sediment definition of sediment in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

sediment, mineral or organic particles that are deposited by the action of wind, water, or glacial ice. These sediments can eventually form sedimentary rocks (see rock rock, aggregation of solid matter composed of one or more of the minerals forming the earth's crust. The scientific study of rocks is called petrology. Rocks are commonly divided, according to their origin, into three major classes—igneous, sedimentary, and
..... Click the link for more information. ).

Classification of Sediments

Sediments are commonly subdivided into three major groups—mechanical, chemical, and organic.

Mechanical, or clastic, sediments are derived from the erosion of earlier formed rocks on the earth's surface or in the oceans. These are then carried by streams, winds, or glaciers to the site where they are deposited. Streams deposit sediment in floodplains floodplain, level land along the course of a river formed by the deposition of sediment during periodic floods. Floodplains contain such features as levees, backswamps, delta plains, and oxbow lakes.
..... Click the link for more information. or carry these particles to the ocean, where they may be deposited as a delta delta [from triangular shape of the Nile delta, like the Greek letter delta], a deposit of clay, silt, and sand formed at the mouth of a river where the stream loses velocity and drops part of its sediment load.
..... Click the link for more information. . Ocean sediments, especially in the form of turbidites, are usually deposited at the foot of continental slopes (see oceans ocean, interconnected mass of saltwater covering 70.78% of the surface of the earth, often called the world ocean. It is subdivided into four (or five) major units that are separated from each other in most cases by the continental masses. See also oceanography.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Glaciers carry sediment frozen within the mass of the ice and are capable of carrying even huge boulders (erratics).

Chemical sediments are formed by chemical reactions in seawater that result in the precipitation of minute mineral crystals, which settle to the floor of the sea and ultimately form a more or less chemically pure layer of sediment. For example, evaporation in shallow basins results in a sequence of evaporite sediments, which include gypsum and rock salt.

Organic sediments are formed as a result of plant or animal actions; for example, peat and coal form by the incomplete decay of vegetation and its later compaction. Deep-ocean sediment known as pelagic ooze consists largely of the remains of microscope organisms (mostly foraminifera and diatoms) from the overlying waters as well as minor amounts of windblown volcanic and continental dust. Limestones are commonly formed by the aggregation of calcite shells of animals.

Formation of Sedimentary Rock

Sediments form sedimentary rock by compaction and cementation of the particles. Thus, coarse sediments become conglomerates conglomerate, in geology, sedimentary rock composed largely of pebbles or other rounded particles whose diameter is larger than 2 mm (.08 in.). Essentially a cemented gravel, conglomerates are formed along beaches, as glacial drift, and in river deposits.
..... Click the link for more information. ; sands become sandstone sandstone, sedimentary rock formed by the cementing together of grains of sand. The usual cementing material in sandstone is calcium carbonate, iron oxides, or silica, and the hardness of sandstone varies according to the character of the cementing material; quartz
..... Click the link for more information. ; and muds become shale shale, sedimentary rock formed by the consolidation of mud or clay, having the property of splitting into thin layers parallel to its bedding planes. Shale tends to be fissile, i.e., it tends to split along planar surfaces between the layers of stratified rock.
..... Click the link for more information. . Sedimentary rocks make up only about 5% of all rocks of the earth's crust, yet they cover 75% of the land area in a veneer that averages 2.26 km (1.4 mi) in thickness, ranging from 0 to 12.9 km (0–8 mi).

sediment

material that has been deposited from water, ice, or wind

sediment [′sed·ə·mənt]

(geology)

A mass of organic or inorganic solid fragmented material, or the solid fragment itself, that comes from weathering of rock and is carried by, suspended in, or dropped by air, water, or ice; or a mass that is accumulated by any other natural agent and that forms in layers on the earth's surface such as sand, gravel, silt, mud, fill, or loess.

A solid material that is not in solution and either is distributed through the liquid or has settled out of the liquid.

sediment

The matter which settles to the bottom of water or any other liquid.

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No references found			All I know about the matter is, that one day Marheyo in my presence poured out the last drop from his huge calabash, and I observed at the bottom of the vessel a small quantity of gravelly sediment very much resembling our common sand. Typee by Melville, Herman View in context The doctor then slowly poured some drops of the lemonade from the decanter into the cup, and in an instant a light cloudy sediment began to form at the bottom of the cup; this sediment first took a blue shade, then from the color of sapphire it passed to that of opal, and from opal to emerald. The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas, Alexandre View in context From the dimly-lighted passages of the court, the last sediment of the human stew that had been boiling there all day, was straining off, when Doctor Manette, Lucie Manette, his daughter, Mr. A Tale Of Two Cities by Dickens, Charles View in context			sedation Sedative Seddon Sededema Sedentaria sedentary Sedentary Animal sedentary soil Seder Sederholm, Jakob Johannes sedge sedge family sedge warbler Sedgemoor Sedgwick Sedgwick County Sedgwick, Adam Sedgwick, Catherine Maria Sedgwick, Ellery Sedgwick, John Sedgwick, Theodore Sediakin, Aleksandr Sediakin, Aleksandr Ignatevich sedifluction sedile sediment sediment bulb sediment charge sediment concentration sediment corer sediment discharge sediment discharge rating sediment load sediment station sediment trap sediment vein sediment yield sediment-delivery ratio sediment-production rate sediment-transport rate sedimentary breccia sedimentary cycle Sedimentary Deposits sedimentary differentiation sedimentary dike sedimentary facies sedimentary injection sedimentary insertion sedimentary intrusion sedimentary laccolith sedimentary lag			Sedgwick, John Sedgwick, John Sedgwick, Theodore Sedgwick, Theodore sedgy sedgy sedgy sedgy SEDH SEDI SEDI Sediakin, Aleksandr Sediakin, Aleksandr Ignatevich SEDIC sedifluction SEDIG Sedila sedile sedile sedile Sediles Sediles Sedili Sedili sedilia sedilia sedilia Sedilla Sedilla SEDIME sediment sediment activity test sediment activity test sediment activity test sediment activity test sediment activity test Sediment and Erosion Control Plan Sediment bed Sediment bed Sediment bed sediment bulb Sediment burrowing Sediment burrowing Sediment burrowing sediment charge Sediment Cleanup Standards User Manual sediment concentration sediment corer Sediment Delivery Ratio sediment discharge sediment discharge rating Sediment Identification for Geotechnics by Marine Acoustics Sediment Impact Zone Sediment Impact Zone Maximum Level sediment load Sediment Management Annual Review Meeting Sediment Management Standards Sediment Management Unit Sediment Management Work Group Sediment Minimum Cleanup Level Sediment or Fauna Incubation Experiment

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Classification of Sediments

Formation of Sedimentary Rock

sediment