shear Stress” which corresponds to the forces that tend to roll particles along the bed and the pressure differences above and below the grain which tend to lift them off the bed. Bed shear stress is related to the thickness of the laminar sublayer. The narrower it is, the more bed shear stress. It also depends on the slope. If the slope is steep, gravity helps pull grains down the slope, increasing bed shear stress. Also, the roughness of the bed is a factor. A rough bed deflects flows and increases turbulence, which increases the bed shear stress, particularly in places where flow is directed into the sediment and the boundary layer is compressed. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sediment_transport#Bed_shear_stress for more detailed information.)

The Bernoulli Effect
A pressure difference “pulls” grains off the bed. The pressure difference comes from a difference in water (or air) speed above and below the grain. As water flows faster, there are fewer collisions between the water and a surface it flows over than there are between standing water and a similar surface. Pressure is due to collisions. Thus, fewer collisions means lower pressure. The upstream side of a grain experiences the most collisions because the water is flowing into it. The downstream side experiences the fewest collisions, and the sides of the grain experience fewer collisions where flow is faster and more where the flow is slower. The net result is a low pressure zone above and slightly downstream of a grain. If the force exerted by this pressure difference is larger than the force of gravity, the grain will lift off the bed. This lift due to the pressure difference is the Bernouli Effect.

Which Grains Move? Which grains get entrained in the flow depends on their size and density (how much they weigh) because that determines the force of gravity holding them down. It also depends on the shape of the grain. One with a large area to experience the low pressure (like a plate) will be more susceptible to being picked up than a round grain of the same mass (although flat grains may see a smaller flow difference from top to bottom if the boundary layer is thick, and flat grains may experience a lower Bernoulli Effect per unit area.) The other thing that really matters is the position of a grain relative to surrounding grains. If a grain is sandwiched between larger grains, i.e. in their flow shadows, it will not experience as big a pressure difference as if it is on a flat surface. Also, if a grain is upstream of a big grain, it has to be lifted over it, so a larger pressure difference is needed. Thus, things can get complicated if you are trying to predict the behavior of a specific grain. However, we have some general guidelines based on experiments and theory that nicely predict how grains behave on average.

Bedload and Suspended Load Transport
Two things can happen once a grain is lifted into the flow: 1) it can fall back down or 2) it can stay there. It depends on how quickly the grain settles out versus how turbulent the water is (back to Re...). Bedload refers to the grains that are transported along the sedimentary bed, e.g. grains that are rolling and being lifted off the bed, but they fall back quickly. The name bedload comes from the fact that the grains moving by traction and saltation never get too far from the bed and “load” is an engineering term for the amount of sediment transported by a river. Rolling grains are in traction. Grains that are pulled off the bed with the Bernoulli effect but are large enough that gravity causes them to fall “quickly” back to the bed are said to be saltating. (The word saltating refers to the way salt from a salt shaker bounces when it is shaken onto a hard surface. The word is derived from a Latin word meaning dance.) Bedload grains are the ones that form sedimentary structures in flowing water.

Here is a playlist with movies related to sediment transport: Sumnerd’s Sed Transport Playlist and an extra movie at
http://faculty.gg.uwyo.edu/heller/SedMovs/bedload.htm (7.8 Mb)

Suspended sediment consists of grains that are light enough that they do not settle out of the water; the turbulent bursts of water keep them in the flow. The more turbulence in the water, e.g. the higher the Reynolds number, the larger the grains in suspension will be. The upward motions of turbulent flow are faster than the rate these grains settle, so gravity is counteracted and they stay “floating” in the water even though they are denser than the water. Very small grains do not settle out of flows unless the Reynolds number is low, which means that the flows need to be standing or very shallow.

Photo of suspended sediment in a Costa Rica River: http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/sumner/gel109/Lectures/L3/CostaRicaRiver.jpg

YouTube video of white clay in a turbulent flow in a flume: http://tinyurl.com/78kg3z The pulsing in the flow is (probably) due to the pump that is making the water flow.

Hjulstrom Diagrams
The flows that are required to pick up grains of certain sizes have been extensively studied in experiments and the results are plotted in Hjulstrom diagrams. Hjulstrom diagrams show grain entrainment on a plot of log grain size versus log flow speed. This diagram shows the areas where grains of different sizes are left on the bed, where they get moved sometimes (this is the gray zone), and where they get lifted up often and eroded away. Note that larger grains require higher flows - in general. The water speed that is required to transport a grain is call the critical velocity. This is important. If there is gravel in a sedimentary deposit, you can say that the water flow had to be above the critical threshold for it to get there! That might require a fast flowing river or strong wave action, thus, a large part of narrowing down the depositional environment has already been done!

A copy of the Hjulstrom Diagram can be found on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hjulstr%C3%B6m_curve

Deeper flows can move larger grains at the same flow velocity because they are more turbulent: Re=u*l*r/µ and l is larger. This is because deeper flows can have larger variations in flow speed and the laminar flow layers are very thin. They can have bursts of very rapid flow relative to the average flow speed and these bursts can pick up larger grains. Actual flow characteristics are much more complex in detail than just Hjulstrom diagrams, which summarize a lot of characteristics into two axes. However, like a lot of people, we will use the diagram anyway, because it is very useful as a rule of thumb. Just remember that it is not a completely accurate representation of what will happen - it represents a reasonable guess.

