How do strata form?

Answer 1

Strata are groups of sedimentary bedding planes which were created by a multitude of depositional occurrences. One example:

1. A watershed feeds surface water to a stream. As the slightly acidic surface water flows over rocks and soil, it picks up small bits and pieces of rock and organic matter and interacts chemically with rock, dissolving some of its constituent minerals.

2. The stream flows into a river. The river has a greater capacity to carry sediments, from those that are dissolved in the water, through boulder-sized rocks, depending on the river's turbulence, velocity, and other factors.

3. When the river flows into an ocean or lake, the velocity of the flow is greatly reduced, and the sediments being carried by the water will be deposited on the ocean or lake floor; larger sediments are the first to succumb to friction and gravity while suspended sediments are carried further away from the shore.

4. This deposition of sediments is an ongoing process. The amount and type of sediment may vary seasonally, or from any of a variety of causes. Over long periods of time, these multiple varying layers are covered with massive amounts of additional sediments, which compact them, squeezing out the water and spaces between the individual particles.

5. Given enough time and weight from overlying sediments, cementing minerals "precipitate" from the disappearing fluids surrounding the sediment particles. When the individual particles are cemented together, sedimentary rock is formed, and in this instance, strata will be visible in the sedimentary rock as a record of a periods of deposition.

Answer 2

Strata refers to a visible layer of deposition in a sedimentary rock.

Answer 3

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