Question

Difference between hummocky and swaley cross stratification

Answer 1

Hummocky cross-stratification (often abbreviated to HCS) is distinctive in form, consisting of rounded mounds of sand on the sea floor a few centimetres high and tens of centimetres across. The crests of the hummocks are tens of centimetres to a metre apart. Internal stratification of these hummocks is convex upwards, dips in all directions at angles of up to 108 or 208, and thickens laterally: these features are not seen in any other form of cross-stratification . Between the hummocks lie swales and where concave layers in them are preserved this is sometimes called swaley cross-stratification (abbreviated to SCS)