Silt and Clay - Notice that for the small end of grain size, the speed of flow required for erosion actually increases. One reason small grains are hard to erode is that they tend not to stick up through the laminar sublayer; they are just too small. Thus, thinner boundary layers are necessary to roll them or for the pressure differences to pick them up off the bed. Also, the surfaces of clay minerals tend to be charged and the grains stick together. This is most obvious when big clumps of mud stick to your shoes. That just does not happen with sand (unless there is something gross in it). The stickiness of the clay grains makes them difficult to erode, so faster water flows (a greater pressure difference or larger turbulent burst down to the sediment surface) are required to move them. The smaller the grains, the more surface charges stick the grains together, thus the stronger the flow needed to erode them. The stickiness of the clay grains also depends on the amount of water between them and the mineralogy, so there is a big gray zone where a clay may or may not erode.

In the Hjulstrom diagram, there is an interesting area where the flow is not strong enough to move any of the particles on the bed, but those that are in the suspended load do not settle out either. This zone includes many of the waters on the surface of the earth. In flows with low velocity or that are very deep, Re is high enough to keep some clay in suspension. Clay deposition usually occurs very slowly, e.g. when the rate of settling is just slightly faster than the average rate at which turbulence moves clay particles upward or when the clays clump together to form larger grains (which is common when fresh and salty waters mix).

A few more words about saltation: Saltation is a very interesting and important process in sediment transport, because the force of the impact when the grains land tends to knock new grains up into the flow even if the flow is not fast enough to lift them with the Bernoulli Effect. These new grains can kick up more grains when they land, etc. This increases the rate of sediment transport above the amount the flow can lift grains off of the bed. This is one of the causes of the gray zone in the Hjulstrom diagram at larger grain sizes. Once saltation starts, it can trigger sediment transport that would not otherwise occur.

Watch grains transported by saltation and traction in these movies:   http://faculty.gg.uwyo.edu/heller/SedMovs/Dietrich.htm (11 Mb)
http://faculty.gg.uwyo.edu/heller/SedMovs/sand_sheet.htm (14 Mb)

You can also see bedload transport in a movie that describes why we think we have found evidence of a river on mars:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYHc2alzdUk  My friend Sanjeev narrates it.  He is a professor at Imperial College in London.  More information and graphics are at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&newsid=1360

Deposition: Deposition is the accumulation of grains. If a flow starts slowly and gains speed, it will start to move larger and larger grains. As it slows down, it can only move the smaller ones. Deposition happens when a flow slows down and starts to leave grains on the bed. The combination of changing average flow speeds and local variations in flow speed caused by topography on the bed give rise to very informative sedimentary structures – including cross stratification - which are extremely useful for interpreting depositional environments.

Ripples and Other Bedforms
Structures form on the surface of a bed when topography influences the strength of the flow (and thus the strength of the Bernouli Effect). Erosion occurs where flow is strongest and directed into the bed. Deposition occurs where flow is slower. Deposition almost always creates laminae that are parallel to the depositional surface. Thus, laminae preserved in rocks reflect the shape of the ancient depositional surface. Small ripples have small laminae that dip downstream because that is where deposition occurs; flat beds have flat laminae; large dunes have coarser laminae that dip downstream.

Next Time: We will talk about the details about sedimentary structures.

Fluid Flow Part 1

Key Concepts from Lecture 1
The Principle of Uniformitarianism – the processes that formed ancient deposits are the same as those that form modern deposits.


The Principle of Original Horizontality - strata (or sedimentary rock layers) are deposited in a nearly horizontal position. If they are no longer horizontal, later deformation much have changed their orientation.


The Law of Superposition - younger sediments overlie older sediments.


Walther’s Law

Key Concept: (Walther’s Law) Depositional environments vary in space and time such that “The facies [rock types] that occur conformably next to one another in a vertical section of rock will be the same as those found in laterally adjacent depositional environments” (Johannes Walther, 1894).


One of the most important implications of Walther’s Law is that rocks of the same type are not necessarily deposited at the same time. There is a BIG difference between correlating rocks based on having the same lithology and rock being deposited at the same time. This is a critical conceptual idea that we will focus on throughout the class.

Let’s look at an alluvial fan in Gale Crater, Mars: http://tinyurl.com/be39pmv
Where are there differences in environment laterally? If the fan grew through time, how would you predict the deposits to change vertically?

For more information on ancient stream flows on Mars, see:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1360


Summary of Walther’s Law: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSsULiPouTo


Sediment Transport
Most sediment transport is due to gravity. Things fall down hill in slumps, debris flows, and mudflows, and are transported downhill by fluids, like water, ice, and air. In some cases, processes like waves, currents, and wind transport sediment up a slope such as a beach or up mountain sides. This transport goes against gravity and is driven by the processes of fluid dynamics. Fluid dynamics is the main topic of today's and Monday’s lectures. We will come back to mass wasting processes when we talk about erosion. Mass wasting is important for transporting large volumes of sediment short distances, but fluid transport is required to move sediments long distances and is responsible for most sediment transport. To understand sediment transport, it is essential to understand the mechanics of fluid flow.

Fluid Flow
There are two end member ways fluids flow: 1) laminar flow and 2) turbulent flow. There is a wide gradation between these two end members, specifically "transitional" flows.

Laminar Flow - In laminar flow, water molecules move in straight, parallel lines down current. If you add a dye to water that is in the laminar flow regime, the dye would not mix into the water; it would streak out in an approximately straight line. Laminar flow is characteristic of very slow moving, shallow water, which is uncommon in nature. It is also characteristic of flows in "fluids" that are very viscous, like glacial ice or mud flows that have little water.

Turbulent Flow - In contrast, turbulent flow is characterized by complex motion of water (or other) molecules. Molecules move in all directions in bursts of upward, downward, and forward motion, and even some backward movement. There is abundant mixing in the flow because neighboring molecules move in different directions, and an added dye mixes into the water very quickly. Most water and air flows are turbulent, at least to some degree. Turbulence is important for sediment transport in water and air because it makes grains easier to transport and tends to keep them moving longer.

