shallow siliciclastic marine environments

• Sand and finer grain sediment are transported to the coast by rivers or erosion of the cliffs by the sea.
• Shallow seas extent out along the continental shelf up to depths of 200m before dropping into the abyssal plain.
• Beaches are high energy environments, so coarser sediment is found from the erosion of cliffs.
• Symmetrical ripple marks can be observed on beaches.
• Beaches are continually influenced by waves, so the grains are well sorted and sub-rounded to rounded.
• The main mineral observed on beaches is quartz with rocks being orthoquartzite.
• Pebbles near the cliffs are only affected by waves in storms, meaning they're less well sorted conglomerates.
• On the continental shelf, the sediment is fine grained, so there are shales and mudstones.
• Asymmetrical ripple marks are observed on the continental shelf due to the unidirectional current.