Skikttjockleken

Skikttjockleken, ofta kallad layer thickness in English, refers to the vertical distance between the upper and lower boundaries of a stratigraphic layer. It is measured perpendicular to the boundary planes and is a fundamental parameter in stratigraphy, sedimentology and geology. The term describes how thick a single depositional layer is within a sequence and provides information about the rate of sedimentation, duration of deposition, and tectonic or diagenetic processes affecting the layer.

In practice thickness is determined in the field on outcrops or in cores, by mapping contacts and measuring the separation along a vertical section; in subsurface work thickness is estimated from borehole logs, well cores, or seismic reflection data. Measurements are often reported in meters or centimeters for outcrops, and in meters for subsurface stratigraphy.

Thickness can vary across a region due to changes in accommodation space, sediment supply, or erosion; unconformities can produce apparent gaps; lateral facies changes can result in variable thickness along strike. In stratigraphic correlation, trends in thickness help delineate lithostratigraphic units and correlate across wells or outcrops.

In applied contexts, skikttjockleken informs resource assessment, such as evaluating reservoir thickness in petroleum geology, soil development studies, and hydrogeology. In materials science, the concept translates to the thickness of a deposited layer in coatings or thin films, though the measurement methods and contexts differ from geological layers.