Transitional Flow – Transitional flows have some characteristics of laminar flow and some of turbulent flow. For example, dye may take some time to mix into the flow, but it does mix.

Movies of Laminar and Turbulent Flow: YouTube Fluid Dynamics Playlist

Image of rivers mixing: http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/sumner/gel109/Lectures/L3/CostaRicaRiver.jpg

Images of glaciers: http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/sumner/gel109/SedStructures/Lg/GlacierTrails.jpg

Is the flow in glaciers laminar or turbulent? How can you tell? What properties of ice make it behave differently than water in terms of the amount of turbulence?

Reynolds Number - The Reynolds number predicts the extent of turbulence in a fluid based on how fast the fluid is flowing, the geometry of the flow (how deep and wide it is, etc.), and the density and viscosity the of the fluid.

[Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a material to flow, i.e. how “thick” and easily deformed it is. Viscosity is sort-of like the amount of friction within a substance. Walking through air is easy, because there is not much friction between air molecules. Air has a low viscosity. Swimming is more difficult because the water drags on your body. This is due to the “friction” between adjacent water molecules, i.e. higher viscosity. Ice is more viscous and impossible to move through because of the crystal bonds between the water molecules. It flows, but it does so slowly. It has a high viscosity relative to water and air (but low compared to most rock).]

Back to the Reynolds number. The variables for the Reynolds number (Re) are: flow velocity (u), characteristic length (l) which represents flow geometry, say river depth, fluid density (ρ), and fluid viscosity (µ). The book uses µ/ρ = v (kinematic viscosity). Re = (fluid inertial forces)/(fluid viscous forces) = l*u*ρ/µ. The units for this equation are typically (length)*(length/time)*(mass/length³)/(mass/(length*time)). These all cancel out to form a unitless number, if you choose the same set of units for each variable, which you should always do.

Re can be viewed as inertial forces divided by viscous forces. Inertia is the resistance to change in motion, and inertial forces tend to make a bit of the fluid keep flowing in its own direction if it is misdirected from the main flow direction. Thus, high inertial forces tend to cause more turbulence. In contrast, viscous forces tend to suppress turbulence by damping out variations in motion through friction. Thus, a flow with a high viscosity (ice) tends to have less turbulence than a low viscosity flow (air).

The magnitude of Re gives an idea of whether the flow is turbulent or laminar. Turbulent flow has Re greater than 2000 and laminar flow has Re less than 500. Flow with Re between 500 and 2000 is transitional and has some characteristics of laminar flow, but some turbulence as well. In most cases, water and air flows have high Re because l is large, u is high and µ is low. Rivers and wind storms are good examples of turbulent flow. In contrast, ice has a high µ and flows slowly (u is low), so it is usually laminar. Also, very thin, slow flows of water, such as water flowing off a smooth cement parking lot, have low Re because l and u are small. Thus, it can be laminar. Laminar flow also occurs locally in turbulent flows right at the contact between the fluid and a smooth surface because u becomes very slow. This is really important for sediment transport, and we'll talk more about it in a few minutes.

It is useful to think about which variables are important for different comparisons. When comparing ice and water, the main difference is viscosity; the viscosity of ice ranges from about 10³ kg/(m*s) up to more than 10²⁰ kg/(m*s) depending on temperature. In contrast, the viscosity of water is ~10^-3 kg/(m*s). The density of both is very close to 1000 kg/m³. Thus, ice is almost always laminar but water is usually turbulent, although it can be laminar. When considering water flows, the flow speed and water depth are both very important. The viscosity and density change a little bit with temperature, but variations in flow speed and water depth are typically much larger effects.

Images of glaciers:
high ice viscosity: http://tinyurl.com/yhyrob9

For air, both the density and viscosity are low, so does Re tend to be high or low? The density of dry air at 1 atm at 15°C is 1.225 kg/m³, and its viscosity is 1.8x10^-5 kg/(m*s), giving an inverse “kinematic viscosity” of p/µ=6.8x10⁵ s/m2 for air versus 1.0x10⁶ s/m2 for water. Thus, air would have a slightly lower value for Re than water for the same flow depth and speed. However, the thickness of typical air flows (meters to 100’s of meters) promotes turbulence. p/µ for ice is 1 to 10^-17 s/m², which is why it is essentially always in a laminar flow regime.

Here is a video of a gust of wind that probably has a maximum u somewhere around 40 m/s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXlYEJaJ66A That’s me putting rocks on the fly of the tent. Note the turbulence and the snow transport.

Boundary Layer




There is boundary layer at the edge of every flow, and it is illustrated in the video above. Flows have an average speed in the middle, but friction with immobile surfaces slows down the speed of the flow right at the surface. This creates a boundary layer that has different flow characteristics than the rest of the flow. Right at the surface, the water does not move, but as you go higher into the flow it starts to move more like the average flow. The area of the flow that has a reduced speed is called the boundary layer. The thickness of the boundary layer depends on Re (i.e. the amount of turbulence) and the roughness of the surface the flow is moving past. If the main water flow is very turbulent, it changes the velocity distribution because more of the high speed water is mixed down into the lower speed areas. Thus, the boundary layer tends to be thin. In less turbulent flow, there is little mixing of water from the center of the flow toward the edge of the flow, so the boundary layer tends to be thicker.

