Part-6: Virtual Sedimentary Structures-Empower Your Geoscience Journey: Top Free Public Resources for Geological Learning
Mahabir Prasad Mahapatra, MBA, PMP?
Senior Geologist at Qatar Energy; Current Interests in sustainable Low carbon Technologies, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics
Sedimentary structures are physical features found within sedimentary rocks that form during or shortly after the deposition of the sediment. These structures provide critical insights into past environments, sedimentary processes, and geological history.
Importance of Sedimentary Structures:
Sedimentary structures can be helpful for several ways as listed below,
Finding sedimentary structures everywhere is challenging due to factors such as erosion, post-depositional alteration, and limited exposure. Erosional processes can remove or rework sediments, destroying original structures. Compaction, cementation, and diagenetic changes during burial can distort or obliterate these features. Additionally, many sedimentary rocks are buried beneath other layers or obscured by vegetation and soil, making them less accessible. Some environments are simply not conducive to forming or preserving sedimentary structures, further complicating their detection and study.
Virtual digital samples can greatly enhance the study and accessibility of sedimentary structures by providing detailed, high-resolution, three-dimensional representations of rock formations that can be analysed remotely. They facilitate detailed measurements, offer the ability to share data globally, and enable repeated analysis without damaging the original samples. Furthermore, virtual samples can be integrated into educational platforms and research databases, making sedimentary structures more accessible for study and comparison, regardless of geographical limitations.
In this article sharing you free resources highlighting common sedimentary structures as found in outcrops and Rock samples, which can be useful for enhancing our geological understanding. There might be several similar resources available, but this is just an attempt to provide a simple curated set of resources readily available at one place.
Several commonly studied sedimentary structures as seen in geological outcrops are as below,
A. Sedimentary structures in field outcrop
Few of the key digital outcrop resources are as follows,
B. Sedimentary structures in Rock Samples
Few of the key digital Rock sample resources are as follows,
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C. Lab Manuals/Quick Exercises to test your knowledge
These resources will support faculty members during their university practical classes.
Other Key Resources:
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