At the end of this module the student will be able to:
1) Link physical sedimentary structures to the surface processes that produced them (flowing water, wind, gravity, waves, physical disturbance).
2) Recognize common sedimentary framework minerals using the petrological microscope, and distinguish grain and cement types, bioclasts and rock textures.
3) Describe the anatomy, and determine the ecology and mode of life of the major groups of invertebrate fossil.
4) Appreciate fossil preservation, and the importance of fossils in evolutionary studies and stratigraphy.
5) Interpret and justify the original environment of deposition, integrating the fossil content and the sedimentology to do so.

LECTURES

PART A – PALAEOBIOLOGY

Lecture 1 The fossil record; Processes of fossilization. (Dr W.J. Foster)
Body, trace and chemical fossils. Quality and completeness of the fossil record. Impact of death, decay, disarticulation, destruction and diagenesis. Applications of fossils in geology.

Lecture 2 Sponges, corals and coral reefs. (Dr W.J. Foster)
Fossils as rock builders. Biology of sponges; acrchaeocyathans and stromatoporoids; the earliest reef-builders. Extinct (rugose and tabulate) and extant (scleractinian) corals.

Lecture 3 Brachiopods and Bryozoans. (Dr W.J. Foster)
Brachiopods and Bryozoans: filter-feeding lophophorate benthos with an extensive geological record, and their importance and diversity in Palaeozoic strata. Distinguished brachiopods from bivalves.

Lecture 4 Graptolites and Echinoderms. (Dr W.J. Foster)
Graptolites: palaeobiology of this extinct group of hemichordates. Two classes of the zoologically distinct phylum Echinodermata: echinoids: mobile epifaunal and infaunal benthos, their morphology adapted to different modes of life: crinoids, ‘sea lilies’ are frequently found in various states of disarticulation, an important clue that can be used cautiously to interpret depositional environments.

Lecture 5 Mollusca: introduction and minor groups. (Dr W.J. Foster)
The Phylum Mollusca, one of the most diverse invertebrate phyla, includes a variety of extinct and living groups; underpinning the extreme diversity of the phylum is a common ground plan and the same basic structures. The ‘minor groups’ are the aplacophorans, polyplacophorans, and scaphopods.

Lecture 6 Mollusca: Bivalves and Gastropods. (Dr W.J. Foster)
One major group of mollusc is the Bivalvia, a major component of the shallow-marine shelly benthos since the Mesozoic: the wide variety of ecological niches occupied is reflected in their diverse body plans. Importantly for palaeoecologists their mode of life can often be deduced from the anatomy of their skeletonized tissues, specifically their two valves (not to be confused with the two-valved shell of the Brachiopoda). Gastropods: their form, function and important components of Cenozoic diversity.

Lecture 7 Mollusca: Cephalopods. (Dr W.J. Foster)
The modern squids, cuttlefish, octopuses and Nautilus, plus fossil ammonoids (goniotites, ceratites, ammonites) and belemnites. Importance for biostratigraphy.

Lecture 8 Arthropods: introduction and living groups. Trilobites. (Dr W.J. Foster)
The distinctive characteristics of the arthropods, probably the most successful and diverse of all invertebrates, are the exoskeleton and jointed appendages. Trilobites, the only extinct one of the four major groups, were entirely marine; variation in their body plan can be interpreted in terms of functional morphology and mode of life and trophic strategy.

PART B - SEDIMENTOLOGY

Lecture 9 Sediment texture and grain size (Dr L. Amy)
Scope of sedimentology sub-module. Sediment texture - grain size, sorting and skewness. Udden-Wentworth and phi grain size scales. Link between texture and rock properties. Hjulstrom diagram. Stokes Law. Why clays are different. Flocculation.

Lecture 10 Sandstone composition (Dr L. Amy)
Typical sandstone components. Heavy minerals. Composition and sandstone classification. QFL-diagrams. Main controls on sandstone composition. Provenance, source areas and palaeoclimate.

Lecture 11 Basic fluid dynamics (Dr L. Amy)
Fluid properties and flow behaviour. Laminar vs. turbulent flows - geological examples. Subcritical and supercritical flow. Hydraulic jumps. Flow boundaries and flow separation.

Lecture 12 Unidirectional flow bedforms 1 (Dr L. Amy)
Flumes and bedform stability diagram. Ripples and dunes. Dune dynamics and terminology. Ripple and dune planforms. Cross-lamination and cross-bedding. Climbing ripples. Palaeoflow.

Lecture 13 Unidirectional flow bedforms 2 (Dr L. Amy)
Origin of parallel lamination and antidune stratification. Structureless sands and suspended load fall out rate. Water escape structures. Liquefaction and fluidisdation. Soft-sediment deformation.

Lecture 14 Moving fluids demonstration (Dr L. Amy)
Observations of fluid properties and flow behaviour in a flume channel

Lecture 15 Sediment transport by wind (Dr L. Amy)
Main differences between sediment transport by water and air. Wind vs. water ripples. Growth of aeolian sand dunes. Stratification types. Structures in wind-blown damp sand.

Lecture 16 Structures produced by reversing and oscillating currents (Dr L. Amy)
Wave induced ripples and hummocks. Hummocky and swaley cross-bedding. A traverse across a storm-influenced shelf. Origin and nature of tidal currents. Mud drapes, tidal couplets and heterolithic bedding.

Lecture 17 Landslides (Dr L. Amy)
Why slopes fail? Types of mass movement on land and in submarine environments. Slumps, slides and debris flows and their deposits. Link to Bray field course. Tsunamis.

Lecture 18 Turbidity currents and turbidites (Dr L. Amy)
Main features of turbidity currents. The Bouma sequence revisited. Lateral changes in turbidite beds. Flow efficiency. Low- vs. high-concentration turbidites. Deep-sea fan concept.

