Fine-grained rocks (e.g. mudstones, siltstones, etc.) are important repositories of Earth history, paleoenvironmental information, and petroleum resources. We are examining the mechanics of shale deposition by mapping the distributions of chemically distinctive silt-sized grains in deep marine sediments. By detecting sorting in these grain populations, we are able to make depositional process interpretations, some of which should be useful in constructing high-resolution stratigraphic models of fine-grained sedimentary units. We are also leveraging these results to explore the origins of carbonaceous facies.