A clastic dike is a seam of

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock formed by the cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or deposited at Earth's surface. Sedime ...

material that fills an open

fracture Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...

in and cuts across

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...

or layering in other rock types. Clastic dikes form rapidly by fluidized injection (mobilization of pressurized pore fluids) or passively by water, wind, and gravity (sediment swept into open cracks).

Diagenesis Diagenesis () is the process of physical and chemical changes in sediments first caused by water-rock interactions, microbial activity, and compaction after their deposition. Increased pressure and temperature only start to play a role as sedi ...

may play a role in the formation of some dikes. Clastic dikes are commonly vertical or near-vertical. Centimeter-scale widths are common, but thicknesses range from millimetres to metres. Length is usually many times width. Clastic dikes are found in sedimentary basin deposits worldwide. Formal geologic reports of clastic dikes began to emerge in the early 19th century. Terms synonymous with clastic dike include: ''clastic intrusion, sandstone dike, fissure fill, soft-sediment deformation, fluid escape structure, seismite, injectite, liquefaction feature, neptunian dike (passive fissure fills), paleoseismic indicator, pseudo ice wedge cast, sedimentary insertion, sheeted clastic dike, synsedimentary filling, tension fracture, hydraulic injection dike'', and ''tempestite''.

Environments of formation

Clastic dike environments include: * Clastic dikes associated with

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

s – :A large variety of dikes are found in the geologic record. However, clastic dikes are typically produced by seismic disturbance and liquefaction of high water content sediments. Examples of this type are many. Clastic dikes are paleoseismic indicators in certain geologic settings. Several qualitative, field-based systems have been developed to help distinguish seismites from soft sediment deformation features formed by non-seismic processes. :Results from analytical modeling of clastic dike injection in soft rocks indicate propagation occurred at a rate of approximately 4 to 65 m/s at driving pressures of 1–2 MPa. Emplacement duration (<2 s) is similar to the speed with which acoustic energy (pressure waves) moves through partially lithified sedimentary rock. * Clastic dikes associated with

debris flow Debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of soil and fragmented Rock (geology), rock flow down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors. ...

s – :Sandstone dikes formed by downward injection are found along Black Dragon wash upstream of the famous petroglyphs area,

San Rafael Swell The San Rafael Swell is a large geologic feature located in south-central Utah, United States about west of Green River. Measuring approximately , the swell consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limestone that wa ...

, Utah. * Clastic dikes associated with

impact crater An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...

s – :Sandstone dikes with cataclastically deformed sand grains, sourced in the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

White Rim Sandstone, are found within Upheaval Dome,

Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park is a national park of the United States located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green Rive ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, at Roberts Rift, and elsewhere. Commonly, the fill is composed of angular grains, evidence that the injected material was lithified prior to impact and was crushed during injection into fractures (preexisting or impact-formed). * Clastic dikes associated with

salt dome A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt (or other evaporite minerals) intrudes into overlying rocks in a process known as diapirism. Salt domes can have unique surface and subsurface structures, and they can be discovered us ...

s – :Clastic

dike swarm A dike swarm (American English, American spelling) or dyke swarm (British English, British spelling) is a large Geology, geological structure consisting of a major group of parallel, linear, or radially oriented Magma, magmatic dike (geolo ...

s associated with salt dome

diapir A diapir (; , ) is a type of intrusion in which a more mobile and ductilely deformable material is forced into brittle overlying rocks. Depending on the tectonic environment, diapirs can range from idealized mushroom-shaped Rayleigh–Taylor ...

ism are reported from the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

region. * Clastic dikes associated with

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s – :Sand injection features are reported to have formed under heavy loads and confining pressures beneath grounding glacial ice. * Clastic dikes in resistant

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

– :Though unusual, a significant number of reports describe sedimentary material intruding fractured crystalline bedrock, usually within fault zones. Some of the articles referenced here describe lithified clastic dikes.Cross, W., 1894, Intrusive sandstone dikes in granite, GSA Bulletin, 5, pp. 225–230 * Clastic dikes in storm deposits – :Cyclic stresses from large waves can cause wet sediments to fluidize, forming various types of soft sediment deformation features including clastic dikes.

