cyclopsam

English

Noun

cyclopsam (plural cyclopsams)

1. (geology) Alternate layers of sedimentary sand and mud formed in a glaciomarine environment
   • 2009 March 19, T. Naish et al., “Obliquity-paced Pliocene West Antarctic ice sheet oscillations”, in Nature, volume 458, number 7236, →DOI, pages 322–328:

     For example, the rhythmically interlaminated claystone with silt/sandstone facies in AND-1B are consistent with previously described cyclopsam and cyclopel facies from modern temperate to subpolar glacimarine environments in Alaska and the Greenland margin, where they are deposited in quiet-water basins by suspension settling from meltwater plumes 35, 36 .

Related terms

• cyclopel