Why Study Sediments?
by Richard J. Behl, CSU Long Beach Geology

Sediments are beautiful to look at, but they are also interesting to understand because they are deposited where we live - at the surface of the Earth. That may seem shallow and narrow-minded, but if you want to understand how the Earth's climate, oceans and geography have changed over time, the sedimentary record is the only place that holds a fuller perspective than the short historical record of humans. The Earth has behaved in ways that are both similar and quite different than what we see today. Sedimentologist learn to read the structures and textures of sedimentary rocks to uncover their ancient secrets. My research focuses on the sedimentology of modern and ancient continental margins and deep-sea upwelling systems because they are particularly good recorders of ancient environments. The organic-rich sediments deposited in these places play a key role in the global carbon cycle, climatic regulation, and the formation of oil and gas. My recent research deals with abrupt environmental shifts along the California margin linked to climatic and tectonic change. Ecologic upheaval occurred far more rapidly than most believed possible; this has great implications for potential future climate change. My Ph.D dissertation and some of my ongoing work centers on the deposition and diagenesis of siliceous sediments and the origin of chert in the Miocene Monterey Formation, which is a key petroleum source rock and reservoir in California. As a sedimentary geologist, I use a variety of field, petrographic, geochemical, stratigraphic and structural methods, both on land and at sea, to explore the processes, environments, and timing of sedimentation and diagenesis. Sedimentary geology also studies the geometric distribution of sediments in different depositional systems; I am very interested in how these forms act as a fundamental control of the movement of water and contaminants through underground aquifers.

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