Chapter 8 Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks
Whereas clastic sedimentary rocks are dominated by components that have been transported as solid clasts (clay, silt, sand, etc.), chemical sedimentary rocks are dominated by components that have been transported as ions in solution (Na+, Ca2+, HCO3−, etc.). There is some overlap between the two because almost all clastic sedimentary rocks contain cement formed from dissolved ions, and many chemical sedimentary rocks include some clasts. Since ions can stay in solution for tens of thousands of years (some much longer), and can travel for tens of thousands of kilometres, it is virtually impossible to relate chemical sediments back to their source rocks.
Chemical weathering and chemical sedimentary rocks
Many students confuse chemical weathering with chemical sedimentary rocks, or mistakenly assume that when and where chemical weathering is taking place, chemical sedimentary rocks will accumulate. Most ions in solution in rivers, lakes and the ocean are produced during chemical weathering, but those ions can remain in solution for millions of years, and during that time they can travel hundreds of thousands of km (yes, literally around the world, several times). They might eventually come out of solution as a result of a biological process or a change in the chemical conditions and will then become a mineral crystal that can settle to form a chemical sediment.
So the calcium ions that are part of a calcite mud on the sea floor near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could literally have come from anywhere on Earth (and almost certainly came from many different places), and might have been in solution for as little as a few days or for as long as tens of millions of years.
The most common chemical sedimentary rock, by far, is limestone. Others include chert, banded iron formation, and evaporites. Biological processes are important in the formation of some chemical sedimentary rocks, especially limestone and chert. For example, limestone is made up almost entirely of fragments of marine[1] organisms that manufacture calcite for their shells and other hard parts, and most chert includes at least some of the silica tests (shells) of tiny marine organisms (such as diatoms and radiolarians).
Limestone
Almost all limestone forms in the oceans, and most of that forms on the shallow continental shelves, especially in tropical regions with coral reefs. Reefs are highly productive ecosystems populated by a wide range of organisms, many of which use calcium and bicarbonate ions in seawater to make carbonate minerals (especially calcite) for their shells and other structures. These include corals, of course, but also green and red algae, urchins, sponges, molluscs, and crustaceans. The hard parts of these organisms are eroded by waves and currents to produce carbonate fragments that accumulate in the surrounding region, as illustrated in Figure 8.2.1.
Figure 8.2.2 shows a cross-section through a typical reef in a tropical e