Skip to main content

Paleoclimatology (thesaurus)

Search from vocabulary

Concept information

study material > rock > detrital rock

Preferred term

detrital rock  

Definition

  • Clastic rocks are composed of fragments, or clasts, of pre-existing minerals and rock. A clast is a fragment of geological detritus, chunks, and smaller grains of rock broken off other rocks by physical weathering. Geologists use the term clastic to refer to sedimentary rocks and particles in sediment transport, whether in suspension or as bed load, and in sediment deposits. Clastic sedimentary rocks are rocks composed predominantly of broken pieces or clasts of older weathered and eroded rocks. Clastic sediments or sedimentary rocks are classified based on grain size, clast and cementing material (matrix) composition, and texture. The classification factors are often useful in determining a sample's environment of deposition. An example of clastic environment would be a river system in which the full range of grains being transported by the moving water consist of pieces eroded from solid rock upstream. Grain size varies from clay in shales and claystones; through silt in siltstones; sand in sandstones; and gravel, cobble, to boulder sized fragments in conglomerates and breccias. The Krumbein phi (φ) scale numerically orders these terms in a logarithmic size scale. (Adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clastic_rock)

Broader concept

In other languages

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/QX8-BZ2V4MXT-Q

Download this concept: