Young Brunette Girl Shows Off Outside On Sedimentary Rocks

Sedimentary rocks are laid down in layers called beds or strata. A bed is defined as a layer of rock that has a uniform lithology and texture. Beds form by the deposition of layers of sediment on top of each other. The sequence of beds that characterizes sedimentary rocks is called bedding. Single beds can be a couple of centimetres to several meters thick. Finer, less pronounced layers are called laminae and the structure it forms in a rock is called lamination. Laminae are usually less than a few centimetres thick. Though bedding and lamination are often originally horizontal in nature, this is not always the case. In some environments, beds are deposited at a (usually small) angle. Sometimes multiple sets of layers with different orientations exist in the same rock, a structure called cross-bedding. Cross-bedding forms when small-scale erosion occurs during deposition, cutting off part of the beds. Newer beds then form at an angle to older ones.
The opposite of cross-bedding is parallel lamination, where all sedimentary layering is parallel. With laminations, differences are generally caused by cyclic changes in the sediment supply, caused for example by seasonal changes in rainfall, temperature or biochemical activity. Laminae that represent seasonal changes (like tree rings) are called varves. Some rocks have no lamination at all, their structural character is called massive bedding.
Graded bedding is a structure where beds with a smaller grain size occur on top of beds with larger grains. This structure forms when fast flowing water stops flowing. Larger, heavier clasts in suspension settle first, then smaller clasts. Though graded bedding can form in many different environments, it is characteristic for turbidity currents.
The bedform (the surface of a particular bed) can be indicative for a particular sedimentary environment too. Examples of bed forms include dunes and ripple marks. Sole markings, such as tool marks and flute casts, are groves dug into a sedimentary layer that are preserved. These are often elongated structures and can be used to establish the direction of the flow during deposition.