Sedimentteille

Sedimentteille is a term that appears in some niche discussions of sedimentology and pedagogy. It is not recognized as a standard unit in peer‑reviewed geology glossaries. In informal contexts, sedimentteille refers to a very small sediment particle or a defined microgranule within a sediment sample, typically at the scale of micrometres to a fraction of a millimetre. The concept is often used to illustrate ideas about texture, particle size distribution, and microstructural organization, rather than to denote a formally defined size class.

Etymology and usage notes: The word seems to combine sédiment, the French term for sediment, with the diminutive suffix -eille, suggesting a small piece. The construction is not standardized and is more common in teaching materials or regional usages than in formal scientific literature. Because it is not an officially recognized term, its exact meaning can vary between authors or courses.

Applications and limitations: When sedimentteille is used, it generally aims to evoke micro-scale sediment components such as clay- and silt-sized particles, microaggregates, or discrete grains within a matrix, in discussions of processes like sorting, depositional energy, or diagenesis. For rigorous or widely cited work, researchers typically define explicit particle size ranges (for example, clay < 2 μm, silt 2–63 μm) rather than relying on the umbrella term sedimentteille. As a result, the term remains primarily a pedagogical or situational label rather than a standard geological category.