Normal grading

In sedimentology, the word 'grading' has nothing to do with exams and assignments. Instead, it refers to a regularly decreasing or increasing grain size within one sedimentary layer. Because it is much more common than the other alternative, upward decreasing grain size is called 'normal grading'. Grains that consistently increase in size toward the top of the bed are responsible for 'inverse grading'. Upward fining and coarsening are related terms that are often used to describe grain-size trends in not one, but multiple beds.

Normal grading in a turbidite from the Talara Basin, Peru

The simplest way to generate normal grading is to put some poorly sorted sand and water in a container, shake it up, and then let it settle. The larger grains will settle faster than the smaller ones (as Stokes' law tells us) and most of the large grains will end up at the bottom of the deposit. [Note that some fine grains will be at the bottom as well - the ones that were already close to the bottom at the beginning of sedimentation.] This kind of static suspension settling is not how most sediment is deposited on a river bed or a beach; even if a grain is part of the suspended load, it usually goes through a phase of bedload transport, that is, a phase of jumping and rolling and bouncing on the bed, before it comes to rest. The resulting deposit usually has lots of thin layers, laminations, and there are no obvious and gradual upward changes in grain size.

What is needed is a sediment-rich flow that suddenly slows down or spreads out and looses its power to carry most of its sediment load. Grains are getting to the bottom so fast that there is not much time for the flow to keep them rolling and bouncing around; instead they quickly get buried by the other grains that are ready to take a geological break. While this is still quite different from static suspension settling (because the flow did not come to a full stop), it can be thought of as a modified version of static settling: all is needed is a horizontal velocity component, in addition to the vertical one. Of course, the segregation of the coarser grains to the bottom of the flow may have started much earlier. Typically, they never made it to the top in the first place.


Conglomerate bed in the Cretaceous Cerro Toro Formation, Torres del Paine National Park, Southern Chile. There is some inverse grading at the base of this bed, before the size of the clasts starts decreasing

Such large, sediment-laden flows are not very common, certainly not on a human timescale. When they do occur, they tend to show up in the news, especially if human artifacts, or humans themselves, become part of the normally graded deposits. Deposits of snow avalanches, volcanic ash-laden pyroclastic flows, subaerial debris flows, tsunamis, submarine turbidity currents can all show normal grading. The images shown here all come from deposits of large submarine gravity flows. Some of them (like the one below) have a muddy matrix, but the grading is still obvious (the two large clasts at the top of the bed have lower densities).

Normally graded conglomerate layer with a muddy matrix, Cerro Toro Formation, Chile

In recent years, some questions have been raised about the common presence of normal grading, especially in turbidites. The fact is that normal grading is often seen in rocks of all ages, and, in a simple view, it is a reflection of larger grains getting quickly to the bottom.

Normal grading is normal, after all.

Description does not suffice for an explanation

On February 3, 1967, J. R. L. Allen gave the fifth "Geologists' Association Special Lecture", entitled "Some Recent Advances in the Physics of Sedimentation". This is from the introduction:

"Two stages can generally be recognised in the historical growth of a reasonably advanced scientific discipline. There is an early, descriptive stage in which with little guide from theory, an attempt is made to collect, define and analyse phenomena. In the later, explanatory stage we see that efforts are concentrated on the production of generalisations and on the explanation of the reduced phenomena in terms of general laws. Of course, there is never a single point in time at which there is change over the entire scope of a discipline from the descriptive to the explanatory stage. The change is, rather, uneven, taking place earlier in some branches than in others, and more gradually in one branch than in another.

Sedimentology stands today in a period of transition. Its subject matter is sedimentary deposits, and its goal the origin and meaning of these in the context of planetary studies in general. But it is apparent, except to adherents of geological phenomenalism, that sedimentary deposits cannot be explained in terms of themselves. Already we are in possession of major generalisations about these deposits, and our chief task for some years should be to explore and ratify them in terms of general laws in order that our understanding of the sedimentary record can be made sharper. In those parts of the field where major generalisations have already been established, the provision of further descriptive data is of little value, except in so far as light is shed on the problems of particular deposits. These are validly a part of the subject, leading to a refinement of certain planetary laws. But the other and no less important laws in terms of which we should seek to frame our understanding are those of general chemistry, physics and biology. In order to achieve this framework in the case of detrital sediments, it will be necessary to set aside for a while the problems of particular deposits. This will, of course, be unacceptable to those who claim that geology, or sedimentology, is only to do with rocks as conceived in a historico-geographical manner. But they will be proved wrong, provided we keep our major goals in mind, for it is a mistake to suppose that a description will suffice for an explanation. Most of our explanations will probably turn out to be no better than qualitative, so complex are most sedimentary systems, but we should nevertheless attempt them and try to frame them as exactly as possible."

Forty years after publication of the paper, this seems as timely as ever.

Reference:
Allen, J. R. L., 1969. Some Recent Advances in the Physics of Sedimentation. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 80:1-42.

Three photos from Chilean Patagonia

I was lucky to attend a few days ago a field conference in southern Chile, looking at deep-water rocks in an area that includes Torres del Paine National Park. It was good to be back in this place of unbloggable beauty. The conference was well organized (of course! - Brian was one of the conveners) and we were extremely lucky with the weather: no rain at all on the outcrops, beautiful sunshine most of the time. Although I have been to Chilean Patagonia three times before on various geological field trips and even did some field work there, I realized during this conference that it doesn't matter how many times you have seen some rocks, there is always a chance to rethink what you thought you have already settled in your mind (see blog title). It was also good to see that these field conferences are increasingly not just about the local geology: many if not most presentations and spontaneous discussions compare the local outcrop data with sedimentary systems from other basins, and try to think about how the always-too-small outcrops would look like in seismic sections and volumes.

Brian did not have time to take a lot of photos, so here are three shots (more here). As if anybody needed more shots of the Paine Grande and the Cuernos.

Conference participants examine the turbidites of the Punta Barrosa Formation


The Paine massif (Paine Grande and Cuernos), with Rio Serrano in the foreground


Strong winds on Paine Grande

Update - here is a Gigapan:



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[it is strongly recommended that you do launch the full screen viewer if you want to do justice to the Gigapan]