Sediments

Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impurities, such as a reddish or brownish colour from small amounts of iron oxide.

thumb|A lump of peat thumb|Peat stacks in Südmoslesfehn (Oldenburg (district)|district of Oldenburg, Germany) in 2013 thumb|Peat gatherers at Westhay, [[Somerset Levels in 1905]] thumb|Peat extraction in East Frisia, Germany in 1987

thumb|right|250px|The snow-free debris hills around the lagoon are lateral and terminal moraines of a valley glacier in [[Manang, Nepal.]] thumb|right|250px|Moraine of the Nanga Parbat North Face Glacier as seen from [[Fairy Meadows, Pakistan.]] thumb|Aerial view of the moraine of the Nanga Parbat North Face Glacier.

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thumb|Windrow of windblown silt, Northwest Territories, Canada|right Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when dry, and lacks plasticity when wet. Silt can also be felt by the tongue as granular when placed on the front teeth (even when mixed with clay particles).

thumb|Loess in Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States

thumb|right|Quicksand and a warning sign about it at a gravel quarry in England thumb|Quicksand on the River Thames|Thames Quicksand, also known as sinking sand, is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it creates a liquefied soil that loses strength and cannot support weight. Quicksand can form in standing water or in upward flowing water (as from an artesian spring). In the case of upward-flowing water, forces oppose the force of gravity

landform created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water and gases

thumb|right|Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as matrix support, is diagnostic of till. thumb|right|Glacial till with tufts of grass thumb|Till after avalanche, Norway Till, or glacial till, is unsorted glacial sediment.

substrate suitable for hydroculture applications

Sapropel (a contraction of Ancient Greek words sapros and pelos, meaning putrefaction and mud (or clay), respectively) is a term used in marine geology to describe dark-coloured sediments that are rich in organic matter. Organic carbon concentrations in sapropels commonly exceed 2 wt.% in weight.

desert surface covered with closely packed, interlocking angular or rounded rock fragments of pebble and cobble size.

sediment from marine waters

Aleurite is an unconsolidated sediment with a texture intermediately between sand and clay, similar to silt, with particle sizes ranging from .

type of glaciomarine clay

Black-colored rock and mineral particles

thumb|300px|A dropstone of quartzite in layered [[rhythmite at Itu, Brazil]] Dropstones are isolated fragments of rock found within finer-grained water-deposited sedimentary rocks or pyroclastic beds. They range in size from small pebbles to boulders. The critical distinguishing feature is that there is evidence that they were not transported by normal water currents, but rather dropped in vertically through the air or water column, such as during a volcanic eruption.

thumb|upright=1.25|Siltation of a waterway Siltation is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or permanent) of fine sediments on bottoms where they are undesirable. Siltation is most often caused by soil erosion or sediment spill.

deposit of clay, often full of boulders, formed from the ground moraine material of glaciers and ice-sheets

geologic formation

Indonesian snack made of soil

type of soil formed by sedimentation in estuaries

type of clay found in coastal regions around the world

Largest submarine fan on Earth

thumb|Sandy glacial diamicton (till) bluff on the shore of [[Lake Superior near Speakers Cabin.]] Diamicton (also diamict) (from Greek δια (dia-) 'through' and μικτός (meiktós) 'mixed') is any terrigenous sediment (a sediment resulting from dry-land erosion) that is unsorted to poorly sorted and contains particles ranging in size from clay to boulders, suspended in an unconsolidated matrix of mud or sand. Today, the word has strong connotations to glaciation but can be used in a variety of geological settings.

association of surface rocks with stream beds or beaches

sediment deposited by a glacial lake

conjectural soil type probably not found in nature

very fine powder commonly found in deserts

soil type

geological deposits