Item talk:Q41308

Mindat Description

Clastic sediments is a a general classification for sediments comprising mostly eroded rock and mineral fragments, where the specific constitution is unstated

Geoscience Ontology Description

Choice of 'clastic' is purposful. Other suggested labels for this category include siliciclastic and terrigineous clastic. Siliciclastic is considered too limiting because the category includes rocks that consists clasts of carbonate minerals, e.g. epiclastic detritus eroded from carbonate rock. Terrigineous clastic was considered and rejected first because it is considered redundant, anything that is terrigineous is clastic. Second, it is questionable if clastic sediment derived by submarine processes (fragementation by gravity sliding, faulting, or volcanic activity, with transport by sediment gravity flow or submarine currents) is terrigineous, but it is clastic and is meant to be included in this category. Sediment in which at least 50 percent of the constituent particles were derived from erosion, weathering, or mass-wasting of pre-existing earth materials, and transported to the place of deposition by mechanical agents such as water, wind, ice and gravity.