Viscous/Laminar Sublayer - Within the boundary layer, right next to the surface, there is a laminar sublayer. Re=u*l*ρ/µ - remember this defines the difference between laminar and turbulent flow. Because u (water speed) is very low at the base of the boundary layer, the Re is low there and the flow is laminar. The laminar flow part of the boundary layer is called the viscous or laminar sublayer, “viscous” because the viscous properties of the fluid are more important than the inertial effects. The fluid is NOT more viscous here; rather, the inertia of the fluid is lower because u is lower, and the viscous properties dominate the behavior of the fluid. Farther up in the flow, u is higher, so the inertial properties of the flow dominate, and the flow is typically turbulent. If grains do not extend above the top of the laminar sublayer, they do not “see” much turbulence, and they are less likely to be transported. If they do stick up beyond the laminar sublayer because the laminar sublayer is thin or the grains are large, the grains feel the force of the turbulent flow.

Bed roughness or the characteristics of the surface also affect the boundary layer by affecting the amount of water that interacts with the surface. A very smooth bed, say one made of mud, does not deflect the water at all, so there is less mixing and less turbulence. There is a well developed laminar sublayer. In contrast, a bed with pebbles or boulders disrupts the direction of water flow in the boundary layer. The water gets deflected around the pebbles. Water from above tends to take its place. Since it is moving faster, the average water speed in the boundary layer increases. Thus, a rough bed reduces the thickness of the boundary layer much like a more turbulent flow does. A rough bed also disrupts the laminar sublayer by forcing the flow to move around objects. The laminar sublayer is developed locally, but in general, rough beds increase the amount of turbulence in a flow.

Sediments and Flow
Key Concept: The boundary layer strongly affects the amount of “Bed Shear Stress” which corresponds to the forces that tend to roll particles along the bed and the pressure differences above and below grains, which tend to lift them off the bed.

Bed Shear Stress - Sediments are affected by the difference in flow speeds from the bottom to the top of the boundary layer, gravity, and friction with the ground. Bed shear stress is a measure of these differences; it is the differential force that a grain feels from top to bottom. In a thick boundary layer, the speed of water flow at the top of the grains is not much different from the bottom, so bed shear stress is lower, and sediment is less likely to move. In a thin boundary layer, bed shear stress is much higher, and grains are likely to roll down flow. Thus, more turbulent flow (with a thinner boundary layer) results in more sediment transport. Bed shear stress increases with increasing fluid density, slope, and turbulence (water depth and flow speed). For example, water is better at moving sediment than air because it has a higher density and exerts a larger bed shear stress than air can. Deep, fast rivers move more sediment than shallow, slow rivers because of more turbulence and higher flow speeds in the boundary layer in fast rivers.

Next Time: The Bernouli Effect, which causes grains move, the Hjulstrom Diagram, and sediment transport. Read Chapter 4 again.

Introduction to Sedimentology and Stratigraphy

Sediments and Strata
Sediments and sedimentary rocks cover most of earth (and large parts of mars), and weathering is occurring on the rest of it. The reshaping of the surface of the earth has had a huge influence on the planet, affecting everything from the evolution of life to the tectonics of mountain ranges. Sediments and sedimentary rocks record the events and processes that shaped the surface of earth – and other rocky planets. They provide the temporal framework that connects processes within the earth to those at the surface. They are important for:

1. Earth (and mars) history. Sedimentary rocks contain features that allow us to interpret ancient depositional environments, including the evolution of organisms and the environments they lived in, how climate has changed throughout earth history, where and when faults were active, etc.

2. Economic resources. Petroleum reservoirs have organic-rich, sedimentary source rocks that produced the petroleum when heated, most oil and gas migrates through sedimentary rocks, and most of the reservoirs are hosted in sedimentary rocks. Water aquifers are dominantly found in sedimentary rocks (although some are in fractured metamorphic and igneous rocks). The composition of the rocks strongly influences water quality due to water-rock interactions. (Why does Davis water taste bad?) Sedimentary rocks also host economic minerals such as gold and diamonds, which are eroded from other rocks and concentrated to specific areas during sediment transport.

3. Environmental geology. Sediments cover 2/3 of the continents and essentially all of the ocean floor, which totals 89% of the surface of earth. They host the biosphere, and they are most of the rocks we interact with directly and indirectly. Our actions as humans have an extremely strong effect on sedimentation and erosion. Understanding our impact on the environment - and the environment’s impact on us - must include deep appreciation for sediments and sediment transport.

Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
Sedimentology is the study of sediment transport processes and sedimentary rocks, and it is the focus of most of this course. If covers scales ranging from a single grain to entire planets, and focuses on processes. Stratigraphy is the study of the distribution of sediments and sedimentary rocks in space and time. It is essential for understanding earth history, reservoir properties, etc. We will place our sedimentological interpretations into a stratigraphic context with examples in lecture, the homework, and tests.

Sedimentology and stratigraphy are about as old as mineralogy as a field of study. Leonardo da Vinci provided one of the first environmental interpretations from sediments; he interpreted fossils in the Italian Apennines as evidence of an ancient ocean. He used the logic behind what we now call the Principle of Uniformitarianism: Similar organisms produce similar shells. The logic is, “If you see shells on the tops of mountains that look like those from organisms that live in the ocean today, the shells on the mountain tops were probably once in the ocean, too.” (Did the mountains go up or did the ocean go down? That is a question that was not thoroughly answered until we understood plate tectonics!) Here is a more formal statement of the Principle of Uniformitarianism:

Key Concept: The characteristics of sedimentary rocks can be used to determine the environmental conditions under which they were deposited, and the environmental conditions allow you to predict the characteristics of sediments that are likely to be deposited. This is the Principle of Uniformitarianism (formulated by James Hutton in the mid 1700’s) – the processes that formed ancient deposits are the same as those that form modern deposits.