Lecture 19 Origin and classification of limestones (carbonate rocks) (Prof. P. D.W. Haughton)
Role in the carbon cycle. Modern carbonate ‘factories’. Factors promoting deposition of carbonate sediments and rocks. Carbonate mineralogy. Modern carbonate settings. Main limestone components. Dunham and Folk classification schemes.

Lecture 20 Carbonate platforms – reefs and carbonate sands (Prof. P. D.W. Haughton)
Classification of carbonate platforms. Structures developed in carbonate rocks. Exposure surfaces. Rimmed shelf vs ramp platforms and their deposits. Platforms through time.

Lecture 21 Fine-grained carbonates and response to sea level change (Prof. P. D.W. Haughton)
Pertidal carbonates and cycles. Response of carbonate platforms to sea level change. Chalk and pelagic limestones Irish limestones including Waulsortian ‘reef’ limestone.

Lecture 22 Limestone diagenesis and dolomites. (Prof. P. D.W. Haughton)
Meteoric, marine and burial cements. Compaction and stylolites. Dolomite classification and models of formation. Economic significance.

Practical Classes (2 hours)


Practical 1 Stromatoporoids and Corals. (Dr W.J. Foster)
A. Stromatoporoid morphotypes: can variation in the environmental conditions under which stromatoporoids grew be inferred from differences in their morphology? Importantly, such variation, as it can occur within a single taxon, will be ecotypic, not phenotypic.
B. The palaeoecology of Calceola. The soft tissues of this enigmatically shaped rugosan coral are not preserved, but does its distinctive skeletal morphology allow its mode of life to be deduced?
C. Corals as geochronometers? The distinctive ribbing on the epitheca of this rugosan coral represents sequential growth lines, serving as both an ‘astronomical clock’ and potentially, if subtle chemical differences over time are retained in the skeletal tissues, providing insight into seawater chemistry.
D. Morphology of rugosan corals. Producing a carefully labelled sketch of the main anatomical features serves to familiarise you with its morphology and the appropriate terminology.

Practical 2 Graptolites and Echinoderms. (Dr W.J. Foster)
A. Functional morphology of graptoloids. How can the distinctive spiralling morphologies of certain graptoloids be interpreted as an adaptation to more efficient ‘harvesting’ of food sources from the water column?
B. Facies distribution of graptolites. Although predominantly pelagic, how can we use the subtle differences in facies distribution to demonstrate that graptolites were partitioned vertically into different niches within the water column?
C. Why are graptoloids useful as biostratigraphical tools?
D. How does the morphology of echinoids reflect differences in their mode of life?
E. The anatomy of crinoids. Use the proforma provided to summarise the different anatomical components of crinoids.

Practical 3 Molluscs. (Dr W.J. Foster)
A. The ecology of bivalves. What evidence does the skeletonised tissues of bivalves provide for interpreting their mode of life?
B. The geometry of shells. The growth curves of shells can be simulated accurately using relatively few variables. What information does this provide as to the variation encountered among living and fossil molluscs and brachiopods? Why is so little of the potential ‘morphospace’ utilised either now or in the geological past?
C. The palaeobiology of cephalopods. Rarely, the fossil record preserves the ‘soft tissues’ of various cephalopods. What information does this data provide about the ecology of these molluscs that cannot be deduced from their skeletonised tissues?

Practical 4 Trilobites. (Dr W.J. Foster)
A. The trophic strategies employed by trilobites. To what extent can these be identified, given that in the majority of taxa only the biomineralised tissues are preserved? What additional information is provided by other sources of information, for example, rare cases of exceptional preservation in which non-biomineralised tissues are preserved; sedimentary context?

Practical 5 Graphical representations of grain size data (Dr L. Amy)
Detrital feldspar and lithic grains. Detrital clay. Carbonate cement. Sandstone classification in thin section.

Practical 6 Flume channel exercise I (Dr L. Amy)

Practical 7 Plotting and analysing palaeocurrent data. (Dr L. Amy)
Rose diagrams, contour plots, stereonets.

Practical 8 Sandstone petrology I (Dr L. Amy)
Textures of wind-blown sandstones in hand specimen and in thin section. Sorting and grain rounding and link to depositional processes. Porosity and compaction fabrics. Cement and style of distribution. QFL classification.

Practical 9 Sandstone petrology II (Dr L. Amy)
Textures of fluvial and marine sandstones in thin section. Sorting and grain rounding and link to depositional processes. Porosity and compaction fabrics. Cement and style of distribution. QFL classification.

Practical 10 Carbonate rocks I. (Prof. P. D.W. Haughton)
Limestone components in thin section. Main allochem types - ooids, peloids, intraclasts and selected bioclasts - and how to recognise them in thin-section.

Practical 11 Carbonate rocks I. (Prof. P. D.W. Haughton)
Limestone classification and environment of deposition. Application of Folk and Dunham classification schemes to limestones in thin-section. Use of thin-section observations to constrain the origin of shallow vs. deep, open vs restricted marine settings. Dolomite.

Practical 12 Integrated palaeoenvironmental analysis. (Prof. P. D.W. Haughton, Dr W.J. Foster)
A three-hour practical focusing on combining the learning from across the module.

Field Class (8 hours)
Bray. (Dr L. Amy)
A one day field course examining Cambrian deep-water deposits of the Bray Group along the coastal path from Bray to Greystones, south of Dublin. Keeping a field notebook and navigating in the field using a 1:10,000 scale map. Describing and interpreting sedimentary rocks in the field. Distinguishing between depositional and tectonic structures.

Not applicable to this module.

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

Not yet recorded.