GEOL 5510 - Diagenesis

• Be conversant with the different types of cements (e.g. carbonate, silica, phosphate, clay, and iron) in sedimentary rocks.
• Comprehend the essential redox changes that take place from the surface downward into the sediment pile in modern settings. Apply that progression to interpretation of the ancient record.
• Comprehend the transformations that take place as calcite and/or aragonite sediment undergoes progressive stages of alteration to calcite and/or dolomite.
• Graduate student term papers will be longer (20 pages) than undergraduate term papers (10 pages), and the depth of analysis should be greater than that of the undergraduates.
• Graduate students are expected to perform at a higher level than their undergraduate colleagues.
• Graduate students will give one more oral presentation than the undergraduates. Written abstracts of these talks will be distributed to classmates and the instructor.
• Know how to recognize and interpret evidence for compaction and cementation in sediments as they lithify.
• Know the different styles of and controls on silica cementation.
• Understand the essential controls on the development and evolution of porosity and permeability in sedimentary rocks.
• Understand the process of phosphogenesis.