Current ripples forming in a flume:  http://youtu.be/rSzGOCo4JEk
Wave ripples forming in a flume:  http://youtu.be/MBDadRqSHOc
Modern Current Ripple Image: http://tinyurl.com/yjlw7gq
Ancient Current Ripple Image:  http://tinyurl.com/yh46jlm
Modern Wave Ripple Image: http://tinyurl.com/7dbwr82
Ancient Wave Ripple Image: http://tinyurl.com/7t8p2bz

In the much more recent past, for example in the 1970’s, the Principle of Uniformitarianism was interpreted by some as requiring continuous, incremental processes and as excluding dramatic, rapid events. For example, a meteorite impact was seen as a non-uniformitarian event. However, my view of uniformitarianism can encompass rare events. The basic idea is that catastrophic events also produce characteristic features. For example, a meteorite impact produces similar deposits no matter when it occurs in time. We can recognize impact spherules from Archean sedimentary rocks that formed and were deposited in essentially the same way as those from the Cretaceous impact that killed the dinosaurs. Or an impact on mars will produce features similar to those produced by an impact on earth.

Brief summary of how geologists identified the K-T impact: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth501/content/p3_p5.html

The key point is that similar processes produce similar products. All processes are not active at all times (large meteorites are not continuously bombarding earth!), and some, like burrowing by worms for example, did not occur at specific times, e.g. before the evolution of worms. However, if a feature is present that is characteristic of a specific process, e.g. a thin tube-shaped area in a siltstone with a slightly different color and a specific geometry, it is reasonable to interpret that process, e.g. burrowing by a worm, as having produced the feature. This is how we extract earth history from rocks, e.g. the absence of worm burrows before 540 Ma allows us to state with confidence that worms did not exist before 540 Ma. However, it is often challenging to identify which processes produce which features. There is rarely the nice, exact correlation between features and processes that one would wish for. For example, a specific color variation in a rock could reflect a burrow or a water flow path or both if the burrow influenced water flow. One needs to understand the uncertainties in geological interpretations.

Right now, I am using the Principle of Uniformitarianism as a scientist on the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl) - a mission that is using the rover Curiosity to investigate ancient environment in Gale Crater on mars. We are looking at grains and rocks, trying to understand what the ancient environments were like. The only way we can do this is to assume that sedimentary processes on mars produce the same features they would produce if they occurred on earth. There may be some processes on mars that are very rare or do not occur on earth, and these might produce features we do not recognize. However, if we see a current ripple, we can infer that there was flowing water on mars. The details of the flow speed, water depth, etc. might have been different (and we could calculate that), but the basic process was similar.

Summary of the Principle of Uniformitarianism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifdlx_dFzPU

There are two other really important concepts that were first articulated in the 1660’s that we use on both earth and mars: The Principle of Original Horizontality and the fact that younger sediments overlie older sediments. Nicolas Steno was the first to write down the idea that strata (or sedimentary rock layers) are deposited in a nearly horizontal position, an idea called the principle of original horizontality. Some layers are deposited exactly flat, but most layers follow the tilt of the depositional surface, which is not exactly horizontal. However, most sedimentary layers are close to horizontal for our purposes here. If layers are no longer horizontal, later deformation must have changed their orientation.

Images "horizontal" and tilted strata:
Grand Canyon "horizontal" strata:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/grand_canyon_nps/sets/72157626136162880/
Rainbow Basin tilted and folded strata:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rainbow_Basin.JPG

This idea is intimately associated with the idea of time in rocks.

Key Concept: Younger sediments overlie older sediments (if they are still approximately horizontal)– obviously, at least to us now.

Steno first wrote this down in 1667. The relative ages of sedimentary rocks gives us time. We can interpret changes in processes through time using the principle of uniformitarianism combined with the relative age (or stratigraphic succession) of rock layers. Steno’s work provided the intellectual framework for understanding relative time in a local areas. It was not until much later that the idea of “faunal succession” (articulated by William Smith, early 1880’s) provided a global time scale. Smith (and other geologists at the time) recognized that fossil organisms succeed one another in the stratigraphic record in an orderly, recognizable fashion. They were learning about a key component of evolution, although they did not yet have the intellectual framework of evolution by natural selection. They formulated the basic ideas that if organisms evolve through time, rocks containing similar organisms are approximately the same age.

Discussion of the distribution of time in sedimentary rocks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBjR_1vK9ug

The MSL team is using these ideas to interpret the time history of events in Gale Crater. One of the reasons we chose to go to this landing site was that Mt. Sharp, which is a 5 km-high mountain in the crater, contains layers of rock. These layers record a history of processes and events that occurred in Gale Crater, they contain clues to what mars was like about 3 billion years ago. We do not yet know very much about the rocks. However, we do know that the earliest history is in the rocks at the bottom, and changes in the rocks going upward will reflect changes through time. In other words, the history book starts at the bottom.

Strata in Mt. Sharp from the Curiosity landing site: http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/sumner/gel109/Mars/MtSharp_M100.jpg

On earth, geologists have studied the time succession of rocks to create the Geological Time Scale. This time scale is largely based on fossils (for rocks younger than mid-Neoproterozoic time), with radiometric ages providing absolute time and refinements on our understanding of evolution. Continual refinements in the time scale provide insights into the process and history of earth that are core to geology. In many ways, the geological time scale documents our substantial understanding of earth. In contrast, the Martian Geological Time Scale is just being built. We know very little about the history of mars, and right now, we can only use how old rocks look - the number of craters or how many other rocks are on top of them - to get relative ages. Some planetary scientists have noted a correlation between apparent age and mineralogy, with the oldest rocks having more clay minerals, medium aged rocks having more sulfate minerals, and the youngest rocks being mostly wind deposits. On average, this may be true, and this model provides a testable hypothesis, that we can test in part with Curiosity. Rocks in Mt. Sharp show spectral signatures of both clay and sulfate minerals. Using Curiosity, we will analyze the mineralogy of these rocks, in the context of their sedimentary structures, grain size, etc. to interpret the environments they formed in and their relative ages.

