Anglais scientifique

Depositional environments

Geologists study sedimentary rocks to help us understand the past. When geologists study sedimentary rocks, they ask questions such as: Where did the sediment originate? Was the sediment transported by a stream, wind, or a glacier? In what environment did the sediment accumulate?. If it was deposited in the sea, was it on a beach or in deep water? If it was deposited on land, was it in a lake, a stream bed, or a flood plain?

Geologists answer these questions by analyzing the minerals, textures, and structures of sedimentary rocks. Additionally, the size and shape of a sedimentary rock layer contain clues to its depositional environment.Accurate interpretations of depositional environments are often profitable, because valuable concentrations of oil and gas, coal, evaporites, and metals form in certain types of environments. Depositional environments vary greatly in scale, from an entire ocean basin to a 3-meter-long sand bar in a stream. Many small-scale environments may be active within a single large-scale depositional system