Program Overview

Sedimentary Petrology Program

Overview

The Sedimentary Petrology program is a comprehensive course of study that delves into the origin, composition, and properties of sedimentary rocks. The program is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of the sedimentary cycle, including the formation, transportation, and deposition of sediments.

Course Details

• Code: 41033
• ECTS: 7.0
• Lecturers in charge:
  • Prof. dr. sc. Marijan Kovai
  • Doc. dr. sc. Frane Markovi
• Lecturers:
  • Prof. dr. sc. Marijan Kovai - Practicum
  • Doc. dr. sc. Frane Markovi - Practicum
• Take exam: Studomat
• English level: All teaching activities will be held in Croatian. However, foreign students in mixed groups will have the opportunity to attend additional office hours with the lecturer and teaching assistants in English to help master the course materials.

Load

• 1. component
  • Lecture type | Total
    • Lectures | 45
    • Practicum | 45
  • Load is given in academic hour (1 academic hour = 45 minutes)

Description

The program covers a wide range of topics, including:

• Sedimentary cycle
• Standard methods of study of sediments in the field and in the laboratory
• Chemical and physical weathering
• Breakdown products, newly formed minerals, dissolved material
• Soil-forming factors (climate, relief, substrate, vegetation)
• Paleosols
• Erosion, transport, and deposition
• Properties of fluids
• Transport by fluids
• Bedload transport (gravel, sand)
• Bedforms and their stability
• Suspension transport and deposition
• Sediment gravity flows
• Rheological properties of flows and dominant particle-support mechanisms
• Depositional features diagnostic for particular types of gravity flows
• Primary depositional structures and their formation
• Erosional structures
• Post-depositional sedimentary structures
• Biogenic structures
• Paleocurrent analysis
• Clastic sediments: A) Sandstones, conglomerates, and breccias
• Sediment texture and textural maturity
• Interpretation of textural parameters
• Terrigenous detrital components (Q, F, Lt, heavy minerals, others)
• Matrix problem
• Compositional maturity
• The main sandstone and conglomerate types and principles of classification
• Petrofacies
• Principal provenance terranes in the context of plate tectonics
• Diagenetic processes and environments
• Compositional modification
• Modification of primary porosity and permeability and their influence on the quality of rocks as hydrocarbon or water reservoirs
• Sandstone and conglomerate bodies
• Depositional environments; B) Fine-grained siliciclastic deposits-mudstones: textures, structures, and mineral constituents
• Organic rich black shales
• Diagenetic processes in mudstones
• Main types of mudrocks
• Depositional environments
• Marls; C) Volcanoclastic deposits
• Processes and products
• Diagenesis
• Carbonate deposits
• Mineralogy
• Limestones: skeletal and non-skeletal grains, lime mud-micrite, and their origin
• Microbial processes and products
• Limestone texture
• Main types of limestones - principles of classification
• Depositional and early diagenetic structures
• Depositional environments: shallow marine including reefs, deep-water, non-marine
• Carbonate diagenesis
• Diagenetic environments
• Marine, meteoric, burial diagenesis
• Neomorphism
• Dolomitization, dedolomitization, silicification
• Evaporites
• Mineralogy (gypsum, anhydrite, halite)
• Depositional environments
• Resedimentation
• Diagenesis: recrystallization, dissolution, replacement
• Evaporite sequences
• Chert petrology
• Cherts of biogenic origin
• Cherts of anorganic origin
• Phosphorites: Mineralogy
• Phosphorous as an essential element of live cells
• Early diagenetic origin of marine phosphorites
• Depositional environments
• Resedimentation
• Bone breccias
• Guano
• Sedimentary iron and manganese deposits
• Environmental factors controlling their precipitation
• Organic deposits
• Coal: petrology, the rank stages of coal, formation, and occurrence of coal
• Oil shales
• Formation of kerogen
• The principal phases of hydrocarbons generation
• Mineralogy, occurrence, genesis, and geological meaning of bauxites and laterites
• How knowledge about sediments is used in human activity: excavation, tunneling, different buildings, environments protection, mining, etc.

Literature

1. Tucker, E.M. (2001): Sedimentary Petrology. An Introduction to the Origin of Sedimentary Rocks. Blackwell Science, 3. izd., IX+262 str., Oxford.
2. Tucker, E.M. (2003): Sedimentary rocks in the Field. Wiley, 3. izd., 244 str., Chichester
3. Collinson, J.D. & Thompson, D.B. (1993): Sedimentary Structures. 2. izdanje. Chapman & Hall. 207 str. London
4. Adams, A.E., MacKenzie,W.S. & Guilford, C. (1987): Atlas of sedimentary rocks under the microscope. Longham Scientific & Techical, VII+104, London
5. Tiljar, J. (1994): Sedimentne stijene. kolska Knjiga, IX+422, Zagreb

Prerequisite for Enrollment

• Passed: General paleontology
• Attended: Mineral optics

Semester

• 4. semester
• Mandatory course - Regular study - Geology

Consultations Schedule

Available upon request.