It was this process on earth that led to the definition of Cambrian, Ordovician, etc. Comparisons of the spatial distribution of similar features leads to many important insights. Da Vinci recognized that fossils can be used to interpret ancient rocks; he interpreted similar environments because the shells he saw were essentially identical to those in the modern oceans. To Smith and other English geologists, similar fossils suggested the rocks were similar ages.

These two ideas reflect the two key components of stratigraphy: rock types vary in both space and time, but the same type of rock can be deposited in different places at different times. These changes can be organized based on how different environments are distributed:

Key Concept: (Walther’s Law) Depositional environments vary in space and time such that “The facies [rock types] that occur conformably* next to one another in a vertical section of rock will be the same as those found in laterally adjacent depositional environments” (Johannes Walther, 1894).

(*Conformably means that there is neither a break in sedimentation nor erosion between the two environments, e.g. there is no unconformity between them. Jumps in depositional environment can occur if the rocks do not provide a complete record of the environmental changes that occurred; rock types in a vertical succession separated by the unconformity do not necessarily represent neighboring environments.)

Images of environments and a Google Earth tour: Google Earth kmz files (You must have the program Google Earth installed on your computer. Download and open this file.):
Environments from Davis to San Francisco: http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/sumner/gel109/GoogleEarth/DavisSFOEnvironments.kmz
Tidal Environments near Derby, Western Australia: http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/sumner/gel109/GoogleEarth/TidalEnvironmentsDerby.kmz

One of the most important implications of Walther’s Law is that rocks of the same type are not necessarily deposited at the same time. There is a BIG difference between correlating rocks based on having the same lithology and rock being deposited at the same time. This is a critical conceptual idea that we will focus on throughout the class. And what does this suggest for the martian time scale, which is based on mineral compositions?

Summary of Walther’s Law: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSsULiPouTo

Next time - Sediment transport
Reading:
Chapter 4 is the most important for Wednesday’s lecture.
Chapters 2 and 3 cover classification of sediments and sedimentary rocks. We are not going to cover them explicitly in class, but knowing the terminology will be critical. Thus, read these chapters soon! Chapter 2 will be very useful for those of you in lab.

GEL 109 Winter 2013: Business:

Business
The Course web site is the SmartSite for GEL109/109L and http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/sumner/gel109 which is linked on the SmartSite.

I am responsible for:
1. Coming to lecture prepared to provide you with the opportunity to learn about sedimentology.
2. Preparing instructive homework assignments and tests that will help you learn the most important material. My philosophy is to make it clear what I think is important and provide you with tools to learn the material. I provide old tests and detailed study guides so that you can thoroughly learn the material and demonstrate your knowledge of it on the various assignments.
3. Grading your homework and tests in a fair and timely manner.

You are responsible for:
1. Coming prepared for lecture by reviewing your previous lecture notes and reading the text book. Reading the book is very important because it includes some information that I will cover only briefly in class, but I’ll expect you to know. For example, I will not discuss rock classification schemes in lecture because it is boring and the book explains the rock types well. However, I will use the terms sandstone, siltstone, shale, etc. because they are always used in geology, and you need to know them. In most cases, the material I cover in lecture and with the homework assignments are the concepts I think are most important, so the tests will focus on those.

2. Asking questions when you have them in class, through e-mail, during office hours, when you see me in the hall, etc. Asking questions is VERY important for two reasons. First, it will help you and your fellow students learn, which is the entire reason you are in this class. Second, it helps me gage how well I'm communicating information to you. The more I know about how much you are understanding and what you are thinking about, the better I can prepare explanations that are both clear and interesting.

Grades
Grades will be calculated using two formulas: 2 tests and 10 homework assignments with the midterm=33%, final=34%, and homework=33%; and 2 tests with the midterm=50% and final=50%. You will get the higher grade from the two formulas. I do not grade on a curve, so if you all thoroughly learn the material, you can all earn A’s. I have taught this class enough times that I know you can do so if you work hard and ask lots of good questions.

Tests
My tests are hard, but fair. They are hard because they ask you to think about the material. I will give you detailed study guides which will contain all of the material that will be on the tests (plus some). The homework will include questions like those on the tests, and practice tests are available. The only people who have failed the tests are those that did not take advantage of the study tools.

Homework
The homework assignments will be posted on SmartSite as pdf files. For some assignments, there are supplemental web materials. These materials are very useful, and you should plan to use them. Homework is due by the end of the date listed.

Study Resources
Over the years, I’ve accumulated numerous study resources including images and videos. I have posted summary videos on YouTube since 2007, and those videos are used by people all over the world to help learn sedimentology and stratigraphy concepts. I made them for you, my students in GEL109, and they emphasize the key concepts from many of the lectures. My channel is sumnerd. Use the videos!

For people not taking the lab:
The students who are also taking the lab (GEL109L) are spending an additional 6 hours per week working on sedimentology, so they will be more familiar with the material than you are. You can still do well, and it is particularly important that you ask questions. Also, there are two field trips required for the lab. I strongly recommend coming on them. You can learn much more in the field than in lecture or even lab!

