Essay on "Sea Sediment Types and Their"

Essay 2 pages (573 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Terrigenous sediment settles very slowly on the deepest parts of Earth's seafloor, accumulating at the rate of 1 centimeter of abyssal clay every 50,000 years, while rapidly building up heavy deposits of material along continental margins near the mouths of large rivers (Lutgen, Tarbuck & Tasa, 2011).

The production of biogenous sediment is a continual process, as oceanic organisms shed their shells or skeletons after death, leaving the organic debris to sprinkle steadily along the seafloor. Research focused on the study of biogenous sediment properties has consistently observed that "the most common biogenous sediment calcareous (CaCO3) ooze, which, as the name implies, has the consistency of thick mud" (Lutgen, Tarbuck & Tasa, 2011). While the calcareous tests, or shells, of organic matter is fairly prevalent throughout the ocean's warmer surface waters, this material dissolves as it sinks deeper into the carbon dioxide (CO2) rich colder waters of the deep sea. Due to this property of calcareous ooze, biogenous sediment is rarely found at depths greater than 15,000 feet.

Hydrogenous sediment is created when minerals crystallize directly from the seawater containing them, after reacting chemically in one way or another. A variety of chemical reactions can cause any number of hydrogenous sediments to form, as "some limestones are formed when calcium carbonate precipitates directly from the water" (Lutgen, Tarbuck & Tasa, 2011). Evaporites, metal sulfides, calcium carbonates, and manganese nodules are among the most commonly observed hydrogenous sediments, and because this particular type of seafloor sediment can be caused by chemical reactions in all seawater, its spread is not limited by external conditions.

References

Lutgen, F.K., & Tarbuck, E.J., & Tasa, D. (2011). Foundations of earth science. (6th…

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