Course program
The program is extensive and includes all the basic topics of sedimentology and more specialized topics of physical stratigraphy and sequence-stratigraphy. The course is divided as follows:
The factors controlling sedimentation: sediment supply, climate, tectonic movements and subsidence, and sea-level changes.
Fluid flow and sediment transport: fluid properties and fluid motion; transport of sediment grains; movement of sediment by gravity. Bedforms and sedimentary structures: bedforms and structures formed by unidirectional and multidirectional water flow and airflow; erosional structures, biogenic structures; soft-sediment deformation structures.
The stratigraphic-depositional units: the nature and the significance of bedding; the main accretion forms; facies, facies associations, and facies sequences; the sedimentary cycles; hierarchy of stratigraphic-depositional units in the sedimentary successions.
The terrigenous, mixed, and carbonate depositional systems.
Collection and analysis of data and principles of physical stratigraphic correlation.
Sequence stratigraphy: development of sequence stratigraphy, the concept of sequence, and its significance in petroleum exploration.
Fundamental concepts of sequence stratigraphy: basic control and processes (accommodation space, sediment supply, physiography of the basin, normal and forced regressions).
The depositional sequence: definition, formation, and internal organization (systems tracts and parasequences) in the terrigenous, carbonate and mixed depositional systems.
Key attributes of the sequence stratigraphic surfaces and their recognition. Facies and expression of systems tracts in the stratigraphic log. Practical use of the concepts of sequence stratigraphy. Biostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy: paleoenvironmental analysis, fossils, and discontinuity surfaces; the significance of fossils in different systems tracts.
Practical sessions: description and interpretation of stratigraphic-sedimentological logs; discussion of stratigraphic correlation methods; correlation exercises and construction of chronostratigraphic charts.
Field trips: two one-day field trips focusing on deposits from fluvial/coastal and turbidite depositional systems, aimed at examining facies types and the geometric relationships between the architectural elements of these systems. Students will measure exposed sections in the field and interpret the deposits in terms of depositional processes and environments. A four-day field trip to the Laga Basin to examine the physical stratigraphy and characteristic facies of turbidite deposits in foreland basins.
Prerequisites
Useful basic knowledge of geology, paleontology, petrography, and stratigraphy; a good understanding of the laws of hydrodynamics is essential.
Books
Bridge J.S., Demicco R.V. (2008) - Earth Surface Processes, Landforms and Sediment Deposits. Cambridge University Press.
Collison J.D., Mountney N. (2019) - Sedimentary Structures, fourth edition, DUNEDIN.
Emery D., Myers K.J. (1996) - Sequence stratigraphy. Ed. Blackwell.
Tucker M., Wright (1990) - Carbonate Sedimentology, Blackwell.
Nichols G. (2009) - Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. Second Edition, Wiley-Blackwell
Reading H.G. (1996) - Sedimentary Environments: processes, facies, and stratigraphy. Third edition Blackwell Science
Frequency
Course attendance is not mandatory; however, students are encouraged to follow the lessons since this teaching is among the compulsory ones of the first year of the Master's Degree in Exploration Geology
Lessons are held from Monday to Thursday, from 9.00 to 11.00.
Exam mode
The final exam consists of an oral test that focuses on the topics covered in the lectures and exercises. There are no exemptions, however, students are encouraged to ask the teacher for any necessary clarifications on the topics covered during the course, useful for the purposes of final preparation for the exam. The oral examination has been selected as the assessment method as it enables the verification, through direct discussion with the candidate, of both the actual knowledge acquired and the logical reasoning applied by the student in formulating appropriate answers to the questions posed. Such interaction with the examiner is essential to ascertain whether the concepts presented during lectures, practical sessions, and field activities have been effectively assimilated by the student, or whether unaddressed gaps in understanding remain.
Bibliography
Campbell C.V., 1967 - Lamina, Laminaset, bed, bedset. Sedimentology, 8, 7-26.
Mulder T., Syvitski J.P.M, Migeon S., Faugeres J.C., Savoye B., 2003 - Marine hyperpycnal flows: initiation, behavior and related deposits. A review. Marine Petroleum Geology, 20, 861-882.
Bosencre D., 2005 - A genetic classification of carbonate platforms based on their basinal and tectonic settings in the Cenozoic. Sedimentary Geology 175, 49-72.
Blott S.J., Pye K., 2008 - Particle shape: a review and new methods of characterization and classification. Sedimentology 55, 31–63.
Blott S.J., Pye K., 2012 - Particle size scales and classification of sediment types based on
particle size distributions: Review and recommended procedures. Sedimentology 59, 2071–2096.
Talling P.J., Masson D.G. Sumner E.J., Malgesini G. 2012 - Subaqueous sediment density flows: depositiponal processes and deposit types. Sedimentology, 59, 1937-2003.
Posamentier H.W., Walker R.G., 2006 - Facies model revisited. SEPM special publication 84.
Catuneanu O., Galloway W.E., Kendall C. G. St. C., Miall A.D., Posamentier H.W., Strasser A., Tucker M.E., 2011 - Sequence Stratigraphy: Methodology and Nomenclature. Newsletters on Stratigraphy, 44, 173–245.
Pickering K.T., Hiscott R.N., 2016 - Deep marine systems. AGU, WILEY.
Shanmugam G., 2016 - Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950-2015). Journal of Palaeogeography 5 110-184.
Shanmugam G., 2016 - Glossary: A supplement to “Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015)” in the Journal of Palaeogeography (2016, 5[2]). Journal of Palaeogeography 5 258-277.
Lesson mode
Teaching is carried out through lectures in the classroom, during exercises, and field excursions. During the lessons, students are invited to intervene with questions on the topics being covered, trying to present their questions also on topics from previous lessons that are connected to the topics of the lesson being held. Students are also invited to discuss in the classroom, interacting with their colleagues, their experiences in the description and interpretation of individual outcrops. At the end of the lesson, a student will be invited to summarize the topics that have been discussed during the lesson. Furthermore, compatibly with their study commitments, volunteers will be asked to explain to their colleagues, through a ppt, a teaching topic that has particularly struck them.