Chronostratigraphy

The idea behind chronostratigraphy is to correlate rocks that formed at the same time.  This is useful for reconstructing events and depositional environments in earth history as well as finding resources like oil.  There are several techniques that can be used for chronostratigraphy, including: event stratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and sequence stratigraphy.  Here, I will address event stratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and biostratigraphy.  Sequence stratigraphy is very powerful, and lots of resources on it can be found at:  http://sepmstrata.org/

Event Stratigraphy

Event stratigraphy involves identifying the sedimentary effects of an unusual event in multiple stratigraphic columns.  If one can demonstrate the the effects were all produced by the same even, one can reasonably interpret the effects to have happened at the same time in the different columns.  For example, if a volcano erupts and deposits ash over a broad region, that ash is preserved in the stratigraphy, and a geologist can demonstrate that the ash in multiple sections came from the same eruption, then the geologist can create a chronostratigraphic correlation among the sections.  Other events that are useful for event stratigraphy can include impact debris layers (for example at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary), tsunami deposits, and sometimes large storms.  

There are some shortcomings of event stratigraphy.  First, there has to be an event that affects the stratigraphy.  For it to be useful, it needs to be something that affects multiple depositional environments in a way that produces a distinctive set of features that can be distinguished from the normal depositional processes.  Second, for a specific event to be useful for correlations, it has to have affected the stratigraphy at the sites of interest.  For example, a tsunami that affected the west coast of North America might help one correlate Pleistocene coastal deposits in Oregon and Washington.  However, it would not be helpful for correlating Pleistocene rocks in Florida because it did not influence them.  Third, if there are multiple events, the geologist has to sort out which correlate with each other.  For example, if there are multiple volcanic eruptions at different times, the geologist needs to evaluate which eruptions the ash beds might represent.  It can become complicated to correlate many events.  Sometimes correlations are more reliable if there are fewer events, but then there are not as many potential temporal ties between the stratigraphic columns.  Even with these complications, event stratigraphy is a very valuable tool.  When the events are volcanic, the ash beds can often be dated, providing a precise age for a segment of the stratigraphic column.

Magnetostratigraphy

Magnetostratigraphy uses preserved magnetization of rocks for correlation.  The magnetization comes from the alignment of magnetic minerals in sedimentary rocks (and other types of rocks) with the earth’s magnetic field.  Small magnetic minerals, especially clay-sized minerals, align like little magnets, and when the sediment is lithified, that magnetization can be preserved.  Under the right conditions, samples can be collected and the direction of magnetization measured.  Data can be used to reconstruct the direction of the earth’s magnetic field.  This magnetic field can reverse directions due to the dynamics of circulation in the core.  In other words, sometimes the magnetic field is aligned such that magnets point north (as they do now, and called “normal” in the scientific literature) and sometimes it is aligned such that magnets point south (called “reversed”).  The earth’s magnetic field changes at close to the same time globally, so the effects are seen everywhere.  Paleomagnetists have studied well dated sedimentary and volcanic rocks and have mapped out the times in earth history where the magnetic field was normal and reversed (see:  http://www.geosociety.org/science/timescale/).  This provides a reference that can help correlate other stratigraphic sections.

To correlate a suite of stratigraphic sections using magnetostratigraphy, one would collect samples, measure their magnetic properties using a variety of techniques, and evaluate whether or not they have been remagnetized.  If they have not been remagnetized, changes in the direction of earth’s magnetic field can often be interpreted from the results.  If a geologist has multiple sections that were deposited at the same time, they can interpret the changes in the direction of earth’s magnetic field to have happened at the same time.  Unfortunately, however, one can not necessarily independently tell the many normal intervals apart from each other nor the many reversed intervals apart.  Thus, the geologist needs additional information to make reliable chronostratigraphic correlations.

Biostratigraphy

Biostratigraphy is an extremely powerful tool for chronostratigraphic correlation.  Life evolves through time, with new species emerging and other species going extinct.  For time intervals and species that are well studied, the process of evolution provides a detailed temporal framework for correlating stratigraphic columns.  The basic idea is for the geologist to identify fossils in the stratigraphic columns, compare them to the ranges of those organisms know from previous studies, and then interpret the age of the rocks from documented extinction and species origination events.  This is an extremely powerful approach to correlating stratigraphic columns because each species is unique and changes through time.  However, not all organisms are useful for biostratigraphy.  

Good biostratigraphic species: 1) have short geological ranges, e.g. they did not live for millions of years, and evolved quickly; 2) were distributed over a large region of the earth; 3) were easily preserved; and 4) were abundant.  They also need to be well studied.

Zones of well documented species with distinct origination and extinction times can be defined a number of ways.  A zone could consist of the total time of existence of a fossil, it could consist of the time where two or more fossils coexist, it could be defined as the time between the origination of one fossil and the extinction of a different fossil, etc.  An example of a biostratigraphic zone chart, combined with magnetostratigraphic reversals can be found at:  http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/189_IR/chap_02/c2_f6.htm

Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Example

The end of Cretaceous time is marked by a major extinction, a meteorite impact, and reversals in the Earth's magnetic field.  The following are some figures we'll use in class.  I'll update the notes and reference the figures after class (my computer just crashed and I lost what I'd written - save often!)

Regional Strat Column Correlations

Guest lecture by Cara Harwood on regional correlations of stratigraphic columns across the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary in the western US

+++++++++

Geology 109: Sediments and Strata

March 12, 2012

Cara Harwood

Integrated Stratigraphic Analysis:  Correlating multiple columns using lithology, biostratigraphy, and chemostratigraphy

Recap:  You have been looking at interpreting stratigraphic columns based in lithology, distinctive structures, sequences of structures.  We use Walther’s law to predict how rocks will be stacked vertically.  

Remind yourself what Walter’s law is.  (http://dawnssedstrat.blogspot.com/2012/01/uniformitanianism-original.html)

Today:  Looking at multiple stratigraphic columns from the same time period that correlate across a region.  Focusing on the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary and how multiple columns are used along with biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy to understand and recognize this key time period. 

The Precambrian-Cambrian transition records one of the most important intervals in the history of life.  It encompasses appearance and diversification of metazoans, a change in style of bioturbation (organisms are moving to different types of environments within the sediment), and mineralization of skeletons.  

