Introduction

The methodology underlying the work described in this chapter is given by Tanner in Chapter 16. Development of the basic procedures has at all times been coupled with field and laboratory work on modern sediments, in a variety of environments. Over the course of almost fifteen years, the data bank has grown greatly. The plots and other devices that have evolved have been based on that data bank. These methods are considered to represent an improvement over traditional procedures (interpreting one sample at a time). Because the suite of samples contains more useful information than can a single sample, the results obtained by using suite parameters should provide better, more detailed answers.

Certain standards have been observed: laminar sampling (where possible), precision sieving, ≤100 g of field sample, not more than one split, ≤50 g for sieving using 0.25 ø screens, and 30-min shaking time (Socci & Tanner, 1980). All of the work has been focused on quartz-rich elastics in the coarse silt–fine gravel size range; sediments made of chemically mobile materials are not discussed here.

Modern environments

Many modern environments have been studied using suite statistics: inner continental shelves, beaches, beach ridges, coastal dunes, interior dunes, river channels, tidal flats, delta fronts, aeolian nondune deposits, and others. A few deposits are problematical, even though they accumulated in late Holocene time and have not been altered very much since deposition.