The Coquina Rock: Diagenesis, and Sedimentary Rocks

Minerals are what make-up Rocks and rocks are what make up the geology of an area. In this report, we will focus on the geology of Ontario through its rocks. We will look at ten difference rocks samples that have been collected from several different places here in Windsor Ontario including the beach, the river, gravel pits, along highways and roadways as well in parks and campsites. The rocks that were collected are all rocks that have formed right here in Ontario.

Approximately 17 meters thick, Unit A defines the lowest third of the Juniata Formation. Fragments of marine fossils, including bryozoans, brachiopods, and gastropods, are commonly found in the bottom-most portion of this unit of structureless mudstone and quartz arenite. Quartz grains in the sandstone beds of Unit A are typically immature and fine-grained, though the sandstone packages tend to coarsen upwards. Though typically structureless, intermittent bedding of the sandstone and shale packages is observed in this unit, and some areas display

Next, these rocks undergo erosion, which is the process of moving sediments from one place to another. Then, these sediments are deposited all at one place and over time they start to converge and cement as layers which are also known as strata. As time keeps going, new sediments deposit and cement together over old ones forming new layers. This is a repetitive process that eventually build up layers to make up a Sedimentary rock. Approximately 40 major sedimentary rock layers exposed in the Grand Canyon National Park area range in age from about 200 million to nearly 2 billion years old. As you can see, sedimentary rock formation takes an excessive amount of time.

Quartz is the most abundant single mineral on earth. It makes up about 12% of the earth's crust, occurring in a wide variety of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.Quartz varieties are commonly separated into two groups based on the size of the individual grains or crystals. Macrocrystalline quartz in which individual crystals are distinguishable with the naked eye, and cryptocrystalline quartz in which the individual crystals are too small to be easily distinguishable under the light microscope. Some of the verities of the Macrocrystalline quartz are

Despite a family history of geophysicists and rock enthusiasts, I’ve never found the subject of rocks particularly fascinating. However, an exploration of Earth Science has lead me to the discovery that rocks are actually hidden gems (often literally), and that there’s more to the topic than one would think.

Coral reefs exist all over the world and are generally known as being one of the most diverse, intricate and beautiful of all existing marine habitats. They have many varying structures which are developed by algae and are symbiotic with various reef building corals which are referred to as, zooxanthellae (algae). There are many other factors such as, coralline algae, sponges and other various organisms that are combined with a number of cementation processes which also contribute to reef growth, (CORAL REEFS, 2015).

Next, we can see that the rock displays a subtle porphyritic texture with plagioclase comprising the phenocrysts. The overall texture of the surrounding groundmass is granoblastic equigranular. Under thin section we also see a weakly defined foliation evidenced in the preferential alignment of actinolite grains and to a lesser extent chlorite grains. Undulose extinction is also observed in quartz indicating the rock was subject to deformation. The normalized quartz, alkali-feldspar, and plagioclase (QAP) values of this rock indicate that it is classified as a grano-diorite according to the IUGS QAPF classification system which is consistent with the hand sample interpretation.

Amethyst is purple quartz; the color is caused by iron (Fe4+) impurities. Azurite is a copper mineral. Calcite is a very common and widespread mineral and has highly variable forms and colors. Lodestone is a natural magnet. Mica is a sheet silicate. Rose quartz is translucent and a variety of the silica mineral quartz, found in pegmatite. Talc almost always found in foliated masses in metamorphic rocks with many carbonate minerals. Pyrite is a very common mineral. The brassy-yellow metallic color of pyrite has lead people to mistaking it for Gold, so its common nickname is

A description of the grand canyon rock layers would include the Colorado River running at the bottom of the inner gorge with flats on both sides which consist of tapeat sandstone layers. There is also the Vishnu Complex, consisting of rocks that have been changed by heat and are buried at the lowest layers. These are tilted and are called the “Grand Canyon Supergroup” the Grand Canyon supergroups are at least 12,000 ft in thickness. These rocks or (the “Inner Gorge”) are usally steep and narrow with hard deep cuts in the lower tilted layers which raise above sea level.

Lyons sandstone can be divided into two distinct types which are the red and grey facies. The red facies are the red- colored sandstone which contains no hydrocarbons and the gray facies are the white to black- colored sandstone which contain hydrocarbon in its matrix (Levandowski,

Sedimentary rocks interpret dinosaur habitats through encased environmental structures of the past. Through sedimentary rocks, paleoecologists’ can examine the arranged formation of sedimentary structures to specify what type of environment the dinosaurs’ lived in. An example of a specific sedimentary rock structure can be seen through formed weathering and ripple marks by how wind and sand formed distinct patterns in the past layered sediment. These arrangements provide interpretations on the structure of the sediment and the habitat of encased fossils, through modern day comparisons

Below these Carboniferous rocks, Devonian rocks are also exposed. These rocks can be found along the northern edge and southeastern margin of the plateau, where strata is nearly vertical. These two geologic systems have also been subdivided into numerous formations categorized according to their lithologic aspect and the fossil fauna and flora which they

Some rock’s in the Earth’s interior that are solid, are so hot that, if the pressure on these were released, or they are convected into a lower pressure zone, they could begin to melt

Coquina is a chemical sedimentary rock and it made of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert can shape when microcrystals of silicon dioxide develop inside delicate sediments that will get to be limestone or chalk. In these sediment, big quantities of silicon dioxide microcrystals develop into solidifications when broken up silica is transported to the arrangement site by the development of groundwater. On the off chance that the knobs or solidifications are various, they can expand and converge with each other to shape an about consistent layer of chert inside the silt mass. Chert framed in this way is a chemical sedimentary rock.

Depending on what the sedimentary rock is formed by, determines whether is known as clastic or chemical. Clastic rocks are composed of particles from weathering. They are then sorted by grain size, gravel being the largest and clay being the smallest. A few examples would be sandstones and shales. Chemical sedimentary rocks are biochemical, and contain ions in the solution from weathering. These are also further classified. First you have limestone, which can be either organic or inorganic. An example would be fossiliferous or chalk. Next is dolostone, and it is formed from dolomite. Chert is next; and can be organic or inorganic also. Flint and jasper are some examples of chert. Rock salt and gypsum are what are known as evaporites. These form from the evaporation of saline waters in an arid environment. Finally there is coal, which is organic and forms from buried plant remains and carbon. There is one more type of rock that is classified the same way as the previous two.