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Biogenous Sediment

Description
Seafloor Sediments

Ocean floor is mantled with sediment
Sources
Turbidity currents
Sediment that slowly settles to the bottom from above
Thickness varies
Thickest in trenches – accumulations may approach 10 kilometers

Thickness varies
Pacific Ocean – about 600 meters or less
Atlantic Ocean – from 500 to 1000 meters thick
Mud is the most common sediment on the deep-ocean floor

Types of seafloor sediments
Terrigenous sediment
Material weathered from continental rocks
Virtually every part of the ocean receives some
Fine particles remain suspended for a long time
Oxidation often produces red and brown colored sediments

Types of seafloor sediments
Biogenous sediment
Shells and skeletons of marine animals and plants
Most common are calcareous oozes produced from microscopic organisms that inhabit warm surface waters
Siliceous oozes composed of skeletons of diatoms and radiolarians
Phosphate rich materials derived from the bones, teeth, and scales of fish and other marine organisms
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