The society's reason for being is to disseminate scientific information on sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleontology, environmental sciences, marine geology, hydrogeology, and related specialties.
It also publishes a monthly magazine for its members, The Sedimentary Record, which is now a diamond open access journal.
The society arranges research conferences based on topics that are relevant to members and show promise of progress.
They are meant to focus the attention of specialists with diverse expertise on some theme of mutual interest and stimulate new research areas or approaches.
Field trips, poster sessions, core workshops, and laboratory experiments are often included as part of a conference.