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CHAPTER 4: Marine Sediments. S. Fig. CO-4. S. Marine sediments. Eroded rock particles and fragments Transported to or produced in the ocean Deposit by settling through water column Oceanographers decipher Earth history through studying sediments. P. Classification of marine sediments.
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CHAPTER 4: Marine Sediments S Fig. CO-4
S Marine sediments • Eroded rock particles and fragments • Transported to or produced in the ocean • Deposit by settling through water column • Oceanographers decipher Earth history through studying sediments
P Classification of marine sediments • Classified by origin • Lithogenous (derived from land) • Biogenous (derived from organisms) • Hydrogenous (derived from water) • Cosmogenous (derived from outer space)
P Lithogenous sediments • Eroded rock fragments from land (origin) • Transported from land by • Water (e.g., river transported sediment) • Wind (e.g., windblown dust) • Ice (e.g., ice-rafted rocks) • Gravity (e.g., turbidity currents)
P BY PERCENT Transport Mechanism
S Lithogenous sediments Fig. 4.5
P Lithogenous sediments • Most lithogenous sediments at continental margins • Coarser sediments closer to shore • Finer sediments farther from shore WHY? • Mainly mineral quartz (SiO2)
S distance = rate x time d = rt t = d/r = 4km/ 2.5cm/sec = 4,000m/ 2.5cm/sec =4,000m(100cm/m)/ 2.5cm/sec =400,000cm / 2.5cm/sec =160,000sec/ 24hr/day x 3600sec/hr =160,000sec/ 86,400sec/day =1.85 days
S Clay sinks 10,000 times slower than sand, so 1.8 days x 10,000 (or 104) = 18,000 days 18,000 days = 49.3 years 365 days/year
S Smaller particles have a larger SA/Vol. ratio, increasing the frictional drag (sinking rates) and making small particles sink more slowly than large particles
Black Sand Sugar Black Sand Clear
S Relationship of fine-grained quartz and prevailing winds Fig. 4.6b
04_06t S A large dust cloud heads east over the Atlantic Ocean from the West Coast of Africa on February 26, 2000. (SeaWiFS satellite image courtesy of NASA.)
S Distribution of sediments • Neritic • Shallow water deposits • Close to land • Dominantly lithogenous • Typically deposited quickly • Pelagic • Deeper water deposits • Finer-grained sediments • Deposited slowly UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESSES WOULD ALLOW YOU TO GENERATE THIS TABLE YOURSELVES
S Neritic lithogenous sediments • Beach deposits • Mainly wave-deposited quartz-rich sands • Continental shelf deposits • Relict sediments • Turbidite deposits • Glacial deposits • High latitude continental shelf
S Pelagic lithogenous sediments • Sources of fine material: • Volcanic ash (volcanic eruptions) • Wind-blown dust • Fine grained material transported by deep ocean currents • Abyssal clay (red clay) • Oxidized iron • Abundant if other sediments absent
P Biogenous marine sediments • Hard remains of once-living organisms • Shells, bones, teeth • Macroscopic (large remains) • Microscopic (small remains) • Tiny shells or tests settle through water column • Biogenic ooze (30% or more tests) • Mainly algae and protozoans
P Biogenous marine sediments • Commonly either calcium carbonate(CaCO3)orsilica(SiO2 or SiO2.nH2O) • Usually planktonic (drifting)
P Silica in biogenic sediments • Diatoms (algae) • Photosynthetic • Diatomaceous earth
S Siliceous ooze • Seawater undersaturated with silica • Siliceous ooze commonly associated with high biologic productivity in surface ocean Fig. 4.12
P Calcium carbonate in biogenous sediments • Coccolithophores (algae) • Photo-synthetic • Coccoliths(nanno-plankton)
S White Cliffs of Dover
P Calcium carbonate in biogenous sediments • Foraminifera (protozoans) • Use external food • Calcareous ooze
S Distribution of biogenous sediments • Most common as pelagic deposits • Factors controlling distribution • Productivity • Destruction (dissolution)
S Distribution of calcareous oozes in surface sediments of modern seafloor Why in these places?
S Calcareous ooze and the CCD • Scarce calcareous ooze below 5000 m in modern ocean • Ancient calcareous oozes at greater depths if moved by sea floor spreading Fig. 4.13
P Hydrogenous marine sediments • Minerals precipitate directly from seawater • Manganese nodules • Phosphates • Carbonates • Metal sulfides • Small proportion of marine sediments • Distributed in diverse environments
S Iron-Manganese nodules • Fist-sized lumps of manganese, iron, and other metals • Very slow accumulation rates
Manganese nodules S Fig. 4.26