Diagenesis of Siliciclastics

by Naomi Deirdre T. Reyes

 Siliciclastic rocks
 Silica-based, non-carbonaceous sediments.
 Grains created by weathering.
 Transported by surface processes: water, wind and ice
 Buried and lithified by:
- Compaction
- Cementation
 Diagenesis
 Diagenesis is the physical and chemical processes
that convert sediments into sedimentary rocks.
 Diagenesis normally occurs at a temperature
below ~300oC.
 Some controlling factors of diagenesis:
composition, pressure, temperature, grain size,
porosity/permeability, and the amount of fluid
flow.
 Three Stages of Diagenesis
 Eodiagenesis – earliest stage which
takes place at very shallow depths
 Mesodiagenesis – occurs during deep
burial
 Telodiagenesis – uplift of buried
sediment into the system of meteoric
waters.
 Eodiagenesis
 The principal changes that occur are
bioturbation, mineralogical changes, and
compaction.
 Mesodiagenesis
 The processes that take place in
mesodiagenesis are: physical and chemical
compaction, cementation, dissolution by
pore fluids, mineral replacement, and clay
mineral authigenesis.
Compaction Due to Pressure

Factors that control compaction are: grain

shape, sorting, original porosity, and pore fluid
 Cementation

Mineral Replacement

uncrossed polars
©K. Simpson

Opalized wood

crossed polars
©K. Simpson

Photomicrograph of a dolomite-cemented siltstone in crossed and

uncrossed polars. The cement between the grains can be easily seen
http://www.science.ubc.ca/~geol202/sed/sili/cement.html
 Telodiagenesis
 Sedimentary rocks will experience dissolution,
replacement, and oxidation.
 The results include: solution of carbonate cements,
alteration of feldspars to clay minerals, oxidation
of iron carbonate minerals to iron oxides and
pyrite to gypsum, and solution of less stable
minerals.
 References
 Boggs, Jr., Sam. Principles of
Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. Pearson
Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey, 2006
 http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~cdenizma/course3

_files/Siliciclastic%20Diagenesis.htm