Sedimentation level (petrology)

As Sedimentationsebene or layer surface is referred to in the lithology that horizontal surface, which is ideally perpendicular to the laying direction of a sediment and whose stratification expresses or sequences. It already arises in the early phase of a sediment, in sedimentogenesis . The sedimentation level forms an important structural feature and is often clearly visible in the rock due to fluctuations in the concentration of mineral components. It has an impact on essential rock-physical parameters, such as the grain size distribution, compressive strength or water absorption capacity.

Sedimentation planes are essential features of lithostratigraphy and are used to describe spatial or positional relationships of certain sedimentary rock bodies. Therefore, they must not be confused with cleavage surfaces of metamorphic rocks , as these arise differently. In hydrology, the sedimentation level is the morphologically perceptible sediment space with organic and mineral substance mixtures that is formed by a body of water.

literature

• Ludwig Pfeiffer, Manfred short, Gerhard Mathé: Introduction to petrology . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1981, ISBN 978-3-432-91931-7 .