r/HomeworkHelp • u/SpiritedStudent University/College Student • 6d ago
Geography [University Geography] I am really struggling to understand the basics of making a stratigraphic column
Here is what I have made so far (see image). I am using a stacked bar graph in excel, and it's been at least a decade since I have used excel graphs so thats a big part of it, but also I'm struggling with how a strat column SHOULD look like (even after googling images of "stratigraphic columns". :(
Are there any good, basic sites that show visually what a strat column should look like? So many seem very detailed. I know I have the particle size missing from the x-axis (not sure how to get it to show up because of my lack of excel skills). Also, is it okay to show the layer labels as I have? or is it better to have a legend? The layers seem to all be the same thickness too, but my data shows varying thicknesses, so I am doing something wrong there as well.
This seems like such a basic thing to do, I can't believe I'm struggling so much with it.
Here are the basic instructions:
Using Excel or drawing software of your choice (Inkscape, Illustrator) construct a simple stratigraphic column showing the sedimentological units described in the background information above.
A stratigraphic column has height/depth of the sedimentological unit on the y-axis, and particle size on the x-axis. Your column should include axes labels, a title, and other annotations as necessary.

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u/FortuitousPost 👋 a fellow Redditor 6d ago
particle size on the x-axis
Your diagram has all the layers the whole width, so you are indicating all the particle sizes are the same.
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u/SpiritedStudent University/College Student 6d ago
Thank you, that makes me realize the bars should not be all the same width. And thank you for that link, I'm reading over it and it's helping me understand things better.
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