Abstract
Water-depth is but one of several parameters which together control the sedimentary structures and textures of water-laid clastic facies. Broadly, these properties are dependent on the power of the fluid flow, which is the product of the boundary shear stress and the flow velocity. In fresh-water streams, increasing depth in the down-stream direction is indicated for average conditions by decrease of mean grain size and by the change of bed form from flat beds, through large-scale ripples, to small-scale ripples. Increase of water-depth off the shores of deltas and barrier complexes is shown by the transition from flat-bedded and rippled sands to muds. These changes are a reliable guide to relative depths of deposition but have little meaning as regards absolute water-depths. In the present state of knowledge, absolute water-depths can be estimated only from the gross stratigraphical relationships of consanguineous facies and, in favourable cases, from the thicknesses of cross-stratified units.
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