Sedimentologists, stratigraphers, paleontologists, have studied this interval to try to learn about: 

• the time of the boundary, and correlating the boundary globally
• timing of evolutionary events
• what environments were like where these events were happening
• how environments were distributed

They studied stratigraphic columns and looked at lithologic, paleontologic, and chemostratigraphic data.  We will talk about each of these types of data and how they are correlated in the context of the pC-C boundary in southern California. 

Stratigraphy Types

Biostratigraphy: characterization and correlation of rocks based on their fossil content, based on the principle that organisms have undergone successive changes through geologic time

Chemostratigraphy:  characterization and correlation of rocks based on their chemical composition, based on the principle that certain chemical signatures occur globally through geologic time

Why is studying the pC-C boundary in California interesting? 

• The boundary is defined by a trace fossil that is present in siliciclastic rocks
• It is also defined by a specific chemical signature in carbonate rocks
• Many regions that preserve this boundary do not have both siliciclastics and carboantes together, but they are both present in this region so we can see how they correlate

Paleogeographic map of North America 

550 Ma:

http://www2.nau.edu/rcb7/namPC550.jpg

510 Ma:

http://www2.nau.edu/rcb7/namC510.jpg

Regional map showing positions of the craton margin relative to the Death Valley region and White-Inyos

From Corsetti and Hagadorn, 2003, Sedimentary Record: http://www.sepm.org/CM_Files/SedimentaryRecord/sedrecord1.1.pdf

 

Look at White-Inyo stratigraphic column (on left of the following figure) and talk through the whole thing - lithology, fossils including trace fossils...

From Corsetti and Hagadorn, 2003, Sedimentary Record: http://www.sepm.org/CM_Files/SedimentaryRecord/sedrecord1.1.pdf

Formations around the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary:

• Wyman Formation: interbedded mudrock, siltstone, quartzite; interbedded carbonate layers that increase in number upsection --> shallow marine deposition
• Reed Dolomite: cross bedded oolitic grainstone, stromatolites --> shallow marine, subtidal to intertidal; then hummocky cross bedded sandstone --> deposition below normal wave based, but above storm wave base. 
• Deep Spring Formation: siliciclastic carbonate couplets, with ripple laminated quartzites with hummocky cross stratification, cross bedded oolites, intraclastic grainstone --> high energy shallow water depositional environment.  

Each of these is a formation: a mappable unit that can be defined by its lithology and stratigraphic position; has some degree of homogeneity in rock type, mineralogical composition, sedimentary structures, fossil content.  

Treptichnus pedum - pC-C boundary index fossil globally; it is one of the first (and once thought to be the first) complex trace fossils, indicating more complex organisms that made the trace.   Show examples of this trace fossil.

Once we get into the Cambrian trilobites are good index fossils that are useful for biostratigraphy; specific time zones with unique assemblages of trilobite species.

Index fossils generally - can be trace fossils or body fossils; they mark specific time periods.  Good index fossils are taxa that appear and disappear (evolve rapidly), that are widespread - global distribution, that are distinctive and abundant, and that are facies independent.   **T. pedum is only found in siliciclastic rocks, so not found everywhere at the boundary.    

Look at how the White-Inyo section is correlated with other sections in the region - Death Valley and craton margin sections.  

Note that the scale of these columns is different than others that we have been looking at - the total thickness of the White-Inyo column is 2900 m, so we’re not looking at each individual bed, but rather looking at facies and dominant lithologies.  


Look at the 510 Ma paleogeographic map again to see the broad environments where each of these columns are from.  

Marine deposits in the west correlate to the east with non-marine facies: glacial deposits, non-marine sandstone and conglomerate, and there are more unconformities.  Also notice how the overall thickness of the columns is becoming thinner to the east. 

What general observations can we make about correlating stratigraphic columns across a region? 

• sediment packages thicken as we move from the craton (land) out into the basin
• more unconformities (can happen when exposed, above sea level) towards land
• facies shift from being a mix of non-marine and marine to mostly marine and deeper water facies
• correlating long distances - can’t do lithostratigraphy (i.e. correlating sands to sands)
• correlations based on fossil/trace fossil occurrence are robust

Look at chemostratigraphic signature (C isotopes) from ‘offshore’ (White-Inyos) to ‘onshore’ (Death Valley and craton sections):

From Corsetti and Hagadorn, 2003, Sedimentary Record: http://www.sepm.org/CM_Files/SedimentaryRecord/sedrecord1.1.pdf

Correlations across a region (and globally!) can also be made based on chemostratigraphy.   Even though the lithology is different, carbonate rocks track the concentration of ions in seawater, so the marine rocks everywhere can have the same signature. 

We’re not going to talk about what these chemical signatures mean, but notice how in the Lower Deep Spring Formation there is a positive 13 C value, and then around the pC-C boundary there is a negative value.  This is a global trend during this time period. 

Other elements also have global trends and can be used for correlating based on chemostratigraphy.  Show examples of Sr and O isotope curves.  

Using this integrated approach (chemostratigraphy and biostratigraphy) showed that the index fossil and the distinct chemical signature occur at the same time.  With this time constrained, we can apply either one of these (chemical signature or fossil) to correlation in other sections, and use this to better understand this time period.

Wrap up - this is an example of using stratigraphy.  Key points: 

• Looking at mixed carbonate-siliciclastic facies allows us to combine data types that occur in just one
• We get a complete picture of the time period by looking at a combination of data sets (lithostratigraphy/facies, biostratigraphy, and chemostratigraphy)...
• ...and how they are distributed across the region - looking at multiple stratigraphic columns