Clastic dikes in the Columbia Basin

Tens of thousands of unusual clastic dikes (1 mm–350 cm wide, up to 50 m deep) penetrate sedimentary and bedrock units in the Columbia Basin of Washington,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. Their origin remains in question. The dikes may be related to loading by

outburst flood In geomorphology, an outburst flood—a type of megaflood—is a high-magnitude, low-frequency catastrophic flood involving the sudden release of a large quantity of water. During the last deglaciation, numerous glacial lake outburst floods were ...

s. Other evidence suggests they are sediment-filled desiccation cracks (

mudcrack Mudcracks (also known as mud cracks, desiccation cracks or cracked mud) are sedimentary structures formed as muddy sediment dries and contracts.Jackson, J.A., 1997, ''Glossary of Geology'' (4th ed.), American Geological Institute, Alexandria, VA ...

s). Some have suggested the dikes are

ice wedge An ice wedge is a crack in the ground formed by a narrow or thin piece of ice that measures up to 3–4 meters in length at ground level and extends downwards into the ground up to several meters. During the winter months, the water in the gr ...

casts or features related to the melting of buried ice. Earthquake shaking and liquefaction is invoked by others to explain the dikes (i.e., sand blows). The silt-, sand-, and gravel-filled dikes in the Columbia Basin are primarily sourced in the Touchet Formation (or the Touchet-equivalent Willamette Silt) and intrude downward into older geologic units, including: *

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

hillslope colluvium with developed

caliche Caliche () is a soil accumulation of soluble calcium carbonate at depth, where it precipitates and binds other materials—such as gravel, sand, clay, and silt. It occurs worldwide, in aridisol and mollisol soil orders—generally in arid or se ...

horizons in the Umatilla Basin near Alderdale, Washington *

landslide deposits along Hwy 14 in the Columbia Gorge (Umatilla Basin) * Pleistocene Clearwater Gravels in the Lewiston Basin * "Pre-late

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

" outburst flood and flood-related deposits (includes the "ancient cataclysmic flood deposits" of Allen et al., 2009) in the Walla Walla Valley/ Pasco BasinCooley, S.W.; Pidduck, B.K.; Pogue, K.R., 1995, Mechanism and timing of emplacement of clastic dikes in the Touchet Beds of the Walla Walla Valley, Geological Society of America Cordilleran Section Abstracts with Programs, 28, p. 57Cooley, S.W., 1996, Timing and emplacement of clastic dikes..., BA Thesis, Whitman CollegePogue, K.R., 1998, Earthquake-generated(?) structures in Missoula flood slackwater sediments (Touchet Beds) of southeastern Washington, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 30, p. A398 and Columbia Gorge * Post-basalt basin fill sediments (Dalles Group, etc.) exposed in tributary stream valleys downstream of Wallula Gap *

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Granger, Washington * Miocene-Pliocene Ringold Formation in the Pasco Basin * Miocene-Pliocene Ellensburg Formation at Craig's Hill near

Ellensburg, Washington Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 in Washington, Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 ...

(outside Missoula flood track) * Miocene-Pliocene Ellensburg Formation at Foster Coulee (WDFW Foster Ck Wildlife Area) near Bridgeport, Washington * Miocene Columbia River Basalt (CRB) in the Walla Walla Valley and Pasco Basin at Gable Mountain * Latah Formation (interbeds in CRBs) west of Finley, Washington along Hwy 397 and elsewhere In 1925, Olaf P. Jenkins described the clastic dikes of eastern Washington state as follows:Jenkins, O.P., 1925, Clastic dikes of Eastern Washington and their geologic significance, American Journal of Science, 5th series, v. X, No. 57, pp. 234–246

