Deposition is the laying down of material that erosion has transported, and sedimentation is the specific case of that material settling out of water, wind or ice to accumulate in layers. Rivers deposit sediment in floodplains and deltas, glaciers drop their load as moraines and outwash when they melt, and over long spans of time compacted sediment layers become sedimentary rock, closing the loop back into the rock cycle.
Facts
Process TypeRecorded as fluvial for its dominant river-borne expression; glacial deposition (moraines, outwash) is equally real and covered in this entity's own description. TimescaleRanges from a single flood event depositing a visible sediment layer in hours to kilometers-thick sedimentary sequences accumulating over millions of years. 1 First Proposed Year Connections
Caused By
Causes
Demonstrated By
An active tropical river basin currently depositing sediment across its floodplain.
Source United States Geological Survey
Shaped
The basin's floodplain geography has been built by the deposition of river-borne sediment over geologic time.
Source United States Geological Survey
Source Congo Basin (Wikipedia)
Source Great Plains (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. United States Geological Survey
United States Geological SurveySediment transport and deposition, USGS Publications Warehouse
Sediment transport and deposition (sedimentation) occurs from natural and anthropogenic sources in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs.
- Shaped: The Amazon Basin
- Demonstrated By: The Congo Basin
View the Source 2. Nicolas Steno (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationGeology and stratigraphy sectionQuote, Geology and stratigraphy section
At the time when a given stratum was being formed, there was beneath it another substance which prevented the further descent of the comminuted matter
Sedimentation (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, opening sentenceQuote, Lead section, opening sentence
Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments.
Congo Basin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: The Congo Basin, Lead sectionQuote, Shaped: The Congo Basin, Lead section
The Congo Basin is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River.
James Hutton (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationPart Of: Rock Cycle, Theory of rock formations sectionQuote, Part Of: Rock Cycle, Theory of rock formations section
Hutton reasoned that there must have been innumerable cycles, each involving deposition on the seabed, uplift with tilting and erosion then undersea again for further layers to be deposited.
Great Plains (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationShaped: The Great Plains, Paleontology sectionQuote, Shaped: The Great Plains, Paleontology section
However, during the Late Cretaceous to the Paleocene (65-55 million years ago), the seaway had begun to recede, leaving behind thick marine deposits and a relatively flat terrain which the seaway had once occupied.
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