Sediments are loose Earth materials such as sand that accumulate on the land surface, in river and lakebeds, and on the ocean floor. Sediments form by weathering of rock. They then erode from the site of weathering and are transported by wind, water,...

Channel patterns are types of sedimentary deposits formed by streams and rivers. Collectively, they are called fluvial deposits. Their shape and sediment characteristics are easily identified and enormously complex. Understanding of fluvial deposits is...

Landscapes form and constantly change due to weathering and sedimentation. The area where sediment accumulates and is later buried by other sediment is known as its depositional environment. There are many large-scale, or regional, environments of...

Sedimentation occurs when the velocity of flowing water is reduced, causing its load of suspended, insoluble materials to drop to the bottom (the faster water is flowing, the greater the amount of suspended material it can carry, and the larger the...

Suspended load consists of sediment particles that are mechanically transported by suspension within a stream or river. This is in contrast to bed or traction load, which consists of particles that are moved along the bed of a stream, and dissolved...

Centimeter to meter-scale layering, or bedding, is a defining characteristic of sedimentary rocks. Non-horizontal depositional beds are called bedforms, and geologists refer to the lithified remains of bedforms in sedimentary rocks as cross bedding....

A mixture of sand, silt, clay, and perhaps organic components. Soil eroded from one location and deposited in another is identified as sediment. The sedimentary fraction has the ability to carry not only the mineral (sand, silt, and clay) and organic...

The deposition of material suspended in a liquid. Sedimentation is normally considered a function of water deposition of the finer soil separates of sand, silt, and clay, but it may also include organic debris. Sometimes this is referred to as the...

The process or action of depositing sediment. Sediment is composed of solid material, mineral or organic, and can be of any texture. The material has been moved from its site of origin by the forces of air, water, gravity, or ice and has come to rest...

Sediment is any particulate matter that can be transported by fluid flow and which eventually is deposited as a layer of solid particles on the bed or bottom of a body of water or other liquid. Sedimentation is the deposition by settling of a suspended...