This course provides an overview of the broad field of clastic sedimentary geology. The first part focuses on current general concepts in sedimentology, followed by an extensive discussion of fluvial, deltaic, coastal, and offshore marine depositional environments, both modern and ancient.

The second part of the course is concerned with sequence stratigraphy, including a discussion of the mechanisms of sea-level change, and the role of allogenic controls (sea level, climate, tectonism) in shaping clastic sedimentary environments. The final part of the course discusses the role of models in clastic sedimentary geology, including numerical and experimental models of basin-scale stratigraphy, as well as smaller scale reservoir models of sedimentary architecture.

Each participant writes a paper about a topic of choice; this includes an oral presentation. In addition, reviews will be written about a few published papers in the field of sedimentary geology. There will also be occasional labs.

A weekend field trip consists of a visit to to the National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota. This facility operates a wide variety of flumes and experimental stratigraphic basins. The course uses the textbooks "Sedimentary Environments" (Reading) and "Sequence Stratigraphy" (Emery & Myers).