References

*Beacom, L.E.; Anderson, T.B.; Holdsworth, R.E., 1999, Using basement-hosted clastic dykes as syn-rift palaeostress indicators; an example from the basal Stoer Group, northwest Scotland, Geological Magazine, 136, pp. 301–310 *Chown and Gobeil, 1990, Clastic dykes of the Chibougamau Formation: distribution and origin, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v.27, pp. 1111–1114 *Buckland, 1839, Transactions of the British Association for 1839, p. 76 *Crossen, K., 2009, Is till the only evidence of ice advance? What 15 year of post-surge retreat have revealed beneath Bering Glacier, Alaska, GSA Abstracts with Programs, Abstract #247-8 *Cuvier & Brongniart, 1822, Sandstone pipes near Paris, France (''Description geognostiques des Environs de Paris''), pp. 76, 134, 141 *Dana, J.D., 1849, Wide sandstone dikes in bluffs near Astoria, OR, pp. 654–656 in Geology, Volume 10 of the U.S. Navy Exploring Expedition 1838–1842, under the command of Charles Wilkes, C. Sherman publisher, Philadelphia, 18 volume set *Gozdzik, J.; Van Loon, A.J., 2007, The origin of a giant downward directed clastic dyke in a kame (Belchatow mine, central Poland), Sedimentary Geology, 193, pp. 71–79 *Haluszczak, A., 2007, Dike-filled extensional structures in Cenozoic deposits of the Kleszczow Graben (Central Poland), Sedimentary Geology, 193, pp. 81–92 *Kirkby, J.W., 1860, On the occurrences of "sand pipes" in the magnesian limestones of Durham, The Geologist (London), pp. 293–298, 329–336 *Le Heron, D.P.; Etienne, J.L., 2005, A complex subglacial clastic dyke swarm, Solheimajokull, southern Iceland, Sedimentary Geology, 181, pp. 25–37 *Lyell, C., 1839, Sand pipes near Norwich, England, London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine, 3rd series, v. XV, p. 257 *Monroe, J.N., 1950, Origin of the clastic dikes in the Rockwall area, Texas, Field & Laboratory, 18 *Murchison, R.I., 1827, Quartz sandstone veins in grit near Kintradwell in Somersetshire, Transactions of the Geological Society of London, 2nd series, v. ii, p. 304. And Murchison, R, 1829, On the coal-field of Brora in Sutherlandshire, and some other stratified deposits in the north of Scotland, Transactions of the Geological Society, Second Series, 2, pp. 293–326 *Pavlow, A.P., 1896, On dikes of Oligocene sandstone in the Neocomian clays of the District of Altyr, in Russia, The Geological Magazine, New series, v. iii, pp. 49–53 *Prestwich, J., 1855, On the origin of the sand and gravel pipes in the chalk of the London Tertiary district, Quarterly(?) Journal of the Geological Society of London, v. ii, pp. 64–84 *Ransome, F.L., 1900, A peculiar clastic dike near Ouray, Colorado, and its associated deposit of silver ore, Transactions of the American Institute of Mineralogical Engineers, 30, pp. 227–236 *Siddoway, C.S.; Gehrels, G.E., 2014, Basement-hosted sandstone injectites of Colorado: A vestige of the Neoproterozoic revealed through detrital zircon provenance analysis,

Lithosphere A lithosphere () is the rigid, outermost rocky shell of a terrestrial planet or natural satellite. On Earth, it is composed of the crust and the lithospheric mantle, the topmost portion of the upper mantle that behaves elastically on time ...

, 6, pp. 403–408 *Strangeways, W.T.H.F., 1821, Dikes near Great Pulcovca near Saint Petersburg, Russia, Transactions of the Geological Society of London, v. V, pp. 386, 407, 408 and Plates 25–28 *Strickland, H.E., 1838, Calcareous sandstone dikes in Triassic shale at Ethie in Rossshire, Transactions of the Geological Society of London, v. V, 2nd series, pp. 599–600. And Strickland, H.E., 1840, On some remarkable dikes of Calcareous Grit, at Ethie in Ross-shire, Transactions of the Geological Society, Second Series, 5, pp. 599–600 * *White, E.E., 1916, Analysis of slate and dike, Engineering & Mining Journal, v. 101, pp. 433–434 *Wicander, R.; Wood, G.D.; Dreimanis, A.; Rappol, M., 1997, Late Wisconsin sub-glacial intrusive sheets along Lake Erie bluffs, at Bradtville, Ontario, Canada, Sedimentary Geology, 111, pp. 225–248

External links

Sandstone dikes photo gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clastic Dike Sedimentary rocks Dikes (geology)

Environments of formation

Clastic dikes in the Columbia Basin

See also

References

Further reading

External links