Sedimentary Geology
This MIT OpenCourseWare course surveys modern sediments and ancient sedimentary rocks, covering the fundamental materials, features, and processes that shape them. Topics include the textures of siliciclastic sediments and rocks such as particle size, shape, and packing, the mechanics of sediment transport, and a survey of sandstones, conglomerates, and shales. The course also covers carbonate sediments, cherts, evaporites, and both siliciclastic and carbonate diagenesis. Paleontology is treated with special attention to fossils found in sedimentary rocks, alongside modern and ancient depositional environments, stratigraphy, and sedimentary basins. The final unit examines fossil fuels, including coal and petroleum formation. Materials include MIT lecture notes and course readings, free to access online with no certificate offered through OpenCourseWare.