In
geology, 'clastic wedge' usually refers to a thick assemblage of
sediments--often
lens-shaped in profile--eroded and deposited landward of a
mountain chain; they begin at the mountain front, thicken considerably landwards of it to a peak depth, and progressively thin with increasing distance inland. Perhaps the best examples of clastic wedges in the
United States are the
Catskill Delta, and the series of
Jurassic and
Cretaceous sediments deposited eastward of the
Rocky Mountains.
[1]
Not all clastic wedges are associated with mountains. They are also characteristic of passive
continental margins such as the
Gulf Coast; these are quiescent environments, where sediments have accumulated to great thickness over a long period of time.
[2]
Reference
1. Stanley, Steven M. ''Earth System History.'' New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1999. ISBN 0-7167-2882-6 pp. 243, 489
2. Stanley, p. 516
See also
★
Flysch
★
Foreland basin
★
Geosyncline
★
Molasse