Determination of Mean Sediment Thickness in the Crust: A Sedimentologic Method

Research Article| January 01, 1970 Determination of Mean Sediment Thickness in the Crust: A Sedimentologic Method HARVEY BLATT HARVEY BLATT School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73069 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information HARVEY BLATT School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73069 Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 16 Jun 1969 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Copyright © 1970, The Geological Society of America, Inc. Copyright is not claimed on any material prepared by U.S. government employees within the scope of their employment. GSA Bulletin (1970) 81 (1): 255–262. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1970)81[255:DOMSTI]2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 16 Jun 1969 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation HARVEY BLATT; Determination of Mean Sediment Thickness in the Crust: A Sedimentologic Method. GSA Bulletin 1970;; 81 (1): 255–262. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1970)81[255:DOMSTI]2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Mean sediment thickness, volume of detntal quartz, and grain size distribution of dctrital quartz have been calculated for the total sediment mass of the earth's crust. Sedimentologic and petrographic data were used rather than geochemical data. Results are in good agreement with the earlier estimates based on geochemical arguments. Mean sediment thickness is computed to be 2690 feet and represents the erosion of 7640 feet of crystalline rocks.The percent of detrital quartz in the sediment mass is estimated to be 21.0 percent. The detntal quartz has a mean grain size of 4.0ϕ its frequency-distribution is log-normal with standard deviation of 2.5ϕ. As earlier work has indicated the mean size of quartz from newly disintegrated crystalline rocks to be 0.67 mm, the mean size of 0.06 mm determined for the earth's detrital quartz represents a size decrease of 90 percent by sedimentary processes. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.