Creating a log of an outcrop or core is a fundamental tool for geology. Sedimentary logs are both primary records of observations for stratigraphy and sedimentology and essential ways of recording where data was collected from for more specialised studies in for instance geochemistry, palaeontology, or palaeomagnetism. There are many diferent types of sediments and types of outcrops and a wide range of reasons for creating logs, so there are many different approaches to logging. The two videos show some of these.
Video 1 - Kevin Pickering on logging sediments
In this 40 minute Kevin Pickering describes how to produce a detailed sedimentary log. The lecture was given for the Pyrenees Virtual Field Trip and is based on sediment cores from the Ainsa Basin. The first half (to 18 mins) is a discussion of general principles and is useful to anyone, the second half deals with the specific exercise and so is less relevant to students from other courses.Video 2 - David Dobson on producing a stratigraphic log (32 minutes).
This is a practical demonstration of producing a stratigraphic log in the field - on a blustery day in Bude.
More advice
 | The Geological Techniques book edited by Angela Coe (2010) has a very good chapter on logging sediments - Chapter 6 Recording features of sedimentary rocks and constructing graphic logs. You can access this via the UCL library |